Lions of Sabi Sands

[fursan syed]

The Rollercoaster Males

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Old Mala Mala Sightings of 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005/6, 2007, 2008 and 2010

2002

March 2002

Four adult male lions: These four male lions are the survivors of five which were first seen in the central-western parts of the reserve half-a-year-or-so ago. They seem to have established themselves in the area of land between the Golf Course Males to their south and the West Street Males further north. It is not known what happened to the fifth, but much in the violent lives lived by these large cats could so easily have killed him. Giving testimony to what they have to face on nearly a daily basis was one of these lions which appeared one day missing one of its eyes, this a recent injury and perhaps from a well-placed buffalo horn.
These four male lions may well have originated from the Charleston Pride, having left that family over one-and-a-half years ago. Interestingly, these lions spent much of March on the eastern bank of the Sand River, roaming the area of Charleston. This they did before heading back to the western bank where they may have cubs with some lionesses thought to be members of the Eyrefield Pride, these coerced from the other members of this family which still have cubs fathered by the West Street Males. Whilst on the eastern bank of the Sand River it is not known whether they actually met up with the Charleston Pride, but the latter did not seem particularly concerned about their presence. And they simply had to have known about it; the four male lions were certainly very evident, splitting into two pairs and roaming all over, following buffalo and hunting regularly. The fact that the Charleston Pride did not flee the area when these four male arrived may be an indication that they are indeed familiar with them, this from their early days as pride members.
One of the more fascinating sightings involving these four male lions was of them digging up a warthog from it burrow inside a termite mound. All four of the lions were found out on the prowl one evening when they veered off the road towards the burrow. After sniffing around for a while and listening carefully, the lions started to excavate the mound, sometimes working in pairs, sometimes alone, but digging methodically and with their paws. The evening drew on and the lions were eventually left hard at work. The sighting was taken over by Kim Wolhuter, the resident photographer/ filmmaker on Mala Mala who saw them, six hours later, hauling out an adult male warthog.
Earlier in the game-report-period the lions delivered another fine piece of action. This happened when two of them moved far north on the eastern bank of the Sand River and encountered the large herd of buffalo which they set about pursuing. The buffalo were aware of the lions and moved steadily away from them. But a couple of day-old calves were amongst the buffalo and these held some of them up. When the buffalo reached the Matshapiri River, the two lions circled around and managed to isolate a group of 40 or so buffalo which were with the small calves. And then it was a waiting game until the lions ran in and both calves were caught. The following day the other two male lions of this group were seen chasing after the small herd of buffalo near the central-west of Mala Mala and then following them for some time. So, a powerful force of young male lions!
The next few months will prove interesting in seeing where they end up and whether they will continue to use the eastern bank of the Sand River.

April 2002

Four adult male lions (one missing an eye): These four male lions were seen several times throughout the course of the month. At one stage they were seen way to the southeast of the reserve close to the confluence of the Chellahanga and the Sand Rivers. On another occasion they were found on the western bank of the Sand River towards the centre of the reserve, this time following a large group of buffalo. The last sightings of these four were at the end of the report period when they were in the central-west of the reserve, mating with the youngest lioness of the Eyrefield Pride. It has been suspected that perhaps half of the lionesses of the Eyrefield Pride were coerced away from the others by this coalition. This happened half a year or more ago and it is suspected that these lionesses now have cubs fathered by these males.

May 2002

Four adult male lions (one missing an eye): These male lions had a dismal month. After ending April having mated with one of the Eyrefield lionesses, they started this game-viewing period by 'invading' areas to the north of their range, chasing buffalo. But instead of emerging victorious with kills and perhaps also territory under their belts, they were soundly routed by the resident male lions, these the older three West Street Males.
From the north they went south, inside territory controlled by the Golf Course Males. But here nothing was seen to happen, although at the only other sighting of members of this coalition later on in the month, only three were present, one of which was emaciated and limping, these apparently the result of a severe thrashing, almost certainly at the hands of other lions. Nevertheless, as bleak as their recent weeks have been, these lions were still defiant and as they walked and limped away, they roared loudly for others to hear. So is it over for them or not? Has their challenge for power been beaten back or are they still learning and now taking time to regroup to return at some later date?

