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Lions of Sabi Sands
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Lion Sands The Queen of Southern Pride  *This image is copyright of its original author Floppy Ear has braved an unrelenting war on survival. Despite being feared dead, she emerged on 7 March, seen on safari holding together the remaining members of the Southern Pride of lions. By Charlotte ArthunLION UPDATE: TURBULENT TIMES FOR THE SOUTHERN PRIDE Posted on March 9, 2018 Categories Lions of Lion Sands,Wildlife Tags Big Five, lions, Southern Pride Lions, wildlife The Southern Pride – our beloved lion pride, with which we have been lucky enough to share the same environment since our beginning as Lion Sands River Lodge in 2001. It is a long-lived pride, with stories of loss and triumph we can only imagine. But what we do know with certainty is that its lions are resilient and they are fighters.
The Southern Pride is facing a turbulent time. You may remember that the Charleston Males stopped patrolling Lion Sands regularly over a year ago. They essentially abandoned their Southern Pride and its several young cubs, leaving them vulnerable to attacks and takeovers by other males.  *This image is copyright of its original author Southern Pride cub, 2017Since then, the Southern Pride has kept a low profile. Its lions move discreetly through Lion Sands and our neighbouring properties, venturing quite far to seek asylum. Without the presence of the Charleston Males, and with other male lions, like the Tsalala Males, moving into the area, they are not safe. It’s unfortunate, but deadly confrontations are an inevitable part of a pride’s existence. Male lions are well known for the practice of infanticide, and coalitions in their prime can only rule for so long before younger and stronger males move in and take over power. Unfortunately for the Southern Pride, confrontations with the Tsalala Males and others have resulted in the deaths of not only its cubs, but also of its adults fighting to defend their young.  *This image is copyright of its original author Southern Pride together, 2017The pride appears to be down to just four lions – one adult lioness, one adolescent lioness and two cubs – a bleak number considering that one year ago they were a strong pride of 16 individuals. Seeing them march in unison down the road towards you was a mighty sight. But there is still hope for these lions. In the decades of the pride’s existence, their numbers have grown into the 20s, and have also dwindled to less than five. While it would seem the odds are against their survival, if history is any indication, they may be able to make a comeback.  *This image is copyright of its original author Floppy Ear seen on safari, 7 March 2018‘Floppy Ear’ – a battle-scared, fierce and no-nonsense lioness – leads the Southern Pride. She is a mother to countless cubs and has been known, on several occasions, to lure males away from her cubs by coming into a false estrous. I spoke to one of our long-time trackers here, Juice Khoza who remembers Floppy Ear as a young lioness. She has braved an unrelenting war on survival. Despite being feared dead, she emerged on 7 March, seen on safari holding together the remaining members of the pride. Approximately 18 years old, her survival is truly an impressive feat and, in my opinion, captures one of the things that make the stories of lions so inspirational – their incredible resilience. She is thin and injured now; how did she outlive all of the younger and fitter lionesses? In a fight, she must be ferocious and cunning, with an incredible will to live. Sadly, her time will eventually come but, for now, we are happy to see her as a surviving lioness of their recent decimation. But what will become of the Southern Pride when Floppy Ear’s time inevitably comes? It’s impossible to imagine that it could be entirely wiped out, since the Southern Sabi Sands has been dominated by this pride for decades. It’s possible that the remaining members could survive on their own (we’ve seen it before with the Charleston Female), or link up with another pride. Or perhaps this will be the end of an era. I certainly hope not. But if I’ve learned anything about lions, it’s that they have a way of surprising us. Words and photos by: Charlotte Arthun 
There is a very fresh news about the mhangeni boys. They entered over bboys area and attacked the styx pride. One giraffe kill was stolen by these crazy young boys.
