The Matimba coalition

[Fredymrt]

(09-10-2017, 05:48 PM)Michael Wrote: The male subadult in the picture is Junior right ?

I'm not 100% sure

More info about the matimbas

Thursday, 11 April 2013
Sightings Update: 19 March - 1 April 2013


The big cats have once again delivered with incredible cheeah sightings and lions aplenty. Slowly but surely the morning and evening air is cooling and the autumn colours are returning to the bush. This really is a beautiful time in the lowveld.

Lions Matimba males

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These males are still split at the moment and we still haven’t seen Induna for a while. The dark maned males have been with the Koppies females and most of their activity has been around and just west of Main dam. No major happenings have occurred and it seems that peace has settled in Matimba territory, for the moment. They have been a little scarce and there were some days that we couldn't find them at all. One of the blonde males showed an injury on his left foot and moved quite gingerly. It looks as if he was in a big fight and this male frequents the south, he may have picked it up south of our border.

The Nkuhuma pride

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These females have been around the south over the last two weeks, mostly in the area around S8 and S9. The cubs are all still doing very well and have given us some fantastic sightings, doing lots of cubby type things. They haven’t been with the Matimba males and hopefully these males are protecting their territory well enough to look after these precious little ones.

One sighting we had was of three of the cubs in a tree. The two smaller cubs were trying to escape one of their larger cousins, who was in a curious mood. He kept at least one of the small cubs cornered, and kept harassing “this little squirt”. Eventually the little one used his teeth and bit back, to the surprise of the bigger cousin.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Sunday, 21 April 2013
Sightings Update: 1 - 8 April 2013

This week has been a fairly quiet one,as far as the big cat politics goes. The Matimba males seem quite content to hang around with the females they have secured. Slowly they are beginning to act like territorial males and less like marauding killers, securing their territory and achieving security in an area that has lacked stability for well over a year now.

Lions Matimba males

Dark males ( Slit Nose, White face, the male with the piercing eyes) with the Koppies females

This big coalition is still split into two groups, the blonde males in the south and the dark males in the central Manyeleti. As it stands at the moment, the dark males have spent most of the week with the Koppies females with two sightings of them together. The first sighting was at S6 pan to the north west of Main dam. When we arrived the female was just beginning to stir and after a few minutes she started moving east towards Main dam. Within seconds the Matimba male made his move to where she had been lying. He sniffed around looking for any sign that she might be ready to mate. They mated with these females a few weeks back, so his chances weren’t good, but you can’t blame a guy for trying though!

*This image is copyright of its original author

Slit nose

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*This image is copyright of its original author

A few days later, Patrick found both males with two of the Koppies girls on Mantwan Mphisi. It had been a little chilly that morning, and all four lions were huddled together. After 15 minutes or so, the oldest Koppies girl got up and started moving east and the slow procession started after her. Being a matriarchal society, she would dictate the movement of the group and it was interesting to see the mighty Matimba males fall in line like that.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Blonde males (Hairy belly and ginger) with the Nkuhuma females

The first sighting of these Lions was on Pungwe access, where Mpho found one Matimba male with two Nkuhuma girls and worryingly only one cub. The split of this pride is still very apparent and even though they were together last week, they again have moved in different directions. Only time will tell what happened to the older cubs. They were following a herd of Buffalo, so this may just be the clue.


A few days later we found two of the blonde males close to Bushbuck dam in the extreme south. They spent the day lying in a Guarrie thicket and just after sunset made their way to the water to have a drink. The male that had the injury to his front left paw came first. As the other male caught up he started roaring and the injured male joined in. The sound of two big male lions roaring is one that you won’t forget quickly and is one of the most impressive sights and sounds in the bush.

Ginger

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Monday, 29 April 2013 Darren the Tintswalo team

Sightings Update: 8 - 15 April 2013

Lion Matimba Males

The dark males have once again delivered on the bulk of the sightings this week. They seem intent on pushing the boundaries of their already massive territory and have continued venturing further and further north. A few months ago they spent most of their time south of Main dam, but the females they required were north and west of their area. After chasing the Sizanani males, they secured the Mbiri females as well as the Koppies pride. This brought a change in their behaviour and they have settled into a role of strong, dominant pride males.

This week we had sightings of them at some of their favourite haunts around Metsikitsoro plains and Ndulamiti road area. As I mentioned before, a lot of their time was spent in the Catwalk west area and again on Vulture pan road, but much further north than usual.

The blonde males were seen only once this week. They were seen close to the S10/S9 area and moved south again shortly after that. These males look after the Nkuhuma females, who spent the week south of our border. We’re sure that this was what they were looking for, the females!

