The Matimba coalition

[Mapokser]

I was reading this thread during the en  of HB's reign and there was a lot of talk about their ages, some saying they were born in 2005, some others saying 2007... so I'd like to give my take on this.

First of, based on the Skybed takeover information and pictures of the youger Matimbas I disregard completely any notion they were born in 2005, and maybe more importantly, we have photos of both them and the Majins during their clash in mid-2011 and the Matimbas were clearly younger and clearly at least still some good months away from their prime, unlike like their rivals ( not counting Ndhuna ), they were 6 months to 1 year younger IMO and looked more or less the same age of the Majins exactly 1 year before when they took over the Mapogo's territory.

So while they're definitely not born in 2005, I also think they couldn't be from 2007 either and think that based on photos some were possibly 1 month older than the others. We have to remember that they were territorial and dominant in 2010 after they took over Dozie's territorial so I think they must have been 4 by then. Even more aggressive males like the Mapogos ( who were also 5 and also had an older 6th male with them who was already territorial ) weren't acting like territorial males when that young ( nevermind had any territory ) and would avoid and run from prime lions like the 2 Split Rock males even when they outnumbered them.

Now to address the info about the Skybeds taking over the Birmingham pride and mating with the female in 27 of August 2006, we're told/see that in the same day they ousted their 2 rivals they mated with one female, but this doesn't mean they were conceived there nor that the said lioness is even  one of their mothers necessarily ( also someone said at that point that rangers from there said the Matimbas sisters were 14 so they couldn't have been born in 2007 ), in fact it seems to me that the female was already used to them for her to accept and mate with the male so easily. We know takeovers can take months and it's normal for lions to mate for months and it's also very common for females to mate with other males when their coalition males are weakened and a takeover is possible so my guess is that they were already mating with the Skybeds a few months before August 27.

When they first showed up in SS in mid-2011 they were said to be 5yo with the exception of the older male, and their pictures and videos from 2011 clearly show that they couldn't be as young as 4, plus, their behavior, would 4yo males get in long clashes, chases, chasings and even brutal fights against fully-developed males such as Mapogos and Majingilanes? It's normal for older males to chase multiple 4 year olds with easy, these 4yo usually only chase or even worse, fight, when they outnumber their foes pretty decisively.

Not to mention, when they first showed up in SS in June, the information we got was, to quote "it was 3 Matimba/Sava males, they are 6 brothers, five are 5yo and the sixth brother is 7yo". It seems pretty on point, no?

TD;LR: I think evidence points out to them being born in mid-2006 with maybe some being a month older/younger.

*This image is copyright of its original author

August 2011 /\ during clash with the Majingilanes, Ndhuna in the middle. Are you gonna tell me the other two aren't clearly a few months older than 5? Both had long manes, the one in the front has a very dark mane and the one behind Ndhuna has a full mane already.

*This image is copyright of its original author

/\ 17 Oct 2011 in Djuma. How is this guy not around 5 and a half? He would still be 4 going by the interpretation the Skybeds only started mating with the Birmingham females at the very end of August 2006 which would make them be born in December 2006/January 2007.

Those multiple lodges and rangers from SS during HB's time in the West said they did their research and he had turned 15 in May. We can safely say they got the year wrong somehow, but the month is quite a different story, would they have made that up? I don't think so, why May specifically? From what I can gather, it seems very much on point and you can see it above, I'd say they were born in May-June of 2006. Reply