The Mighty Mapogos

[fursan syed]

(05-20-2021, 11:51 AM)Thierry Wrote:

(05-20-2021, 05:16 AM)BA0701 Wrote: They may have become a single coalition, once again, following the death of KT, and though the Mlowathis and the Mapogos may have met up on occasion, they were not at that time breeding with each others females, they were behaving in that sense as two separate coalitions. That is, of course, until T returned and was welcomed back into the fold, but it wasn't until after this fight that he became the dominant male. Perhaps the killing of the cubs was a sign that decision had been made for the most part, but it wasn't until after this fight that it was clear. That's what I meant by takeover, which was a poor choice of words on my part, but was referring to T becoming the dominant male of the bunch. Mak and PB, or any of the others for that matter, would have walked into Mlowathi territory and began mating with their lionesses, not without a similar battle taking place. Point I was making was that I do not believe T becomes the dominant male if Dreadlocks or Rasta were still alive.

However, we could go on with the would of, could of, should of, line of thinking until the cows come home, when it comes to this particular coalition. It seems some sites and pages are often dedicated to near constant conversations regarding what may have happened if Mapogo *A* didn't die, or perhaps Mapogo *B* did die, all questions we will obviously never know the answers to, and here, sadly, I find myself contributing to the exact same conversation. The bottom line, for as much territory, and as many prides as they controlled, they were not very successful at creating a lasting legacy. There are many single males, not to mention the many coalitions who were also far more successful, that have actually contributed more to future generations than these guys did, and the Mapogos are my favorite coalition simply for the fact they they were the impetus behind my interest in lions to begin with. Part of that can be attributed to T's rampage, but certainly not all of it, not even close.

I don't know, if we can say that M. T was really dominant. In the video above, we can see PB fighting with him without evidence of domination until the end of the fight. 
Only then did Mr T show a more assertive desire to impose himself and PB gave up. It is a skirmish between lions of the same coalition, like there are so many others, without really allowing to draw an absolute conclusion, on the relations of dominance between the males. Mr. T may have had the last word this time.
Nor can one argue based on the fact that the cubs were killed by M.T, since the exact circumstances of this are not formally known, as far as I understand.
In the end, one can just consider that, as is the case in most coalitions of male lions, the dominance of one of the individuals over the others is circumstantial in itself and of variable geometry. In the specific case of the Mapogos, the presence of Dreadlocks or Rasta might not have changed anything or everything, I can't say, no one can.
The final opinion that one can have on the reality of the dominance of one of these males over the others, perhaps depends mainly on what one personally wishes to see there. Myself, I am attached to the legend of the Mapogos with a big boss Mak and a bad boy Mr. T. Is this true for all that or not? It's not objective, and it never will be for anyone, but that's fine with me.

hello just to tell you the result ... the fight was for lioness and dave pusey recorded that fight and he clearly said Mr.T first chased off makhulu and after that fought with bent spine and took the lioness ,bent spine was defeated and didnt want another round with Mr.T Reply