June 2002


Four adult male lions (one missing his left eye): These four lions, which had a dismal May when the West Street Males fought with them and won, seemed to have had a better June. They were first seen towards the end of this game-report period after over a month of absence. All four suddenly resurfaced close to Kirkmans Camp, deep within Golf Course Males territory, and engaged in a blatant display of strength - scent-marking and roaring - actions designed to intimidate rival males. There seemed to be some response from the Golf Course Males, but none of them were seen to come forward to meet these challengers. But that is where it seemed to end for the month. Was this a testing exercise and will more follow? Did the Golf Course Males later arrive to repulse them and if so did they make a good showing and so scare off the four males?

July 2002

Four adult male lions (one missing his left eye): Although all four of these males were seen this month, there was not one sighting of them together. On one day, at the very beginning of this game report period, three of the four were seen towards the south of the reserve, whilst the fourth one was many kilometres further north. For the remainder of the month, the only encounters with any of these four was of three together. It was not established if it was always the same three or if the sightings included all four. But the interesting thing with these lions is the area in which they roam. So far, in addition to the central-south and west of Mala Mala, they seem to go all the way south, into areas patrolled by the Charleston Pride. But these forays do not seem to threaten the Charleston Pride and when seen this way during July, it was probably mostly for hunting purposes. Some evidence suggests that these males are in fact brothers, half brothers and even a cousin of the Charleston Pride lionesses and so, being familiar with them perhaps puts them at ease. But the main focus in terms of territory for the four seems to be the western parts of Charleston, west of the Sand River and perhaps further south of this, towards the areas held by the Golf Course Males. There was one sighting of three of these males mating with a lioness thought to be from the Selati Pride.

August 2002

There were no sightings of all four of these lions together, but several of three of them. There were perhaps three encounters with the fourth member of the coalition. Indications are that this fourth lion of the group is not in a good way and may even have died by the end of this game-report period. Nevertheless, the other three seem to be going from strength to strength when if comes to their 'invasion' of the southwestern parts of the reserve and the ousting of the Golf Course Males. The behaviour of these three males in this particular area is without doubt designed to provoke the Golf Course Males and has involved roaring, scent-marking, hunting in this area and the courting of lionesses of the Selati Pride, the family which up until now seems to have been under the control of the Golf Course Males.

September 2002

These three male lions were seen several times during September, all sightings being on Western Toulon and SW Charleston, areas which up until recently were under the control of the Golf Course Males. The latter appear to have been run off by these other three which have been around for over a year now, originally as a group of five. Thoughts too are that the four of the five were originally from the Charleston Pride and the fifth from the River Rocks Pride, cousins of the Charleston Pride. And with the territory should come lionesses. The pride resident in the area which the surviving three males have taken residence in is the Selati Pride and they have been somewhat scarce, probably torn between following their old protectors, the Golf Course Males, and weathering the upheaval caused by the new trio of male lions. Although it is known that members of the Selati Pride have in past months made acquaintances with these three male lions, there were no sightings during September of any lionesses together with the males.

October 2002

The Rollercoaster Males were seen several times this month, all sightings being on NW Toulon or western Charleston to the west of the Sand River. Although this trio of lions has certainly ousted the Golf Course Males, the extent of their domination over the lionesses of the area is unclear. They were seen with lionesses this month, on one occasion hunting with them and stealing a kill which they had made. On another occasion, male lions, almost certainly the Rollercoaster Males, were seen acting aggressively with lionesses and youngsters. It is not certain whether the lionesses were members of the Selati Pride or some other family of lions.

November 2002

Only one member of the Rollercoaster Males was seen this month, eating an adult male impala. It is not certain whether he killed it or simply stole it from another weaker predator. The Rollercoaster Males are thought to be spending time to the west of the southern parts of Mala Mala, consolidating territory in this area.

December 2002

There were only two sightings of the Rollercoaster Males during the December-game-report-period, these 10 days apart and both towards the SW parts of the reserve, west of the Sand River. On both occasions they were accompanying two lionesses. The identity of these lionesses is not known. Are they perhaps part of the Selati Pride or do they represent another pride of lions which has moved in to take advantage of the chaos sowed when the Rollercoaster Males ousted the Golf Course Males from this area some months ago? It was probably these same two lionesses which were seen towards the end of the month near Kirkman's Kamp, this time minus the Rollercoaster Males. Reply