Lions of Timbavati

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Tanda Tula update

This reliance on limited water points brought a surprising end to a buffalo in the latter part of the week.  We had another good week with lions; the Vuyela males again proved a constant presence, with all five males being in the area around Tanda Tula one evening.  Four of the “brothers” moved together whilst the fifth spent a couple of days in the company of an as-yet-unidentified lioness, mating with her quite regularly.  I don’t want to speculate on her origins, but another pride of uncertain origins had pitched up to the north-west of camp one evening; nine lions in total, definitely not the Sark Breakaways (as we were sitting with them further west in our concession).  The pride made a hasty retreat to the west, but one unknown lioness was with the Vuyela male for three days before she disappeared.  The last time an unknown lioness was seen mating with them was when an original Sark Pride lioness was seen mating to the east of camp.  Could this be a return from one of these females, or could it be a portion of the so-called “River Pride” in the Klaserie?  We await further confirmation, but our colleagues talk of a pride of up to 14 members having been seen on our western boundary a few times in the last couple of months.  This could add an interesting mix to our lion dynamics in the area.  And with the 15 members of the Mayambula Pride also making another visit to our central region this week, it appears as though the dry conditions are going to have an impact on where these lions move.   

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Queens of movement this week were no doubt the actual River Pride; three of lionesses started off the week in the south, and then went AWOL.  Tracks on our northern boundary one day was followed by them being located some distance to the north of us.  The next day however, their tracks came all the way south (through the area where the unknown pride had been the day before).  I was hoping this would lead the trackers to finding this new pride, but it resulted in three River lionesses with their cubs in tow.  The cubs were bearing the brunt of this movement – from where we saw the tracks the morning before, they had covered close to 20km – and were looking in very poor condition.  Bite marks, hip bones protruding through their skinny bodies, things were not looking good for them.  To make matters worse, they were accompanied by two Vuyela males.  The reason that this was a bad thing was demonstrated that evening when the ladies caught a young zebra foal, but immediately lost their prize to the two males.  Fortunately, the cubs were allowed to feed for longer than the lionesses, giving them a much-needed meal.  The next morning brought more good news for the pride when they were found with a sub-adult giraffe kill, and this time all members got food.  We saw the eight of them resting off their enormous bellies in the Nhlaralumi Riverbed the next morning, not looking like they had room to eat anymore.  But nature being nature, is always full of surprises, and in the afternoon when the guides followed up, they found the lions tucking in to a freshly killed buffalo!  The poor buffalo was walking towards a nearby pan to cool off on a hot day, and unwittingly walked straight into the lions that weren’t going to let the opportunity pass them by. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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