Lions of Timbavati

[Fredymrt]

From: Motswari blog

The Cats of Motswari

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Although Motswari is home to hundreds of bird species, dozens of different types of reptiles and more than thirty regularly seen mammal species, it is often the big cats that are one of the main attractions to the area. With some 15,000ha of unfenced land to cover, Motswari is resident to a number of large cats that we have come to know intimately over the years, and all of our guides take great delight in sharing sightings of these special creatures with their guests.

Due to the nature of these large cats inside an unfenced reserve, these animals are prone to wander great distances, sometimes moving beyond our borders and out of our concession. However, with over 3,000,000ha of nature reserves around us (we traverse the Timabavati and Umbabat Game Reserves), there is always the chance of being surprised by new arrivals into our area, which makes it one of the most exciting aspects of living and working in such a large, open system.

LIONS:
The biggest of Africa’s bigs, and the most iconic of Africa’s mammals, the lions, are always a big draw for tourists. Africa without lions is just not Africa. At Motswari, we have had mixed fortunes with our lions over the years, and gone from having plenty, to having almost none. Lion dynamics in the area are just that – dynamic! At present, we have some very stable lions, due to the presence of a big resident pride in the north, that includes a strong male. This has stabilised the northern sections’ lion viewing, while the south still has its ups and downs.

Western Pride

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The Western Pride is our most viewed pride of lions in the area. Their viewing has been so impressive over the last 12 months that we are now proud to call them resident lions in the reserve. Although about half of their territory lies to the north of our concession, they do visit us regularly. and because they are not facing pressure from any other prides in the south, they find themselves very much at home.

Western pride Male

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Despite the fact that one of the pride males died last week, the remaining males are strong, and with three other young males amongst the lions ten pride members, they are a force to be reckoned with. Two of the three mothers appear to be pregnant or have just given birth, which may lead to some changes in the pride, with the six young lions (three females and three males, all three years old) ending up splintering from the pride and moving off to establish themselves in another area. Part of the problem they now face, is finding enough food for ten adult lions, usually not too challenging when the buffalo numbers are strong, but a difficult task now that most the buffalo have died after the drought. Seeing this pride on the move is something guests don’t forget in a hurry.

Ross Pride and Mbiri males
A small pride of two lionesses of the Ross pride origin and two young males seem to be settling as a fixed unit, but are far from being a stable union. They occupy the territory to the south of our concession and visit only occasionally.
Mbiri male


Timbavati Pride
The three adult lionesses and three subadults of this pride seem to reside in the Kruger, and visit us from time to time, although seemingly more in summer where come through every couple of weeks. Unfortunately the last few months have seen complete absence of this pride from the area, possibly due to the Western Pride’s dominance.

Sumatra lioness
Calling a lone lioness a pride would be a stretch, but this lone lioness seems to be able to make ends meet under all by herself. We see her (or more often just signs of her) mostly in the eastern sections of the reserve. She ended up alone when her two “brothers”, the Sumatra males, moved off and headed south, and she stayed behind in the area that she became familiar with after the three of them first moved into the area. She attracted the attention of the Machimba males, but theses boys seem to have been ousted and replaced by the Kruger males – two new but very shy males that have come in from the Kruger to the east of us. Time will tell how long they stick around and if they form a pride with her.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

RETURN OF THE KING – LION APPEARANCE AT MOTSWARI

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Over the past few months, we have been incredibly fortunate to have had some amazing sightings of the western pride of lions within our traversing area close to Motswari. The sightings have generally only been of the females and younger sub-adults. The two mature males of the pride never really ventured into our area long enough for us to find them.
This last week, however, we eventually found the two majestic male lions sleeping near the river. Though they were still separate from the rest, it was a real treat as it had been many months since a nice, big-maned male was seen in the area – let alone two together! That being said, it was saddening to see that the one male was looking in much worse shape than the last time he was seen. It appeared that he had recently been blinded in one eye during an unknown fight.
A possibility could be that his injuries were inflicted by the three younger males of the pride the last time they all joined together. Despite this natural occurrence of nature, which is still sometimes hard to see, it was an absolutely magical and visceral experience to be in the African bush spending time with these two commanding, dominant male lions with the glowing sun setting on the horizon. We sat with these regal animals for a good 20 minutes. Slowly, they started to stir, sauntering over to a pool of water in the riverbed to have a drink. We left them, and headed back to the lodge for dinner. They continued walking west towards where we knew the rest of the pride was.

Following the lions
The next day, I headed south in hope of finding some rhinos that had recently been alluding my guests. During our search, I got a report that the whole pride of lions from the previous day had joined up together and were sleeping just west of our traversing boundary. I remained hopeful that the lions would come back into our area the next day and we would get a chance to see them altogether.
As the sun rose the next morning, one of the other guides found tracks which he suspected belonged to the two males heading back into our area. Unfortunately, however, the tracks crossed back north and out of our domain. Disappointed that I had missed the chance to see the males amidst the pride, we continued with our drive. Along the way, we found a few bull elephants heading towards Arygle dam, close to Motswari.
While we were enjoying the elephants drinking at the water’s edge, I heard on the radio that the western pride had been found. They were not too far away. There was one of the males in attendance! Turns out the tracks that had been called in earlier were of only one of the males with one female. Since, the other male had joined up with the rest of the pride. Leaving our group of elephants, we proceeded to head towards where they had spotted the lions.

A memorable farewell
It was already getting pretty hot. I was a bit worried that we would arrive to a pride of lazing, sleeping lions. To my surprise – and my guests’ astonishment – as we turned the corner we were greeted by the awe-inspiring sight of nine lions. They were walking towards us on the road, with the majestic male in tow! We waited for them to pass, and followed behind them for quite some time. They eventually headed towards a thicket which provided ample shade under which to settle down and rest for the day. As chance would have it, it was the last drive of my guests’ stay. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to end their memorable safari experience at Motswari!
Hopefully it won’t be the last time we get to see this remarkable pride all together. It will be interesting to follow their dynamics as they mature. Especially as they head into the abundance of summer in the next few months.
The original blog was published on the Motswari blog
 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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