Lions of Sabi Sands

[vinodkumarn]

Credits: Elephant Plains Game Lodge

Our New Lion Coalition

The dynamics of the lion prides in our traversing area, is quite interesting. At this stage, there is much speculation regarding the future of our lions, but there have been a few changes of recent.

Two young Talamati and three young Mhangeni male lions, joined the Nkuhuma pride roughly a month ago. While one Talamati male seems to be more accepted by the Nkuhuma females, his brother, on the other hand, does not seem to have the same acceptance as yet, but this will come with time.

The three young Mhangeni males are also attempting to stay clear of a few select adult lionesses. They have been on their own for a long time, but joining up with the Nkuhumas will be far safer for them in regards to keeping them away from older male lions (three Avoca males). Hopefully, these new young males will be an asset for hunting within the pride. So far, the pride has taken down one giraffe and one buffalo. They still struggle to successfully execute the hunts, with the new members, fortunately, the pride have a history of extremely good hunters and even better teachers. This will also help the young males to master the technique of hunting.

Like most things in life, having more members in the pride can have some negative effects. One ‘con’ is having more mouths to feed. This means they will need to hunt more frequently, especially as the six young males will dominate all the kills, leaving the females with less food. However, this is a great opportunity for the young Nkuhuma male to form a bond with these other five males, making it easier for them to one day move on, and hopefully form a new coalition.

This may be beneficial if the Avoca males, who are in their prime, end up with the Nkuhumas in the near future. This will most likely push out the young males. In Buffelshoek, in the north-eastern part of Sabi Sands, the three northern Avoca males have begun pushing into our area to take control. This movement could still take time. The newly formed Nkuhuma pride stay around Elephant Plains, Simbambili and Arathusa properties. This may be for the protection of the young Nkuhuma females, as the pride then to go into Djuma when they hear the Avoca’s roaring close by.

At this point in time, with the Birmingham brothers that moved into Londolozi and Mala Mala, there are no large males with the Nkuhumas. This will probably remain this way for the foreseeable future as there are larger prides, fresh running water and more food available going south.
But this is the wild, and anything can happen.

EP Ranger
Gerrit Ackerman Reply