Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

Last weekend the usual lions were not playing along as they had of late; the Giraffe Pride remained south of us and although there were tracks for the Mayambula Pride in the east, they too crossed out of the concession to the east. Fortunately, despite their absence, we still had some good lion viewing with the Sark Breakaway Pride and the Vuyela males spending a couple of days on the periphery of our concession when they were spotted two nights in a row on our access road. It was the first time I have seen the majority of the pride together, and we had 12 of the 14 members present, with only one male and a single female absent from the group. The fact that a mating pair was found a few days later on Nkhari suggests that this may have accounted for their absence.  Speaking of Nkhari, four of the six Birmingham Breakaway males (and yes, we do need to do something about all the “breakaways” in the names of these prides) spent a few days of the week on the property after they were found with a buffalo kill just as the storm rolled in. A couple of days later they were found resting on the big open area at the heart of the property before their tracks headed south.

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As the week moved on, the Giraffe Pride did make a return to the area around Plains Camp. First, they spent a day at Sunset Dam, and then they returned a few days later onto the plains below the camp. It is the first time I have seen the pride spending time on the plains in a few months, but with the amount of wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, and impala on the plains, it is no real surprise that they visited it. The single Sark breakaway lioness was also seen in the west this week.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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