There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
(04-11-2022, 09:22 AM)Mapokser Wrote: Very interesting video. Mapogos have a history with killing their own coalition's cubs. The 5 younger ones killed Makhulu's cubs in 2007 too. Does anyone even know why? Maybe because Makhulu was the only one who mated with the lionesses? Iirc it maybe have been even another occasion of Mapogos killing cubs besides the 2007 and the 2010 occasions.
But on Mr.T's case, it's interesting because he clearly sees that the others are protecting the cubs and won't even allow him to get close to the kill. I wonder if his intentions were to kill them to mate with the lionesses himself ( and he didn't mind killing his nephews for that ), or he was just instinctively killing them because from his POV they are foreigner cubs and he was confused for why the brothers were protecting them? In this case he couldn't realize that they were their brothers cubs or he couldn't know/be sure since he wasn't there when they were mating.
It's hard to know his reasons exactly since, well, he's a lion, he doesn't have human reasoning and acts more on instinct. But my point is, it's normal behaviour for a lion to kill his brother's cubs if he think there's no chance the cubs are them? If he knows he didn't mated with the lionessand only his brother did, would the lion consider killing the cubs if he gets the chance? If he suddenly becomes the dominant of the two, if the other dies and he's the only dominant one, or some similar situation, or would he be ok having nephews around? Or if anything, he would kill them to be able to mate with the lionesses faster?
Of course we are sorry, but he did not do it for 'malice', when he returned to his brothers he could not recognize the cubs as grandchildren, and generally lions do not mind killing their grandchildren and sometimes even their children if they think that are not their children. It's a real shame that so few Mapogo descendants survived, yes. But I like to see mr T with his ears down, intimidated by his brothers, some praise him too much, while he was probably the smallest and least dominant, albeit with the most aggressive behaviors. He remains the great merit of having remained to fight against the 4 selati, allowing the elders Makhulu and Pretty Boy to escape, the selati gave him a more honorable death than the one that the maginjilane gave to KT, and they also tried with the huge hairy belly in 4v1, but it kept them at bay.