Lions of Sabi Sands

[fursan syed]

West Street Males

2003

January 2003


The three West Street Males may never again be seen together. By months end only two of these males were being encountered. Towards the beginning of January all three of the West Street Males were still alive, but not well. One of them was almost skeletal he was so thin. Goodness knows what could have happened; this was the same male which last month single-handedly killed the buffalo which was later shared with the other two West Street Males and many of the Eyrefield Pride.
Towards the beginning of the game-report-period, this same lion, alone and thinner than ever, was seen pursuing the large herd of buffaloes, catching a young calf, but then being chased off by the other buffaloes which responded to the youngsters' distress calls. And things became worse from here before he finally disappeared. It could well be that some disease such as bovine tuberculosis has finally kicked in and killed him. Old lions such as the West Street Males, which have been around for nearly five years, would really be battling to maintain energy levels as their bodies simply wear out. Under such stress the immune system will be compromised and latent diseases will have the chance to take over.
The other two West Street Males have continued to soldier on and don't look too bad in terms of body condition. Apart from the sightings when they were alone, the West Street Males continued to spend time with various members of the Eyrefield Pride, the lions which they have dominated for the last five years. With the probable death of the one West Street Males, one wonders just how long the other two will be able to hold onto power. Halfway through January, when one of the West Street Males was responding to an intrusion into the northwestern parts of their territory by a single 'foreign' male lion, he was seen pacing and scent-marking vigorously, a valiant attempt to show others that the area was still held by strong forces. But when other lions were heard roaring far to his east, the lion stopped, listened but did not answer. Should these two West Street Males not be able to hold out for another few months, chances are good that at least some of their progeny will be killed by whichever male lions inevitably take over.

February 2003


Sightings this month confirmed that there are now only two West Street Males left, the third having died sometime last month. When the West Street Males rolled into this area nearly five years ago, there were five of them; three have now died, all probably in the last two years. Just how long it's going to be before the other two simply cannot hold on is anyone's guess. For the West Street Males, they had their prime at least two years ago, but what has probably kept them alive up until now has been a lack of competent competition; there just do not seem to have been any coalitions of young males capable of filling their boots! This month the two surviving West Street Male soldiered on, patrolling territory alone or together or hanging out with members of the Eyrefield Pride. All of these lions seem set to benefit from the drought conditions due to the fact that this is forcing the large herd of buffaloes to remain dependent on the central and northern parts of the Sand River. For much of the month, however, the buffaloes were in superb physical condition and for the most part managed to fight the lions off. However, towards months end, the lack of food and perhaps also the stress of having lions so often around and being forced to remain area-bound, started to tell and the lions had greater success. This promised bounty of good food in the months ahead could keep the old West Street Males going for a while longer still. On the other hand, a concentrated supply of food could tempt other lions in, these to overthrow a now probably quite weak coalition.

March 2003


The two old West Street Males appeared to have had a good month, starting off with the killing of an adult female buffalo from the large herd of buffaloes, at that time weakened by a lack of rain.  Later they killed an abandoned buffalo calf and all looked set for them to continue to plunder the buffaloes.  But then rains fell, not enough to break the drought, but sufficient to give the buffaloes some more green grass and scope to move beyond the drought-induced-restrictions.  The buffaloes left the reserve for a week and when they returned, the West Street Males immediately headed towards them.  But, having had a week of good grass, the buffaloes were once more their old belligerent selves and the West Street Males had to back off.
All in all the two West Street Males seemed to get around their territory and even beyond it during March.  At one time they were found near the upper parts of the Matshapiri River, close to where they were routed by the Split Rock Males over a year ago.  They also spent time with the Eyrefield Pride, the group of females which they control.

April 2003

In addition to being seen alone or in only each others' company, the West Street Males were also seen accompanying members of the Eyrefield Pride this month.  Although they were again somewhat tempted by buffaloes from the large herd, these proved too powerful for the old males and they were not seen to catch any.  This may very well have been one of the reasons why there were perhaps not as many sightings during April of the West Street Males as has been the case over past months.  They and the Eyrefield Pride could have moved off following other easier to catch animals after failing against the still healthy buffaloes on Mala Mala.  But, in general, the West Street Males appeared to do well this month.

