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Lions of Sabi Sands
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MALAMALA TODAY: January 23rd&24th. Lions: Today we got our first proper look at the 3 young cubs of the Kambula lioness who is denning in the Rock Drift Donga! Another first is that we’ve been seeing 1 of the Gowrie males mating with the youngest lioness from the Marthly pride, in Marthly. The 3 nomadic males from the Marthly pride were with the 2 Eyrefield lionesses in Toulon yesterday. Today we viewed the 3 males north of Calabash Crossing. The 2 Avoca males were also seen in Charleston.
Kabmula Lioness with cubs  *This image is copyright of its original author
After a series of head rubbing to affirm their bond, two young Avoca male lions decided to move away from the direction of male lions that were vocalising to the north.
Credits: Sabi Sabi PGR  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Up close & personal with Othawa young male.
photo by T. Lindley @timlindley, Ulusaba, 01/25/2018  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits: Kirkmans kamp
A few of our guests have recently had the privilege of seeing the Kambula lioness and her three cubs, which are denning on neighbouring Charleston. We are excited that we have lion cubs close by, and we hope we are able to view them for a long while to come.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Londolozi Game Reserve, The Ending of an Era: Tsalala Lioness Dying by James Tyrrell:
When the end comes for lions, it generally comes quickly. Over the last two years, the fortunes of the Tsalala pride have been what we have come to expect from them; from down-and-out to new hope and then back again, with the peaks and troughs creating the kind of saga you couldn’t script. Upon the successful rearing of the Tailed female’s 2013 litter to independence, the pride entered into a new phase with the arrival of the Matimba males. Two new litters were born – a total of 5 cubs – and it seemed like the pride was going through a wonderful rebirth. The lioness (centre), leads her pride over the Sand River, only a year ago. A lot has changed since then.  *This image is copyright of its original author And then things went downhill. The Matimba males moved out (for reasons we could never quite fathom), and the pride split once more, with the Tailless female breaking off with her 3-year-old niece, and the Tailed lioness staying with the 2011 lioness and their cubs. Both sets of lions criss-crossed a similar area, but despite the occasional meet-up, the rejoining we always anticipated and hoped for never materialised. Over the next year, a series of setbacks hit the pride – both core and Breakaway parts – and we now find ourselves with an end-of-the-road, three-way split. The Tailless female and her remaining cub are moving around by themselves, still apparently healthy, but alone. The young lioness from the 2013 litter has been mating with one of the Birmingham males, and appears to be the last hope for the Tsalala name, as her mother, the old Tailed lioness, will probably be lost within the next 48 hours. Skeletal and unrecognisable, the old Tailed lioness moves through her territory for what is more than likely the last time. Photograph by Nick Kleer.  *This image is copyright of its original author Isolated from her pride for weeks now, the lioness has been losing condition steadily, and the sad reality is that the iconic duo of Tsalala sisters is about to lose its first member. Born in 2002, these lionesses have been at the centre of Londolozi lion viewing for more than a decade-and-a-half. Seeing their pride endure the changing of the guard of males multiple times – Mapogo, Majingilane, Matimba, to name but a few – the two sisters have both survived to the same age as their mother, the original Tailless lioness, who died at age 15. Celebrating their own 15th birthday in December, the pair are by no means spring chickens, and the day on which we lost one of them was certainly going to come sooner rather than later. The inevitability of death does in no way make it easier to bear however, and the lioness will leave behind a void that will not easily be filled. I try and distance myself from the emotionality of difficult sightings, knowing that it’s a bad road to go down, but this morning was a tougher one than usual, as we sat quietly with the lioness, watching her draw slow, yet almost peaceful breaths. Many “firsts” of mine in the bush have been with her and her sister; first kill, first discovery of a lion’s den-site, first lions climbing trees. I always advocate the non-attachment approach with wild animals, but this is a hard one to process, as I guess despite one’s best efforts, time itself makes for the inexorable development of an attachment. Casting her eyes to the sky. I can’t begin to imagine how many photographs have been taken of this lioness over the last 15 years, and how many indelible memories she has made.  *This image is copyright of its original author The last seven years spent watching her, week-in and week-out, are peppered with memories, far more than could fill a simple scrapbook. She lies now in the shade of a Gardenia tree, next to a small pan that is surrounded by these same trees, the local name for which is Tsalala. It was this exact pan, and the original pride’s spending a lot of their time here, that gave them their name. Without romanticising it too much, there is some solace in the thought that after fifteen years, with the inevitable end approaching, this old lioness has simply come home.
