Lions of Timbavati

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Tanda Tula update

The week that past eventually saw me getting to catch up with the River Pride lionesses again and gave me my first viewing of the new cub!  I say new, but it is already 9 weeks old and getting bigger by the week!  We managed to sex it, and it is another little female, so we sincerely hope she can live long and prosper.  The other lioness that lost her cubs last year has now too had her cubs, and although we have no idea how old they are, or any idea where they are, she is showing signs of lactating, so clearly has them stashed somewhere safe.  If I were to hazard a guess, I would say they are probably hidden to the east of our concession, just out of our traversing area; I have heard the males roaring from there on a couple of occasions, the pride and cub paid a visit to Tanda Tula Safari Camp a couple of days back, they walked all the way back to our eastern boundary and carried on east.  However, without any proper riverbeds (or even drainage lines) in that area, I cannot imagine where the mother may have chosen a spot.  Possibly, like Thumbela did with her cub, she has chosen a spot in the thick Terminalia thickets on the gabbros, with lots of nooks and crannies to hide some cubs?

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Sadly, the non-cut-nosed Nharhu male is not looking in great shape, and was alarmingly skinny when we saw him this week.  My hope is that he had just been off mating with the oldest lioness for a few days, and is only in need of a good meal.  I also got to catch up with the two Balule lionesses this week when Glen tracked them down right in the heart of River Pride territory!  With the rains washing away the scents of lions, and the wind stopping the Nharhu males from roaring, these lionesses may have wandered in not knowing that the territory was occupied, but sadly a couple of days later we had their tracks moving back to the north and out of the area for now.  They were seen on the western boundary later in the week, and there was also a report of a young pride of three in the far west – possible members of the Sark Pride that we saw interacting with hyenas last month.  The Giraffe Pride were found right in the very western parts of the concession, close to the Klaserie River this week, but I didn’t make the long trip to see them.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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