Lions of Sabi Sands

[BA0701]

(10-24-2024, 04:55 AM)T_Ferguson Wrote:

(10-24-2024, 02:14 AM)BA0701 Wrote:

(10-24-2024, 12:56 AM)T_Ferguson Wrote:

(10-23-2024, 10:37 PM)BA0701 Wrote:

(10-23-2024, 09:48 PM)Mapokser Wrote: I think NK Breakaways could have attacked Tsalala and PCM attacked S.Avoca & Kruger male at the same time.

These events may not be connected necessarily, both things might have happened.

I wish we'd get some news on S Avoca, he's just been moving around, nomadic, trying to survive, since his brother was killed. Be a real shame if he got killed over simply being in the wrong place wrong time, as I have not seen anything from him that suggest his desire to become territorial/dominant again. Kruger Male seems quite the opposite, not sure he's ready for retirement just yet.

It would be sad for S. Avoca to go out like that, but there is a weird part of me that does think that's the way he wants to go out and has tried a few times.  I really think he was testing the 4 Kambula boys a while back when he joined them, and they just didn't care.

We haven't seen the Othawa girls in a long time, maybe he found them and is spreading the wealth....

I'm not sure I can believe any lion would ever try to intentionally close out the show, or would wish for that outcome, when they spend their entire lives in the harshest living environments imaginable, simply trying to survive.

I agree.  I also think lions, really all life has emotions, and for S. Avoca, I still think he's sad.  Maybe saying he's trying to suicide by combat is wrong.  Maybe he's just trying to find a new place to fit in and is willing to risk whatever to find it.

Most likely he'll turn up again here in the coming days.  Maybe he'll end up like his brother, and just... not be here anymore.  It's just hard sometimes following these creatures, because it's not like an episode of big brother.  So much of their lives is out of our view.. For Damn good reason.

We never cease being amazed by these cats. The biggest eye opening moment for me, the moment I realized that there is so much more to them, that they are very complex creatures, capable of forethought and not just simple minded automatons acting on instinct, was when I saw Fang attempt to draw a physical response from Ololashe <sp?> and Kijana. It seemed to me, quite clearly, that Fang knew he was in a really bad situation, and the only way out was to try and join the two lions to whom he was being force to be submissive. So, his response was to fake biting Ololashe, a much larger and younger male (he was absolutely enormous), trying to draw a physical response (a smack or a bite) from him. The comments of the guide who was filming, in that very video and one they released the next day, said that in fact it seems to have worked, and that they permitted him to join them. So, I believe the reasons these cats have for taking any action are far more complex than we might believe.

Sadly, this is the Mara, where this interaction occurred, and all three of those cats disappeared right after that interaction. Reply