Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

Despite the good leopard viewing, the highlights of the week for me were no doubt the sightings we had of the Mayambula Pride. After a day of failed tracking when we tracked the pride off of our southern boundary, the pride returned with a bang when they woke up guides close to Nkhari Homestead as they fed on a wildebeest kill. We arrived with the pride still growling and fighting over the remains of the kill, with one Skorro male present. Since the altercation with the Vuyela males last week, there had been no sign of the other male, and based on his past injuries, his lack of appearance, and the nervousness of the other Skorro male, many of us assumed the worst – that the Vuyela males had caught him and put an end to his life. When the lions were feeding on the wildebeest, another male lion roared nearby, and as there was no initial reaction from the pride, I thought that it may have been the missing Skorro male – maybe he wasn’t dead. Then one subadult male from the Mayambula pride jumped up and ran off to the south… then another, and within seconds the entire pride – Skorro male included – had abandoned their kill and were running off. One lioness that had missed out on the feeding frenzy wasn’t going to leave so easily, and began eating – the hyenas that had been keeping their distance soon realised they had a chance with only one lion left, and gathered around and soon their excited calls drove the lioness away and she ran off to join the pride and the hyena’s patience paid off. We waited for the other male to arrive, but he took his time, so left the area after the hyenas were done and rejoined the Mayambulas as they went to drink, but they were constantly looking over their shoulders. Even when they settled, the older lionesses kept on moving the pride towards safety. We eventually left then and saw why they were not happy – a single Vuyela male was only a few hundred meters behind them. Between us leaving and Tristan relocating them, the Vuyela male must have made contact and outnumbered 16-to-1, he was sent packing, and this allowed the Maymabula Pride to eventually settle.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

A couple of days later the pride returned to the heart of their territory in the south-east, and I had no sooner arrived at the sighting and could see the youngsters stalking when the cry of a zebra came from a few hundred meters ahead of us – they had just caught themselves breakfast; we rushed around to find the most impressive sight of 19 lions all fighting over a fresh kill (the lioness with the two-year-old cubs had rejoined the pride). The sounds were as intense as the visuals – such as when a sub-adult ripped a fully formed foal from the zebra’s womb – and it was a sighting that left us all in awe. The pride hung around for a couple of days, and if that wasn’t enough when we saw them the next day, the second, skinny Skorro male had come back from the dead and rejoined the pride, taking them back to twenty members! I could scarcely believe he was still alive and had no idea where he had been hiding. To help the situation, Scotch found them with another zebra kill a couple of days later, ensuring that the male got a much needed meal.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Elsewhere in the lion work, there were reports of the Giraffe Pride being active on the plains in the west, and the River Pride females and Vuyela males continued to move around the central regions (we found one male walking around roaring after drinks one evening), and the Sark Breakaways were reported on our periphery one evening. So, it was a busy week for the lions, but the dynamics of the Mayambula Pride and their attempts to evade the Vuyela males proved that it is a long way from being over this week – the Vuyela’s have yet to follow the pride into the heart of their territories, and this is where the pride seemed to find their only solace. We hope that the two Skorro males can regain their condition and confidence and put in a last effort to defend their pride, at least for another few months to give the youngsters a chance to make it to adulthood.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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