May 2003


The West Street Males continued to prosper - or at least stay alive.  Food has been plentiful for them, probably largely a result of the work done by the Eyrefield Pride lionesses, which they spent a fair amount of time with this month.  A rhino carcass also provided them with a good supply of meat for a week or so.  But, as their teeth wear out, so the food they are able to get to becomes less useful.  However, an extra month alive for the West Street Males is another month closer to security for the four one-and-a-half-year-old cubs of the Eyrefield Pride; the bigger they are when 'replacement male lions' eventually chase the West Street Males away, the less likely it will be that they are killed.  And young male lions are at the door.  This month there were several sightings of two approximately five-year-old male lions hanging around the northern parts controlled by the West Street Males and also north of this, onto northern Mala Mala and Eyrefield.  Probably in response to this intrusion, we heard plenty of lion roaring in this area, a very obvious way to demonstrate that they, the West Street Males, are not yet ready to hand over power.  One wonders just how much of this roaring was done by the four-and-a-half-year-old male lion of the Eyrefield Pride.  His presence in the area would now probably be of some help to the West Street Males and although he is still deferential to them, they surely value his presence.  The two young male lions seen were somewhat suspicious of landrovers, suggesting that they have originated from an area where vehicles are not often encountered, perhaps the Kruger National Park.  It was probably these same two young males which were last seen towards the middle of the game-report-period near the northern parts of the reserve and close to where some of the Styx Pride lionesses were hiding - or at least it appeared as if they were hiding.

June 2003


The two old West Street Male survived another month and ended up looking fit for their age, which is now probably somewhere between 12 and 13 years.  There were no sightings this month of just the two of them; when both were present, they were together with members of the Eyrefield Pride, the lionesses and cubs of the family under their charge.  There were only three sightings of only a single West Street Male, this probably of one of them out patrolling territory.

July 2003


The West Street Males survived another month and ended it looking quite good.  Although they were seen separately from the various members of the Eyrefield Pride, they seemed to spend most of the month with various groupings of these lionesses - which of course means a more secure source of food for them.
 
August 2003


The two old West Street Males soldiered on this month.  Towards the beginning of August, one of them, probably after finding himself on the wrong side of a buffalo, was battling to walk and spent four or five days alone and recuperating on NW Mala Mala in the general area of the Sand River.  Although very lean after this rest-up, his wounds healed and he soon joined up with his companion as well as the Eyrefield Pride. 
As has become expected, the West Street Males spent more time together with the lionesses and young of the Eyrefield Pride than they did alone.  Towards the end of the month these old males proved their worth when they effected a speedy end to a buffalo hunt by playing an important role in wrestling down an adult female buffalo.

September 2003

Compared with previous months, the two West Street Male lions probably spent more time away from the lionesses of the Eyrefield Pride than usual.  Often they were accompanied by the now impressively large young male lion from the Eyrefield Pride.  Although some of these excursions appeared to be dedicated to territorial patrols, many involved finding food, either fortuitous scavenging or following after buffaloes.  But, in spite of their quite impressive workload and the generally good access which they have had to food, the body condition of the two surviving West Street Males seems to decline every day.  One wonders just how long it will be before they simply cannot go on any more.

October 2003

The West Street Male lions had an extraordinary month.  After spending the initial days of this report-period wandering around with the Eyrefield Pride, hunting, and doing nothing particularly extraordinary, two adult male lions wandered into the northwestern parts of the West Street Males' domain, roared and then moved off again.  Although they may have done so, the West Street Males were not seen to respond to this.  Then, near the beginning of October, when they and some of the Eyrefield Pride attacked some old buffalo bulls near the Main Camp, one of the West Street Male received a hard blow from the horn of one of the large bulls and, for a couple of days, lay in the reeds near the causeway, recuperating.  As it turned out, this could hardly have been a better place to recover; other members of the Eyrefield Pride soon chanced by and killed a large buffalo bull close to where he was resting.  Naturally, the old lion participated and almost certainly benefited from this huge feed.  They also killed a zebra later that same day, close to where the dead buffalo lay and this too added to the mountain of food.  A day or so later, an old male lion pitched up at the kill and the West Street Male and two lionesses confronted him, but did not drive him off completely.  The following morning, the other West Street Male, young male of the Eyrefield Pride and the rest of the lionesses and youngsters also arrived and the old male lion received a mental (and perhaps something of a physical) battering as the males, and sometimes the females too, surrounded and harassed it, roaring and posturing as they circled the probably terrified lion.  But in the end, the old male was allowed to move off and the West Street Males and others continued with their lives. 

