Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

After that excitement, we eventually made our way to where the lions had been left and caught up with them after an unsuccessful attempt on some impalas; we then watched the nine pride members strolling down the road before two of the Vuyela males came to join them.

It would take a lot to top the first drive, but when I got a radio call the next morning asking if I was operating in the east, I answered ‘no’, as I was searching for the wild dogs. When the reason for the question became known, my plans changed very quickly… the Birmingham males had been found on our southern boundary, and the white lion was with them. I told my guests there was something worth going to see, but it was a long drive – they said they trusted me, so off we went. I had a moment where I was thinking that I had maybe made the wrong choice after the wild dogs were found on our boundary close to Plains Camp – they had an impala kill that a leopard tried to steal, only to then be chased up a small tree by the wild dogs who spent a while under the tree jumping up trying to get at the leopard. Scotch got to enjoy all of this, but I persisted in my mission and quizzed my guests on what they thought would pull me out east. Suggestions of cheetah and pangolin, as well as a hippo mating with an elephant were made, but none of them suspect the real reason until we got closer. From a distance we spotted the white lion as he lay in the open sand; his tawny brothers barely discernible in the winter-coloured grass. I asked the guests if they could see the lion, and once spotted, I asked if they noticed anything different about him, even at that distance. They said he looked very pale… I told them they were right, and then the penny dropped. We made our way closer and got to spend some time with the trio and their rare recessive-gene’d star. It was exciting to see that they were once again found in the same area where they had been picked up last week; it also meant that the roars heard from that area the day before were also likely from them. The bad news is that it is right in the heart of the Mayambula Pride’s territory. With this new threat in the vicinity, it seems unlikely that the Mayambula will be returning anytime soon, but with the prospect of seeing more of this white lion, we are not overly upset. In a dream world, the Birmingham males will take over the Mayambula in a year or so (once the cubs are old enough to fend for themselves) and produce many white cubs with the females that I am confident possess the same recessive white genes. But, that is a dream for now, and so many stories could play out over the coming weeks, months, and years. The Skorro males are in their prime, and probably big enough to keep off the challengers for now…time will tell how this story unfolds.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply