Other male lion coalitions from Masai Mara

[Tshokwane]

Credits to Peter Rettig.

Some thoughts on Blackie and the current situation of the Topi Plains Pride


After almost 3 years of success and stability the situation for the Topi Plains Pride has changed significantly. The dynamics of the last 12 months played out to the disadvantage of this Pride. Why?

Their aging Pride Males, Lipstick & Blackie, made a bold move to take over the Double Crossing Area and the Enkoyonai Pride in the first half of 2017, the Topi Plains Pride followed them and this was the chance to establish themselves in a much better territory than the Topi Plains are. But Lipstick & Blackie finally lost the competition against two other aging males, Lolparpit & Olbarnoti. These two old warriors took over the Enkoyonai Pride and the entire Double Crossing Area by end of last year. The Enkoyonai Pride consists of 8-9 adult females and outnumbers the 5 Topi Plains Pride Females who got pushed back onto their old territory.

Esp. during the lean season after the long rains the areas adjacent to the Topi Plains and the Double Crossing Areas are still relatively rich of prey. The consequence is that these two competing Prides come into conflict with each other with the smaller Topi Plains Pride being the ones who have to manoeuvre around to avoid physical conflicts and to keep their 10 youngsters safe.

After the death of Lipstick the remaining Pride Male of the Topi Plains Pride, Blackie, sees himself being outnumbered and therefore he does not defend his Pride and their kills. That makes life for the Topi Plains Pride more complicated as the 2 Enkoyonai Males, Lolparpit & Olbarnoti, also go for the kills the Topi Pride has made and chase them off. 

What the Topi Pride did is to go down to the Milima Tatu/Ngorbop area to hunt at night and to move back onto the Topi Plains and the north eastern fringes of Rhino Ridge latest after sunset. But then the next challenge emerged! Not only the 6 Bila Shaka Males also sneak around in all the mentioned areas in search for prey and females, but also several groups of nomadic males. Ironically esp. 2 Nomadic Males forced the Topi Females to avoid their core territory while we were there in the first weeks of June, the 2 Autum Boys, offspring of the Topi Plains Pride. They have temporarily settled on the Topi Plains and go out hunting at night in the very same areas the Topi Plains Pride and the Enkoyonai Pride roam in search for food. While the 2 Autum Boys did not behave aggressively from what we have observed, the Topi Females do not trust them. Blackie did not try to chase them off, it seems he has lost confidence and keeps low profile.

During our second week we have been searching for the Topi Plains Pride for several hours every day. Sometimes we found them lying in the long grass around Milima Tatu and the Ngorbop close to the new Ranger Post, all very close to the Cattle Belt. We never saw all 15 members together again and they always seemed to be highly alerted. Blackie never showed himself again.

Yesterday he was seen in the Mara North Conservancy in the Offbeat Area. This is just opposite of the Ngorbop hence beyond the Cattle Belt. So Blackie has moved out the Danger Zone only to enter another one with the Offbeat Pride having 4 strong Pride Males. There also is word that an old Male and some younger females have tried to break into bomas in this area, very concerning. It might well be that Blackie and some youngsters of the Topi Plains Pride are forced to prey upon Livestock while the Adult Females deal with the intruding Males and try keeping the youngest cubs away from danger.

One can only hope that the incoming migration will ease the situation. Dangerous times for the Topi Plains Pride!

Picture: Blackie close to Milima Tatu on the 8th of June, moving off in the opposite direction of where the Topi Plains Pride was walking

*This image is copyright of its original author

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