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(01-26-2021, 03:39 PM)RookiePundit Wrote: Summary of Timbavatis pride movement in recent days:
Crossed to SabiSands from Manyeleti following buffaloes, stole a kill at Sidney' Dam near Gowrie Gate in Buffelshoek (impala?), moved to Djuma, where there were filmed live in a failed atempt to hunt impalas, followed buffaloes further to Arathusa, but were then spotted on a waterbuck kill in Djuma. The next day (Sunday) they surprised herd of 9 wildebeest and killed 3 of them just below the Gowrie Dam and gorged upon those kills (lots of footage of the feast on Wildearth, clip of two of the kills on Djuma reserve facebook), stay nearby till today, in the morning they moved along the Tumbeta house southwest and likely crossed southern borderd of Djuma.
All of this was without Dark Mane, the pride was likely whole otherwise, full 14, they were definitely more than 10 together, 2 male sub-adults easily recognazible among them (not sure if the third one doesn't have a prominent mane yet or they just weren't in the camera frame together or was not there). So everybody should be well fed. One lioness has a nasty gash on the inside of a front leg from the wildebeest hunt, but it doesnt seem too serious, no significant limp atm, will take to time heal though. Another one has a distinctive cheek scar, but that is not that recent.
You mean "Tintswalo" not Timbavati". Tintswalo is a lodge in Manyeleti which is region to the north from Sabi Sands and Timbavati is to the north from Manyeleti.
I meant Talamatis. Somebody interrupted me when I was writing the post and I did not double checked :) Anyway, they made a loop and returned to the same place as they were in the morning, the very same bend in the road even. Mostly lying on the road whole day, certainly not close to being hungry yet.
For those of you who been observiing sabi for a long time, is there any reason why the southern prides of sabi seem to do so much worse than the northern prides? Is it a lack of prey? Constant coalition male traffic?
01-27-2021, 12:10 AM( This post was last modified: 01-27-2021, 12:16 AM by Tr1x24 )
(01-26-2021, 11:10 PM)Tonpa Wrote: For those of you who been observiing sabi for a long time, is there any reason why the southern prides of sabi seem to do so much worse than the northern prides? Is it a lack of prey? Constant coalition male traffic?
When we talk about southern prides that in fact is only Southern Pride, Sparta pride moved south in 2017 as they got pushed by Kambulas (1 Sparta lioness got killed around that time, only 2 left and 1 was infertile) . Sand River pride was mostly in Kruger over the years, so i wouldn't count them in this category, they where quite stable pride, as Toulons where in charge for many years and after them Mantimahles and now S. Avocas,althrough some cubs/subadults where lost in takeovers.
Southern Pride was such a big pride in the past, that it exterminated smaller prides around them like Charleston and Hildas Rock pride..
For Southern Pride, constant coalitions changes and takeovers in the past 10 years or so take it tool..
Toulons, KNP males, Sand Rivers, Fourways, Charlestons, where all dominant there since 2010 to 2017, which is 5 coalitions in 7 years (for comparison, Majingilanes where dominant for 8 years in central/western SS) and then on top of that Charlestons abandoned them in 2017 which led all their cubs to death..
Result of that is almost 0 female lions who reached adulthood in that time, and older ones died of, except current Southern Pride female,who was sired by Fourways.
TL: DR
Southern region lacked big and stable male coalition over the years, like Majingilanes or Bboys where further north, i hope that N'waswitshakas can bring that and rebuild lion population in that area with Southern and Styx Prides aswell as S.Avocas with Sand Rivers.
Some of you certainly saw this clip already,Talatimatis roaring and contact calling near Gowrie Dam in Djuma. As there is no offroading allowed after the torrential rains Eloise brought to Djuma in recent days and these lions has been lying on somewaht dry surface of the roads rather than in wet greenery, they got a lot of airtime on WildEarth as the other predators were not accesible due to aforementioned limitations, if anyone want to see more of them. Later today, the started to move north and left the roads as it was sunny and shade was preferable. They were back at Gowrie Gate at the evening (around sunset), scentmarking and active. They were moving somewhat towards Simbambili but it was rather inconclusive. I wouldn't be surprised to find them at Sidney's Dam tomorrow again.
On another topic, lion tracks were spotted leading from Chitwa to Wessels, attributed to Torchwood lionesses, assumption is 3 of them. New about that pride might be all over place in upcoming weeks and it might take time to make any sense of it as part of their endeavours might happen in Kruger and Mala Mala reserve, who don't have great density of cars, in addition no reserve really does due to cyclone at the moment. 5th Mantimahle with his sons moving in, Northern Avocas mating with Torchwoods, Young Torchwood male fate, Kambulas likely still being momentarily on the eastern side of Sand River, which might not be easy to cross for days, hard to tell what could come out of it, but it seems situation is aynthing but stale.
Just a short one today on a lion’s powers of recovery.
The Nkuhuma young male of the Styx/Nkuhuma pairing was injured over a month ago, apparently by a wildebeest horn that penetrated his jaw, leaving a severe gash behind his mouth.
In a human, a wound like that would’ve warranted an immediate trip to the emergency room, a whole lot of stitches, probably an expensive medical bill, and would’ve almost certainly caused a whole lot of worry – and no small amount of inconvenience – as it healed over the next few weeks.
December 1st, 2020.
*This image is copyright of its original author
Yet in this young male lion, if we fast forward 8 weeks, we can barely even recognise that he was ever injured. A thin line in his fur suggests some kind of previous disturbance there, but that’s about it:
January 21st, 2021
*This image is copyright of its original author
Imagine that gaping wound healing without any treatment whatsoever, and not just that, but the lion would have had to actively employ his mouth in the submission of prey, the subsequent eating thereof, stretching his jaw to groom, and pretty much aggravating the wound in some way or another on a daily basis.
Yet two months later, there is barely a trace of the injury left.
*This image is copyright of its original author
Being the apex predators they are, weakness is not a term that can ever really be attributed to lions. To just make it to independence is special, since most don’t. There is a necessary stoicism that accompanies a lion’s growth, and a wound like the Nkuhuma young male received is simply part of the entry fee he pays to the upper echelons of lion dynamics. Never a whimper will you hear from an injured lion. They simply get on with it to the best of their ability, and as long as they can get enough food to survive, their bodies will – at least with superficial wounds like this – do the rest.
