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Fall of Mapogos Lions
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The Mapogo story.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Some of this information was first part of a Database that we were compiling for Africam. Graham asked if we would share this with the WE Viewers as well. We hope you find this info as interesting as we have.  *This image is copyright of its original author Mapogo Coalition - 6 Male Lions also known as the Eyrefield Males, the Sparta Males and in some regions the "Cannibals". They were named Mapogo after a security company that utilizes rather harsh methods in dealing with offenders. We've found several different meanings for Mapogo.
Ulusaba refers to it as meaning "Vigilantes" and Savanna Lodge refers to the Mapogo name being a Zulu word meaning "Rogues". What ever the meaning, they are Bad News! Pride they Originated From: Eyrefield Pride aka Sparta Pride. This pride still exists and consists of 3 adult females and 9 cubs. Two of the remaining Eyrefield pride lionesses are siblings of the Mapogos and the third and oldest lioness may very well be the Mother to some of them. The dominant male of this Pride today is the one remaining Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton Male. Sired by: A Coalition of 5 Male Lions known as The West Street Males aka The Sparta Males. (Note: There is a twist to this story that we will share a little later.)  *This image is copyright of its original author 1st day WE saw them on cam 12/27/07 These males took over the Eyrefield/Sparta pride from the Manyeleti males in 1998. They were approximately 8 yrs of age at the time and successfully raised many cubs to adulthood during their reign. The last of this coalition died in 2004 at the approximate age of 14 years or even older (some reports indicated the last two were plus/minus 16 yrs in 2003 when two of the original four Marthly/Split Rock/Robson males moved in).  *This image is copyright of its original author The Oldest Mapogo Male is said to be unrelated to the other 5. The story is that the original pride (Eyrefield/Sparta) lost a male sub adult of 20 to 21 months of age in May/June 2000 and in July 2000 this male of about the same age latched on to the original pride. Though not readily accepted by the lionesses, the West Street Males barely tolerated him though they didn't kill him as he was no threat to their dominance due to his age. His life was not an easy one as he was considered an outcast, yet this young lion became one of the boldest and most valued hunters by helping to keep the pride fed when the West Street males became too old. Londolozi refers to the oldest Mapogo male as "Ngalalalekha". Ngala means lion so does lalekha mean "old, older, oldest"? Good question for Rexon.  *This image is copyright of its original author This oldest Male is elusive. He is said to be bigger, bolder and darker than the other five. He is believed to be the sire of most of the Mapogo cubs that have been born so far but with more recent reports of matings it seems some of the other males will become fathers too if not already. Prides that currently have cubs sired by a Mapogo are the Tsalala pride, the Othawa pride and the Sand River pride. More than likely, there are others as well. One story about this older male that sticks out in our minds is when Londolozi reported a sighting of two hyena clans on a buffalo carcass. A group of approximately 25 adult elephants standing shoulder to shoulder with little ones behind them were staring the hyenas down. A noise was heard behind the vehicle and when the spotlight was shown in that direction an "enormous" male lion burst into their sight roaring louder than any roar they had ever heard before which sent 30 hyenas scattering. It was the leader of the six Mapogos. He stared down the wall of elephants which after about 5 minutes of standing their ground finally gave way to the lone male and moved off.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Other 5 Mapogo Males are said to be sired by the West Street Males but here is where the twist comes in...... the two youngest might have been sired by the Roller Coaster Males aka Shaw Males aka Castleton Males. The Roller Coaster males were believed to have started out as a Coalition of 6. Four of which enticed some of the Eyrefield/Sparta females into mating with them while the aging West Street males were away from the pride. Thus it is unclear who actually fathered the two youngest. And to add another little twist, it is said that the West Street Males who sired the Mapogos also fathered the Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton males. Estimated ages of the Mapogo Coaliton as of May 2008: Older Unrelated Male - 9 yrs 7 mos Two Older Related Males - 7 yrs 4 1/2 mos One a Little Younger Male - 7 yrs 2 mos Two youngest males (possibly sired by the Roller Coaster Males) - 6 yrs 6 mos  *This image is copyright of its original author Giraffe Steal from Nkuhuma 01/12/08 As