Coalitions of Kruger National Park

[Tonpa]

Lions

• Lion sightings have been consistent with the Shish Pride often seen close to the lodges. The pride appears to be split in two for the moment. The older Shish lioness and the limping female and sub-adults have been seen together. The other two lionesses have each given birth to a litter of three cubs, which is exciting. The most recent litter was only revealed in the last weeks.
• The Shish Pride killed an impala near the weir that crosses the N’wantesi. A few days later they were seen feeding on a baboon.
• The Kumana male and Maputo male have been seen mating with the older Shish female on at least two separate mating bouts. The Maputo male was, on both occasions, first in attendance and the Kumana male took over a few days later. They caused much delight in the camp when they spent some of the time mating on the entrance roads to the lodges.
• We have seen the three unknown nomadic male lions on occasion this month. They are only seen in the far northern parts but are moving more south of previous sightings. On one occasion they were found with one Mountain Pride lioness lying up a kilometer away from them. She was very injured, with a lot of blood on her body, and the other members of the pride had run off to the west.
• Sightings of the Mountain Pride have been scarce, with sightings being mainly in the mountains. They were also seen on the Mozambique border as far south as the lodges and even crossed into Mozambique a few times. They have not been recorded this far south for some years. They seem to be avoiding the threat posed by the new intruder males in the north. In the latter part of the month, they were viewed in the central parts, hunting near the N’wanetsi River. On one occasion they managed to kill a blind buffalo calf.
• The ever-impressive Mananga Pride has been pushing into the central parts of the depression and were seen hunting the large herds of zebras. They managed to kill a warthog one evening and shortly thereafter a Mountain Pride lioness strolled into the Mananga Pride. They chased her into the mountains.The pride seems to be moving between Gundzane Dam and Mananga Trails in Kruger. It also seems like some of the lionesses have taken their cubs to hunt separately from the rest of the pride, probably to limit the competition because we have seen 18 together a couple of times.
• The Shish males are still around but it seems like their territory is slowly shrinking and becoming more like a fixed territory. They are under a lot of pressure from the new males.
  

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