The Matimba coalition

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Fredymrt

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#621

09-08-2017, 11:46 PM

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Matimba males

Hairy belly

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We had one very interesting sighting of these majestic males. Mpho found three of the males not far from Metsikitsoro plains, close to Main Dam. They were moving quite rapidly and he had his work cut out for him as they took the lead. They got to the plains and were sniffing around. Something had really peaked their interest, but the heat of the day forced them to cut their search off, at least until it cooled in the afternoon.

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Mpho noticed fresh tracks of two females heading west into the Koppies females territory. Two of the females had been here very recently and this is clearly what these males were after. The Matimba males have done well in securing a big territory but have not yet secured the females that come with it. It seems they may have some charm issues!

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That afternoon we returned to where they were left that morning and as it was still very hot they were still blissfully sleeping in the shade. After about 20 minutes they started stirring. First order was to get a drink and they made their way to the small pan on the plains. Like old pro’s, they were on the scent trail again. We followed them and as they found where the ladies had lain down they started Flehmen grimacing, testing every bit of information they could get out of it. One after another, they sniffed and walked. The Koppies females have had run-ins with these males before. This time they were clever enough to outsmart them and luckily got away in time.

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The highlight of this blog is definitely the return of a small pride of Lion. They are a breakaway group from the Orpen pride and haven’t been seen for more than half a year!

Lion

Orpen Breakaways

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The last time these lions were seen was just before the massive flooding that happened in the lowveld. They were pursued by the Matimba’s and several cubs were killed. After that they ventured east into the Kruger National Park and we hadn’t seen them since. Until now! We were having a tough time finding lion. Their tracks were everywhere, but no lion could be found. Mpho got onto it, and as he does it, within half an hour, he had lion.

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We arrived at the sighting and at first thought it might be the skittish pride from Kruger and approached very carefully. These lion did not even look up. The group consists of two adult females, a young female and a young male. The two youngsters were lying on a termite mound and were extremely curious. They afforded us great opportunities to get fantastic shots.

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After a good half an hour of watching these youngsters and enjoying their posing, they got up and joined the adults. After this sighting it seems they moved back towards the Kruger area.

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