(03-13-2018, 04:53 PM)T Rabbit Wrote: There is a very fresh news about the mhangeni boys. They entered over bboys area and attacked the styx pride. One giraffe kill was stolen by these crazy young boys. They should lay low for a while.. otherwise very dangerous. Also I listened only 11 of them were together, hope 12th one is also safe! (03-13-2018, 04:53 PM)I T Rabbit Wrote: There is a very fresh news about the mhangeni boys. They entered over bboys area and attacked the styx pride. One giraffe kill was stolen by these crazy young boys. These boys have the mapogo in their genes. In my opinion their starting to be like their grandfathers when they were young. So these boys will be terrifying once they get bigger and more mature
Young Mhangeni boss lion
"These sightings have been nothing short of amazing. Today we watched a ferocious fight between 8 juvenile Lions for a Warthog and holy SHIT was it intense. All of these animals come literally just a few feet from you.. and better believe the adrenaline was PUMPING as the growling and roars got louder and angrier for a piece of the kill." credits: kelsburkholder, Idube GR, posted 03.15.2018  *This image is copyright of its original author
There was a report from nkorho bush lounge, that said after the confrontation of the 11 magheni males had a huge fight with stux pride and eventually chasing the pride away now there are 2 Birmingham males that are on territory patrol and that they are not to far from the Young males.
To be quite honest with you guys just seeing the attitude and behavior from these young males I wouldn’t be sureprised in a couple of months they’ll be set to takeover territory and if they come across the 2 Birmingham males I am confident to tell you they would attack the 2 Birminghams, these young males are confident and this reminds me once again like their grandfathers the mapogos. Get ready everyone we might witness greatness once again or in other words MAPOGO PART 2
(03-16-2018, 10:33 PM)Chris Wrote: To be quite honest with you guys just seeing the attitude and behavior from these young males I wouldn’t be sureprised in a couple of months they’ll be set to takeover territory and if they come across the 2 Birmingham males I am confident to tell you they would attack the 2 Birminghams, these young males are confident and this reminds me once again like their grandfathers the mapogos. Get ready everyone we might witness greatness once again or in other words MAPOGO PART 2 They are too young to do so! some of them are not even 2 year old. In my opinion any coalition can think of take over only if they are sexually mature enough to mate. Which may be close to 4 years. If they come across BBoys in next few months, it will be very dangerous for the young males and will certainly get killed.
03-17-2018, 06:17 AM
( This post was last modified: 03-17-2018, 06:18 AM by Chris
Edit Reason: I forgot something
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(03-16-2018, 11:47 PM)vinodkumarn Wrote:They are actually 2 years old and in a young coalition of 9 MALES, just by seeing them fight against a pride that is far older than them, it’s just hard for me to see them not fight any males, now I believe it will take a couple of months for them to get stronger and to build even more confidence than they already have, and we need to put in consideration they have their sisters with them and they all have a strong bond so that will certainly help them along the way.(03-16-2018, 10:33 PM)Chris Wrote: To be quite honest with you guys just seeing the attitude and behavior from these young males I wouldn’t be sureprised in a couple of months they’ll be set to takeover territory and if they come across the 2 Birmingham males I am confident to tell you they would attack the 2 Birminghams, these young males are confident and this reminds me once again like their grandfathers the mapogos. Get ready everyone we might witness greatness once again or in other words MAPOGO PART 2  (03-16-2018, 10:33 PM)Chris Wrote: these young males are confident and this reminds me once again like their grandfathers the mapogos. Get ready everyone we might witness greatness once again or in other words MAPOGO PART 2 You need to be careful to not jump on the imaginary success wagon so early, Chris. They're still teens in lion years, and no one can guarantee that they are going to be successful, dominant males in the future( refer to what happened to the Spartta young males, their half-brothers). Anything can happen, and a established, dominant coalition like the Birmingham males will make short work of them should they find them. And another thing, whis is this thing of bringing up the "Mapogo grandsons" thing over and over again? Because in any case, they'd be following the genetic code their fathers imprinted on them first (rather than the 1/4 percentage of the Mapogos).
The 3 young avoca males were sleeping with full bellies over djuma today morning.
Credits: Sabi Sabi PGR
Mhangeni sub-adults There comes a time when you witness something very special! We watched in awe as this pride of lions challenged a herd of buffalo and after being chased off a few times, they pulled down a young calf and were forced to retreat back into the water. After defending their prize, they turned on each other ferociously feeding and eventually some members running away with the spoils of war.  *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  *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  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
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