The Birmingham Males

[Tshokwane]

(02-07-2017, 08:39 PM)leocrest Wrote: There is a report of the fight between the birms on their facebook page.

Birmingham brothers battle: By E.P Rangers.

We had some great sightings this week and it made it very difficult to pick one. There was some amazing leopards, elephants, buffaloes and wild dog sightings, but the one sighting that stood out more for me than the rest was this particular sighting. It’s was on a very warm afternoon game drive when we received a call on the radio from the Eastern part of the reserve that they have spotted two Styx lionesses with two cubs and one Birmingham male lion. 

We immediately made our way into the area, where we found them having a very typical lion sleep under a big Knobthorn Tree. As it was cooling down they became a lot more active. We had a good position where the cubs started to play with each other and playing with their mother and even tried their luck with the big male. Everyone seemed to have a good time and look like one happy family, when all of a sudden, a second male arrive in the sighting. He came walking down the road like only male lions can. His presence did not go unnoticed. The way he entered on the scene, was almost like he owned the females and everyone around him had to watch out. When all of a sudden, the male that was resting with the females jumped up from a sleeping position and ran up to his bother with aggression and purpose and started to fight with him, to show him who is really the dominant male and who will get the females. 

While all the action was happening on one side of the road, the cubs, that was unaware of what was happening, had such a big fright, that they disappeared into the drainage line. The mother jumped up and ran up to the two brothers to see what was going on. She gave one growl and the fighting stopped. Both males went their separate ways looking very sorry for themselves. It was almost like a mom talking to her children after they did something wrong. The female went back to her cubs and they settled down. 

This is something that you don’t see every day. When two male lions fighting everything around you slow down and it feels like you are part of the warm tension. It is always nice to experience and see the Big Cats, especially if no one gets hurt in the process. Reply