Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

From being the stars of last week’s lion sightings, the Sark Breakaways did an about turn and barely showed themselves in the past seven days!  The cubs were around for a couple of days, but the lions eventually moved into the Klaserie for a few days; Formen saw them crossing back yesterday afternoon, so we hope that we can catch up with the pride over the coming days.  Interestingly, although the breakaway portion was absent, some members of the original Sark pride made their first recorded appearance in the Timabvati!  Four unknown lionesses were found in the heart of Giraffe Pride territory near Plains Camp at the start of the week, and we got to catch up with two of the Sark lionesses the next day.  Sadly, my first introduction to these ladies was not the most pleasant one as you will read about shortly.  Exactly why they have moved from the south-western section of the Klaserie into the Timbavati is uncertain, but they were again seen later on in the week on Savannah Plains, a stronghold of the Giraffe Pride.  The latter pride had been active some distance south of our concession early in the week but returned with the Hercules male towards the end of the week and after a day on Savannah Plains in the west, were seen feasting on a zebra kill much further east and spent the next couple of days in the area before crossing into the Klaserie.  If the arrival of the Sark pride was unexpected, then the appearance of five unknown lions in the middle of concession was downright surprising!  I was about to head into the east in the hope of relocating on a single Mayambula pride lioness that had been found by Ginger in the morning when a radio call came through that some lions were found just west of Tanda Tula Safari Camp.  When we got word that all 13 members of the Sark Breakaways were found to the west of our concession, my interest got piqued.  Based on the lions’ reactions, they were not terribly used to vehicles and were a little bit antsy and aggressive when first found.  I got there after dark, and they were much calmer and at ease with us following them but as they were on the hunt in windy conditions, they didn’t make it easy for me to get clear ID photos.  Their tracks headed south the next day, and we saw no further signs of them after that, so goodness knows where they ended up, or if they will return.  As the week ended, the Vuyela males moved back into the area, and they were seen in pairs or singularly across the week.  After finishing off their honeymoons, the River Pride lionesses disappeared back north, but returned with a bang on the weekend when they woke up Scotch as they fought over an impala kill on the edge of camp.  Scotch found them in the morning as they finished off the kill, but as soon as they did, they turned back north and marched in the direction where the one lioness has her cubs; the youngest lioness is also looking quite pregnant now.  We can only hope that she has her cubs further south and closer to our concession so that we can see them more regularly…but with six different prides showing themselves this week, I don’t think we can complain too much. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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