Coalitions of Kruger National Park

[Potato]

Singita KNP march update

The Shishangaan male lions have been noticeably venturing far south on a few occasions. It is unclear if they have been responding to the Trichard males moving north or if they have been searching for the highly mobile larger portion of the Mananga Pride.


The Trichard males have been very confident this month, the latter part of the month has seen them push northwards into uncharted territory for the brothers. Most evenings and mornings they have been heard vocalising.
On the 30th of this month, early in the morning, tracks were found of a number of lions. The tracks indicated a skirmish between the individuals. The tracks led to the Trichardt male lions north of the Gudzane stream, deep in the Shishangaan male lions’ territory. At first, they were thought to be alone however, an injured male lion came out behind a bush. The Trichardt males circled this lion who was then noticed to be the older Shishangaan male known as “Xihamham”, he was then attacked and mortally injured. This is certainly an end of an era.

The Mananga Pride has continued to be split most of the time into what we have been referring to as two groups, the larger and the smaller portions. The larger portion has been moving large distances and seems to be focusing its efforts on larger prey, especially the large buffalo herds that often cross north into the wilderness areas over our northern boundary road. The smaller portion which consists of two females and six younger members that were born at the end of 2021, is usually around the Gudzane area. The entire pride as well as the two magnificent Shishangaan males were all found feeding on a wildebeest during the first week of the month. It is unclear what the future holds for this pride with the demise of the Shishangaan coalition that has sired all of their cubs.

The Shishangaan Pride has revealed five new members this month. They have not been seen on too many occasions and seem to be keeping the cubs not too far from the lodges. Towards the last days of the month, the two mothers and the cubs were seen feeding on an impala. The other members of the pride have been seen fairly regularly. They all seem to be doing their best to avoid the Trichard males.

The Mountain Pride was found deep in the concession close to Mozambique, feeding on a zebra. This is the first sighting of this historical pride in many months. The eight members were in great condition.
The Maputo male was seen in the north of the concession and has settled into his nomadic lifestyle. He showed signs of a fight with other males but was generally healthy. Reply