Lions of Sabi Sands

[Tonpa]

Savanna June 2021 Update
https://savannalodge.com/wildlife-blog-june-2021/

Many of you have been following our social media on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, as well as the updates from other lodges, and would have seen the sad and very unexpected demise of the magnificent Ottawa male. He became very confident and decided to challenge the Birmingham males to his east, in an attempt to expand his territory. Unfortunately, being on his own, he was killed in the fight, and we lost one of the most incredible males we have had for some time.

This has had some major ramifications for our lion population, as one might expect. Incredibly, the Mhangene pride seemed to have picked up very quickly that he had died, and that their new cubs were in danger, so moved much further west and into our concession. For the past month or so, they have been permanently on Savanna’s property and have been giving us fantastic viewing of the young cubs in particular.

The two youngest cubs (both female) are now around four months old and are full of energy, fighting with one another, practicing their stalking techniques and tackling their older cousin, who is now one-year old. Their antics are certainly a joy to watch!

The pride itself now consists of five adult females, a one-year old female and the two young cubs. We are not sure what happened to the sixth female, as she has hardly been seen since the pride came west, but we are still hoping that she is ok. They have been regular sightings on our drives, concentrating in the south-west of our concession, and recently had a large buffalo kill for a few days which kept their cubs very content. As is usual after such a feast, a long thirst-quenching drink is in order!

The Ottawa pride has been just as rewarding, as they too have some young cubs. These are a few weeks younger than the Mhangene pride’s cubs and so one can appreciate that they too are fantastic viewing at the moment. They do not have an older sibling to harass, so they take it out on the mothers and aunts, who occasionally are not in the mood! The one advantage they have is that there are three of them, so they are able to make do with each other if the parents are not up to playing.

The Thumbela males are also gaining in strength and confidence since the death of the old Matimba male. We are seeing them roaring with quite some energy of late, but they still seem to be sticking with the Ottawa pride most of the time. Interestingly, they have not shown any interest in heading south toward the Mhangene pride yet, but perhaps they are unaware of their presence for now. Reply