Lions of Sabi Sands

[Mapokser]

Since we're talking about the Ximhungwe pride of 2 and potentially Othawa pride also of 2 sharing the same territory in the West, if this is possible or not, I'd like to share here again ( it was probably posted in WF already somewhere ), the report of how life was going in the Western Sector and how many lions it can sustain before the arrival of the Mapogos, by Idube on March 2012, following the report of Mr.T's death:

We have shared the fact that the Short Haired Mapogo Male was killed in a fight with the Southern Male coalition of 4 Males this morning. Many of our followers and supporters, including us lodge personnel and rangers are sad to see his departure, and the demise of a coalition known for so long by so many as, THE MAPOGO. We do want to share our sympathy with those that feel a loss, but at the same time would like to make a few points with regards to the history, and why on a ecological level, nothing better could have happened to the Western Sector of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.


Casting back a few years, 6 to be exact, the Mapogo first made an appearance in March 2006 in the Western Sector, after having floated about the central portions of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin. The anticipation was growing amongst the rangers, following news of the 6 New Male lions creeping ever nearer the Western Sector. What was going to happen? When would they arrive? Where would they cross over? What would happen to the resident Males, and their respective territories? How would the prides be affected?

They arrived, and so the slaughter began!!!!

March 2006 – What a treat to drive around the Western Sector, 4 Different Lion Prides to choose from as far as viewing was concerned! As a ranger, would you go to the Sand River Pride of 2 Females and 8 cubs ( 10 ), would you try and find the Ravenscourt pride of 3 Females and 7 Youngsters (10), how about the Ottawa Pride of two groups of 2 Females and 6 Cubs each ( 16 )and lastly the most resident and impressive Ximungwe Pride of 7 Females and 16 youngsters (23). Add to these numbers the Nhlanguleni Male, The Castleton Male and the Sand River Male, and there were a total of 62 Lions to be seen and viewed, excluding the 6 new arrivals! Lions were flourishing, and the dwindling numbers of lions in the wild were being added to by the very successful breeding of the fertile prides in the West.
March 2012 – Oh how the excitement of the Mapogo arrival was overrated, based on the social structure outcome to the population dynamics of the lions in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin. Yes they provided formidable viewing and photographic opportunities, undoubtedly serving as a huge attraction to a multitude of guests wishing to view and photograph lions of such infamy, but from a species survival point of view, they have done unmentionable damage to the breeding and survival ecology of the lion species in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin, thereby affecting the total African lion population.

Of the original 62 Lions that were present in the Western Sector when they arrived, there are now only 3 origionals left, all belonging to the Ximungwe pride. The remaining lions are, 1 Lioness from the Ximungwe pride that joined from the Tsalala Pride, 4 Youngsters from these females (total -

*This image is copyright of its original author

and 2 Ottawa lionesses, both being Mapogo offspring. The Ottawa pride have 4 small cubs( total - 8 ), which in all likelihood will be killed by the Southern Males (to force the females into early oestrous), as will the Ximungwe pride youngsters we suspect.
Ximungwe Pride – 6 Years and not a single cub ( nil – zero – 0 ) has yet to be raised to maturity. That is a shocking statistic when it comes to the fathering and protection abilities of the territorial coalition, the Mapogo. They were more absorbed with their internal conflicts and dominance status within the coalition that they would kill each other’s cubs, the main culprit co-incidentally being the one killed today, Mr.T.
Remaining pride now currently number 8, including the 4 Youngsters whose fate hangs in the balance.

Sand River Pride – Debatable as to whether pressure from the Mapogo pushed them out of the reserve where they died. No Survivors
Ravenscourt Pride – 1 origional lioness of a pride of 10 survived, now part of the Ximungwe Pride.

Ottawa Pride – Presently we only see 2 Lionesses and their 4 cubs. None of the original Lionesses remain.

Sharing these stats I hope to make it clear that the Mapogo, although they will be missed, their inability to increase the lion populations in the Western Sector of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin serves as an indication as to their failures over a six year period, and with the new coalition, we may see natural lion dynamics return, which will include the sizes of prides increasing by: improved fertility, and possible superior paternal instincts to protect their young in order to survive to adulthood, and grow a strong bloodline with improved gene pools.
We are sad to say goodbye to a warrior today, but we are anticipating a bright, and much more successful future for the Lion Prides in the West.

A Lion may have died today, his body no longer moving and breathing, but what he can be proud of is that his legend, and that of his Coalition will live on for years and years. His life may be no more, but his story will never be forgotten, and lips will move long into the future as they mouth the words – MAPOGO!


Only "mistake" in their report was that they only counted 2 Othawa females, at the time it was thought the third one had died, but it turns out she was alive. And I also don't think it's debatable that they pressured Sand River pride to leave the reserve, the pride was firmly in their control, one of their 2 prides, with 2 lionesses, not different in any way from the Othawa pride of also 2 females, and their cubs were the same age as Othawas, 1yo, the surviving subadult was protected by the Mapogo from the Othawa pride when he returned, IMO it's baseless to claim they had a paw on the Sand River demise, they left the reserve because the fence went down, simply as that.

Still, it's crazy, there were 4 different prides, 3 different dominant males and 62 lions in total. 68 if you include the 6 Mapogos, and after 17 years, the population is not even close to recover, including Manghenis and Tumbela we have only 23 confirmed lions living in the Western Sector right now as resident lions, again, 17 years after... I used to think the 100 lions killed by Mapogos was just an exaggeration from Botha but considering how many lions there were in the Western Sector ( of which only 2 Othawas, 2 Sand Rivers and 4 Ximhungwes survived the Mapogos, 5 if you include the Tsalala who joined Ximhungwes ), perhaps the number isn't that far off. Nkhuhuma pride whcih also suffered a huge blow from Mapogos had 10 lionesses, 15 cubs + Blondie and Dozie. Styx, another heavily affected pride had 7 lionesses and 10-11 cubs. Not to mention Tsalala pride which according to Londolozi had 10 members, half lost by Mapogos, and Ximunvanyane Pride of 10, of which none survived the Mapogo.

But all of this clearly shows that 2 Othawas and 2 Ximhungwe can easily share the territory successfully.

Idube original post from the beginning ( the rest of the report is in the text I shared above ):

*This image is copyright of its original author

Report on how many lions there were in the Nkuhuma pride that I mentioned: https://wildearth.tv/2008/05/the-khuma-pride-of-lions/

Report on how many lions there were in the Styx pride that I mentioned: https://wildearth.tv/2008/05/the-khuma-pride-of-lions/

Report of how many lions there were in the Tsalala and Ximunvanyane Pride pride that I mentioned: https://wildearth.tv/2008/05/the-mapogo-story/

It seems to me that not only in the Western Sector, but the overall SS lion population was much bigger pre-Mapogos and it never recovered, especially in the Western Sector.
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