Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

For not the first time of late, it was the lions that took centre stage and these large, social cats could be seen on every drive this week if we desired. It was nice to see that it wasn’t just the River Pride that had set up base this week; the Sark Breakaway pride spent much of the week in the areas to the west of Safari Camp and near Nkhari, and they seem to be making themselves very much at home of late. Sadly, the older lioness that recently rejoined the pride is not looking in great shape and is a bit on the skinny side, with the concern being that she is not very well.  Time will tell if she can overcome this ailment, but for now the pride is still doing well.  Tracks for the Balule females were found late in the week, but no sightings were had. Meanwhile the Giraffe Pride were reported on a number of occasions in the far west.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

One evening whilst returning to camp from the south-western sections we did come across a lone lioness that we suspected was from the Giraffe Pride, but we couldn’t get a positive ID.  However, despite these other lions being around, it was the presence of the River Pride anchored around our Machaton Dam that provided the best viewing.  Having fed well last week before moving to the dam for a drink, I began the week knowing that they would still be resting off their fat bellies at the dam, but I didn’t expect to arrive there the first morning and find the pride tucking into yet another kill!  Well, technically it was the Nharhu male that was enjoying the meal of an unfortunate male impala that they must have killed only 10-15 minutes before we arrived, and based on how muddy the lionesses were, they clearly caught the poor thing in the dam, only for the very non-muddied male to steal it from them and drag it off to enjoy his spoils.  Fortunately, the pride was still well fed from the kudu the day before, so they were not at too much of a loss.  The pride remained in the area for a few more days before we helped track them down one morning only to find them with a wildebeest kill.  After finishing that, they went back to Machaton Dam before settling in their new favourite spot on Tortillis Plains just south of the dam.  The cubs are getting bigger by the week, which isn’t a surprise considering the amount of food the adults are bringing in at the moment.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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