All these concerns about the Tsalalas bloodline dying out but I thought the Mhangeni and Kambula prides were both breakaways from the Tsalala pride. Or am I mistaken? And the Tsalala breakaway mentioned in the latest post, is it referring to Mhangeni, Kambula or something completely different?
(01-30-2018, 11:01 PM)sundarbans Wrote: All these concerns about the Tsalalas bloodline dying out but I thought the Mhangeni and Kambula prides were both breakaways from the Tsalala pride. Or am I mistaken? And the Tsalala breakaway mentioned in the latest post, is it referring to Mhangeni, Kambula or something completely different?what happened to tailed lioness? did she get hurt or just old?  (01-30-2018, 11:01 PM)sundarbans Wrote: All these concerns about the Tsalalas bloodline dying out but I thought the Mhangeni and Kambula prides were both breakaways from the Tsalala pride. Or am I mistaken? And the Tsalala breakaway mentioned in the latest post, is it referring to Mhangeni, Kambula or something completely different? The original Tsalala pride(the two prides merged back together again this month) split into two in 2010 because of the Majingalanes becoming dominant, Mhangeni's(4 lionesses) were raised by the tailless female in a scenario similar to the 3 Tsalala males and their sister. The Kambulas(6 lionesses) are a breakaway pride from the Mhangeni pride and they had to separate because a pride of 10 females in sabi sands is pretty much unsustainable. (01-30-2018, 11:46 PM)sik94 Wrote:(01-30-2018, 11:01 PM)sundarbans Wrote: All these concerns about the Tsalalas bloodline dying out but I thought the Mhangeni and Kambula prides were both breakaways from the Tsalala pride. Or am I mistaken? And the Tsalala breakaway mentioned in the latest post, is it referring to Mhangeni, Kambula or something completely different? @Sik the first split happened in 2010 when Majingalane become dominant and Mhangeni pride formed. The older Tailess lioness took then four sub-adult lionesses and raised to form Mhangeni pride. That was done by current Tailless and tailed older Lioness mother. (Bibi) In 2015 when Matimbas arrived Bibi's daughter, younger tailless lioness (Bibi died sometime in 2014) broke away from the pride and took 4 sub-adults (3 males.. tsalala males and 1 female) and raised them. That young lioness is the one mating with BBoys in recent past. The lioness born in 2011 is missing from last few months and Tsalala pride is reduced to just Tailed 15 year old. (Sub-adults mostly got killed/abandoned) and Tsalala breakaway pride has Tailless and a small cub and her niece (Born in 2013 and her 3 brothers became independent) Kabmulas are breakaway from Mhangenis. When Mhangenis produced second litter, the first litter (Born in 2013) broke away and formed 6 strong Kambula pride. Mhangenis are going strong and raising current litter of 12 cubs. (Now aged between 2 to 2.5 years) 3 of the Kambulas have given birth in last couple of months. (01-31-2018, 12:27 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote:(01-30-2018, 11:46 PM)sik94 Wrote:(01-30-2018, 11:01 PM)sundarbans Wrote: All these concerns about the Tsalalas bloodline dying out but I thought the Mhangeni and Kambula prides were both breakaways from the Tsalala pride. Or am I mistaken? And the Tsalala breakaway mentioned in the latest post, is it referring to Mhangeni, Kambula or something completely different? 
From: Sabi Sabi The Avoca boys
Posted January 31, 2018 A WEEK IN THE BUSH VOL. 192 The Avoca males have made their presence known this week with many sightings of the two young males. They have spent quite a bit of time around the Bush Lodge area, reaffirming bonds and always on the look out for a meal.
One morning the Avoca males were relaxing atop a termite mound on an open area nearby an active waterhole. Suddenly one of the males noticed a large male leopard emerging from a Tamboti thicket not too far away. Maxabeni was quick to react to the situation as he would be, being the experienced dominant male leopard of the area.
Mhangene pride lining up for the hunt...
Credits: LeopardHIlls PGR  *This image is copyright of its original author
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