Koppies females

These females were first seen with the Matimba males on Metsikitsoro plains. After that the males went off and gained more territory, leaving the females to do what they do best, hunt! After struggling to find them for a few days, Mpho picked up on the girls with a fresh Zebra kill, just off Sable west road. The youngest koppies girl hasn’t been seen in a while again. The last time we saw here she wasn’t looking too good. She was really skinny and her condition was bad. It seems like the inevitable may have happened. She stood up for herself with the Matimba male on a Waterbuck kill and looked as if she was going to pull through and become a strong, confident lioness. Unfortunately it seems this didn’t happen. This is all still speculation, and she might still turn up, but her pride mates were on a kill and she wasn’t there. It doesn’t look good!

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Friday, 17 May 2013
Sightings Update: 22 - 29 April 2013

Well the mornings are getting colder and the rain is gone for the next few months. Winter is fast approaching and we’re looking forward to the oncoming dry season. The grass will start to thin, making our game viewing easier. The big cats will start their season of plenty and by the end of the dry season, territories will be fought for, as prey animals are forced closer to water sources.

Lions Matimba males

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The week started off with one of the blonde Matimba’s venturing north and spending some time with the Koppies females at Zebra pan quarry. He was obviously interested in testing the females and looking for a mating opportunity. His dark maned coalition mates have already beaten him to it a while ago. He spent two days with the girls and was attentive every time they moved.

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The dark maned males produced the bulk of the Matimba sightings this week as they continued to explore their new patch. No major drama with these guys, just the consolidation of the territorial take-over.

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The big question to ask however, is the territory just getting too big. We have been asked by several people regarding the Skybeds males and what impact we believe they are going to have on the Matimba’s and their ever growing territory. My belief is that they are going to settle in an area that is easier to take over. The basic concept of anything natural is that nature will always find the path of least resistance, and at the moment the Matimba coalition, even though divided and far flung, presents a lot of resistance. I don’t believe that the Skybeds males will challenge for Matimba territory. There must be easier territories to take.

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Koppies females

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*This image is copyright of its original author

These females moved around quite a bit this week. After spending two days with one of the Matimba’s at Zebra pan quarry, they were seen at Mazambaan corner, moving towards Helens road, with one Matimba not far behind. They moved into thick bush, and we couldn’t follow. They were found again a few days later on Catwalk west and once again the blonde Matimba was with them. Can’t blame a guy for trying!

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Nkuhuma pride

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We had one fantastic sighting of the three of the females with eight cubs. We don’t know what happened to the other cub, but they seem to be doing well under the protection of the Matimba males.

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Eric found them on the morning drive all the way down south. He found them on a Zebra kill very close to Bushbuck dam. This is about 200 meters from our southern boundary, but the fact that they had a kill meant that they were going to be there at least the whole day. So we decided to make our way there in the afternoon. When we arrived they started making their way off the kill. They then moved south towards the dam for a drink.

It’s always such a special sighting, when you get Lion cubs and watching the interaction between the cubs and their mothers.

Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Sightings Report: 30 April - 6 May 3013

Lions Matimba Males

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The big males have started moving to the south of their newly acquired territory and we have been seeing them more and more in the area close to Main dam again. This area was the core of their territory for most of the rainy season. They have however been very sly in their wonderings by staying very close to the drainage lines and moving in the thick bush along the dry river beds. This habit of theirs has made us work just a little harder in finding them as well as keeping sight of them.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

One of the blonde Matimba’s was seen with the Nkuhuma pride in the south and was interacting with the cubs. It seemed that he had become a large, fluffy play thing and seemed to enjoy it as much as the cubs. They will definitely not have this level of tolerance towards the cubs if they were not their own.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Koppies Females

We only had one sighting of the big girls of the central Manyeleti. They had killed a young Giraffe calf on Incha road to the south-west of the koppies and fed on it for three days.

The mother of the calf was hanging around the kill site for almost two days and was seen approaching and watching as the females fed on the calf. This naturally brought some very mixed feelings to the guests, but also reminded us that the African bush has some harsh realities. Just a few months back the same pride lost one member and her cubs to starvation and the unfortunate bi-products of that starvation. The truth is that some have to die so that some can live.

Nkuhuma Females

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These Lions are doing incredibly well. Eight cubs are still with the females and the Matimba males are doing a sterling job at protecting the Nkuhuma’s. The history of this pride has always been a tough life of marauding males unsettling the pride and several deaths of cubs and young males. They really are thriving under the Matimba males and control a large section of the southern part of the reserve with no competition from other lions at all.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

The only sighting we had of them was with one of the big guys and showed just how patient the males are with their own cubs. Reply