A few days later, the two Split Rock Males, northern neighbours to the West Street Males, came far south, deep into West Street Male territory, roared, chased buffaloes and then headed northwards again, but made it quite clear that they were challenging the West Street Males.  Initially only one of the West Street Males responded by roaring several kilometres to the south of where the two Split Rock Males were lying.  But, the following day, both West Street Males moved in and over a period of nearly a week, stayed around the upper-reaches of the Sand River, roaring loudly.  Once this was over, they joined up with members of the Eyrefield Pride and were probably instrumental in killing an adult female buffalo and calf close to where they had been resting.  Once these buffaloes had been consumed, the Eyrefield Pride members chased some other lions (the Mlowathi Pride) from another buffalo carcass which they had killed nearby, and, a day later, were joined by the West Street Males.  Then, just as this carcass was being finished, the Split Rock Males decided to make a return and, soon after the West Street Males had moved off, leaving the lionesses and youngsters nibbling at what remained of the feast, they came roaring in.  Initially it looked as if a rout was the order of the day; the Eyrefield Pride fled and the West Street Males appeared to be running from the Split Rock Males.  The Split Rock Males, reading this as the flow of battle, gave chase, pursuing the fleeing West Street Males for at least a couple of kilometres.  Then, when it seemed as if they were getting close to the retreating West Street Males, the Split Rock Males even picked up the pace, apparently eager to engage the older lions.  But then things changed.  Sensing that the Split Rock Males were coming closer, the two West Street Males stopped in their tracks, turned towards the approaching opposition and waited.  There was nothing panicky about the West Street Males; all their body language exuded eager anticipation for the imminent confrontation.  One of them even lay down and slowly rolled over as if scratching his back before he stood up and, with his companion, advanced upon the Split Rock Males which had be now come to a standstill nearby, uncertain as to why the West Street Males were no longer on the run and were now clearly not the beaten and terrified opposition.  As the West Street Males advanced, they roared in unison and this was probably the final straw for the now confused Split Rock Males; they turned and ran.  The pursuers were now the pursued.  Psychologically it must have been humiliating for the Split Rock Males, lions almost certainly physically more powerful than the West Street Males.  But what they have in brawn, the older males have in experience and cunning and this was probably what turned the tide.  As far as is known, the West Street Males had no further troubles from the Split Rock Males over this report-period. 

One other interesting incident this month, however, was when one of the lionesses of the Eyrefield Pride came into season and, in the absence of the West Street Males (still seeing off the Split Rock Males in follow-up operations), mated with the five-year-old Eyrefield Pride Male.  When the West Street Males rejoined and the pair was still mating, they failed to chase the young male lion away and let them continue.  So, although the West Street Males are really aging fast and peripheral males sense this, they are by no means out of it and are not prepared to go down without a good fight.

November 2003

The two West Street Males survived another month and again emerged looking pretty good.  They and the five-year-old male lion of the Eyrefield Pride roamed around, proclaiming their territory and hunting with the lionesses of the Eyrefield Pride.  At the very beginning of the report-period, one of the Eyrefield Pride lionesses came into season and was calling for a male lion.  Both West Street Males and the young male of the Eyrefield Pride, which at the time had been on their northern border roaring and scent-marking against continued incursions or threats thereof from the Split Rock Males, responded and, led by the young male lion, caught up with the lioness.  Interestingly, rather than the young male lion dominating the lioness as happened last month, it was one of the West Street Males.  The young male lion was lying close to where the courting pair was resting, his frustration plain to see.  Another surprise mating involving one of the West Street Males occurred nearly two weeks later when one of them responded to the old lioness from the Styx Prides need to mate, sought her out and stayed with her for perhaps two days before probably departing when one of the Split Rock Males arrived.  This mating demonstrates just how the bodies' demands supersede so many other considerations.  The West Street Male lions have, from day one of their reign, tried to dominate the Styx Pride, but have failed on every turn.  But now, when one of them needs a mate because her body's chemical messengers are saying so, past animosities are forgotten. 

In between these two mating events, one of the West Street Males chased a Split Rock Male away from the carcasses of an adult female buffalo and her calf.  The Split Rock Male had killed these animals on NW Mala Mala, an area under the control of the West Street Males and had apparently offered little, if any, resistance when confronted.  For most of the month, however, the West Street Males hung out with the lionesses of the Eyrefield Pride and on some occasions, assisting them in bringing down large prey items such as buffaloes.  So things look quite good for the West Street Males - at least for the short term.  Their biggest concern of course, must be that physically they are reaching their end.  With their teeth almost completely ground down to stumps, effective use of food must be very limited and both West Street Males always appear skeletal, their ribs showing very prominently.  So, as frustrating as it must be for the Split Rock Males to be resisted by such old lions, all they really need to do is bide their time for just a while longer and eventually they'll have their prize.  Mentally, of course, the West Street Males remain in top form and this is perhaps mostly what keeps them alive and from being taken over by expansionist neighbours such as the Split Rock Males.


December 2003

If anything, the West Street Male lions didn't have a particularly good month.  Not that they were beaten up or starved of food, its just that their general behaviour suggested that they were running from something and that things just weren't as stable as has been in the past.  The Split Rock Males, their northern neighbours and challengers, seemed to make major inroads into West Street Male territory and there just wasn't the sort of response from the West Street Males that suggested that they were up to defending their territory against these invaders. 
The West Street Males continued to spend much time with the Eyrefield Pride, but these lions too behaved in a way that could have indicated some sort of worry as to the ability of their long-term 'guardians', the West Street Males, to protect them.  With both Eyrefield Pride lionesses and youngsters spending a great amount of time in the southern limits of their territory and even beyond this, it could very well be viewed as a sign that they're expecting trouble from the north (i.e. Split Rock Males) and that they don't really feel that the West Street Males can defend.  So, is this the beginning of the stage of rapid decline for the old West Street Males?  They've managed to cling on to power for so long, but, with their bodies now showing clear signs of physical deterioration, the end could finally be near.

All Credits goes to MALA MALA Reply