Lions of Timbavati

[Mapokser]

@BA0701 The SRP had left the reserve after a flood and some members were killed back in 2007 or so. The remaining members were shot in January 2009 after floods destroyed the fence again. They escaped first time and were darted by rangers and brought back to the reserve ( there are even photos of it ), but they escaped again, killed cattle and were considered problem animals, so the local authorities gave the order to kill them.

And yes Botha has commented on it, in 2010 soon after KT's death he made a statement about the Mapogo, talking about his experience with them and within the statement he mentions the killing of the SRP in 2007 and 2009 respectively due to the reasons I mentioned previously.

The twist is that he claims the Mapogos were the ones to blame for this, saying they chased the pride out of the reserve in 2007 and 2009 and killed all their cubs... Idk if he was confused/unaware of the Mapogo-SRP relationship or lied for some reason, but this is incorrect. By 2007 the SRP was under control of the Mapogos and lived happily under them until 2009, all cubs belonged to the Mapogo so they didn't kill them, in fact they protected the last sub that escaped the hunters and returned to SS, he started following the Othawa pride while being protected by one of his fathers but eventually died, possibly killed by hyenas.

Idube also said in 2012 that it was arguable if Mapogos chased the pride or not... I don't see how that would ever happen since the subs were only 1yo and there were 2 adult females, same composition of the Othawas, five 1yo subs and 2 adult females, and they weren't chased, why would Mapogos chase their own pride? Still, whatever happened regarding this, Botha's claims that Mapogos were killing the SRP cubs which forced them to leave SS and finally killed the last cub, is incorrect, as all the cubs from 2007 to 2009 belonged to Mapogos and the pride was firmly in their control for years, the previous dominant male of the SRP had been ousted way back in early 2006, all his cubs killed in their year. Reply