Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

The next day, I got some time in the east as we were tracking a male leopard, but soon got drawn away from the area by the news that the Mayambula Pride and Skorro males were found nearby. I have been waiting to come back to this area to spend more time with one of my favourite pride of lions. Sadly, the Skorro males are not in good shape, and have been involved in some series of fights of late – we are not sure if it has been with the Birmingham males, the Vuyelas, or perhaps even some other unknown coalition. The rest of the pride was looking good, and that evening we watched as they had their evening drink ruined by a grumpy hippo. After this, the pride went on a bit of a walking spree. They headed far north, and way out of our concession but returned to the heart of the River Pride/Vuyela males territory on our northern boundary. They were drawn by a small breeding herd of buffalos, but it appears that during the night the Vuyela males predictably picked up on the Mayambula pride and a great deal of roaring and fighting could be heard. The next morning the pride’s tracks were all over the show before they were eventually found back in northern Timbavati. A couple of days later the Vuyela males could be heard roaring in the same area and tracks suggest that the Mayambula pride was chased again. The problem for them is that wherever they run, they seem to bump into a male coalition somewhere. This does not bode well for the stability of the pride, or indeed the survival chances of the younger members. The lionesses can either spend the next year on the run and move off into the deep recesses of the Timbavati and Kruger, or something will give with either the Birmingham or Vuyela males taking over the pride. One thing is for sure though, the lionesses are not going to go down without a fight and will do their damnedest to keep their youngsters alive – already the mother of the youngest lions seems to be keeping them away from the pride.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

We also enjoyed a couple of sightings of the River Pride lionesses in the central regions before they disappeared north with all this commotion. I also made a journey to the plains in the west to see most of the Giraffe Pride (we counted 21) one evening – although the sickly Sumatra male was present, we only saw the impressive Hercules male as he lazed about with the pride. So all in all, with four different prides seen during the week, it was a good one for lions, even if the future is a little uncertain at the moment. Reply