Coalitions of Kruger National Park

[Tonpa]

Here’s a Sightings Snapshot for July:
Lions

• With the arrival of the Maputo male into the area and the confrontation with the Kumana male, the Shishangaan Pride (with the exception of two lionesses) seem to have disappeared. It is well-known that when a new male lion takes over an area from the previous “king” one of the first things that he does is kill all the young lions (sired by the previous territory-owner). The Shishangaan lionesses obviously know that their youngsters are in a very precarious situation and we hope that they have moved them away from the danger. We have, however seen that two of the lionesses (including the lioness with the bad limp) have now started consorting with the Maputo male and have been seen with him on numerous occasions.
  
• The Kumana male was seen on a few occasions this last month. At the beginning of July he was seen fighting with the Maputo male. Since then, he has only been seen by himself. He has sustained some new injuries and is sporting two bite marks on his back. It seems that the Maputo male has taken over the area. Unless the Kumana male is able to drive the Maputo male out it is very likely that he will have a very hard time. It is a sad ending to a majestic male lion to be driven out from his territory and away from his lionesses. Most male lions that lose their territories when they are already at a late stage in their lives do not last much longer. Fortunately, he did manage to scavenge something to eat in the form of a zebra carcass and, on another occasion, a giraffe carcass.
  
• The Maputo male was seen fighting with the Kumana male at the beginning of the month. Since then, he has been seen in the company of two of the Shish females. It appears that he might have been successful in his territorial take-over attempt.
  
• The Mananga pride has been seen on a few occasions this last month, mainly in the north-western side of the concession, near Gudzani Dam. This pride is becoming quite large now. There are at least seventeen individuals in this pride now (including sub-adults and cubs). They have two older cubs and five young ones. Towards the end of the month we were lucky enough to witness the Mananga pride killing and feeding on a zebra foal. Earlier on in the month they were seen feeding on a giraffe, and on another occasion a waterbuck. Lion numbers have been dropping drastically over the last century and scientists in the Kruger National Park have been doing lion counts. Recently they were doing studies to the west of the concession and tranquilised many of the Mananga lionesses. They then put brand marks on these animals so that they can identify individuals from a distance. It was a surprise to us, when we saw the pride after that, to see that many of the lionesses have “s”, “z” or “ss” marks on their rumps. They do not seem to be behaving any differently to the vehicles after their ordeal.
  
• The Mountain pride also seem to have disappeared. We have not been seeing much of them this last month. We think that, with the males fighting, that the Mountain pride have moved out of the area. Some of the guides believe that they have moved into Mozambique or possibly to the north of the concession. There are, however, large blocks of the concession in the north without roads and it is possible that they could be there in the hills. We saw them twice in July. At present this pride consists of 4 adult females, 1 sub-adult male and six juveniles.
  
• The two Shish males have not been seen regularly this last month. When they were sighted, they were usually with the Mananga pride. Xihamham is also sporting a new brand mark on his rump. These two male lions are also old now and, very likely, will soon have to defend their territory against younger males who want to take over the area. Towards the end of the month it appears that Xihamham was chasing after two young males.
  
• Two young males were seen in the northern part of the concession on at least two occasions this last month. These two are probably looking for a territory to take as their own. They will have to deal with the Shish males first before they are successful in their take-over.
  

https://singita.com/2021/07/singita-krug...-july-2021 Reply