you can see, the Mapogo Coalition is not the first nor will it be the last large coalition. Being the first large coalition the WE viewers have encountered, it is hard to comprehend that the current lion population can survive with all these killings but they will. The survivors of this onslaught will be the "new" beginning, the "next" generation just as the survivors of past large coalitions were. We don't like it and we don't have to like it but sadly it is the nature of things. How have they impacted the lion population in just the couple of years they have been independent? Here are a few reports: Londolozi reports five prides that have been adversely affected by the Mapogos. They cited these three: Castleton Pride originally 22 and down to 6; Tsalala Pride originally 10 and down to 5; Ximunvanyane Pride originally 10 down to ZERO. We can say fairly confidently, the number of prides adversely affected has risen since the Londolozi report. Elephant Plains reported recently of receiving a report from Sabi Sands stating almost 40% of the lion population has been killed by the Mapogo Coalition in just the past year. That relates to approximately 50 lions. (Our thoughts: Do these numbers also include deaths that occurred from the pressure that the Mapogo coalition has put on other prides and coalitions in the Sabi Sands area?)  *This image is copyright of its original author Quote from Elephant Plains referencing the Mapogos "Killing buffalo, adult giraffes, even young rhinos and hippos. And lions. And they were not just killing the lions..they were eating them" More on their cannibalistic ways. On February 7th 2007, the Mapogos not only brutally killed "Rocky" aka the Serengeti/Kruger male but they ate him. "Rocky" was the dominant male that sired the 6 cubs of the two younger Tsalala pride lionesses. All those cubs have been killed except for one sub adult female. Currently the Tsalala pride falls under the dominance of the Mapogos. In the same report where Singita tells of "Rocky's" death, they mention the Mapogos being seen eating a dead lioness the previous year. Hyenas better watch out too! We haven't seen any reports of them eating Hyenas but they do kill them as shown in this sighting from Singita. http://www.singita.com/site/Wildlife/rangerdetails.asp?rangerid=207 Recently, the Elephant Plains Newsletter had a graphic photo of a Mapogo Male with a Hyena in it's mouth. Though the Hyena was not killed on the spot, it died from the injuries sustained. Knowing how much we all love the Nkuhuma pride, we will only post the link to the killing of Blondie by the Mapogo Males. Reported by Arathusa, Dec 14, 2007. (Note: This is a PDF file) http://www.arathusa.co.za/pdf/diaries/Dec0701.pdf The Mapogo Males not only kill other males' cubs but cubs of their own. Ulusaba reported in June 2007 that a split in the coalition had occurred (though this split seems to have only been temporary). During this report period the 5 related Mapogos killed the oldest unrelated Mapogo's cubs belonging to the Othawa lionesses. The Mapogos seem to have banded back together as a coalition after the short term split in 2007, Ulusaba reported in March 2008 that the coalition had joined the Sand River pride on one of their occasional visits to see their offspring. They all shared in two wildebeest kills including the FIVE male cubs (beginning of another large coalition?). One of the cubs thought it would be fun to slap his sleeping Father on the nose. Boy oh boy did he find out that was a mistake. His Father exploded to his feet bearing down on the defenseless cub! Luckily, all the little one got was a good swat to his backside. LOL After some Motherly reassurance, the cub decided his siblings were a better target for that type of play. Items that may be of Interest:  *This image is copyright of its original author To give you an idea of their strength, here is an awesome video posted by Youtube member mattwood22. Taking down a Buffalo Bull - January 2006. The dark mane one is the "oldest" Mapogo and there is one lioness with them also on this kill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RKBllKd590 It is only fair to show a softer side of the Mapogos. This article from Exeter/Wildwatch is about a sighting of one of the Mapogo Males (probably the oldest) interacting with his cubs. It includes some great pictures. http://www.wildwatch.com/sightings/ottawa-pride-cubs-found  *This image is copyright of its original author We hope this information has been helpful and may shed a new light on these bad boys. Are they BAD? Yes! Are they any worse than other large coalitions? Probably not, with the possible exception of their cannibalistic ways.. they tend to take that to an Extreme! Please remember, this information is not set in stone as it is an evolving story and there are conflicting accounts. Written by Aquila and Karen in VA  *This image is copyright of its original author http://blog.wildearth.tv/2008/05/we-kare...ed-to.html |
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