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Acouple of days ago we wrote about the Ntsevu pride starting to splinter as the lionesses start giving birth to new litters, and the Othawa male was thrown into the mix, much further east than we’ve seen him before.
Last night he had moved even further downstream in the Sand River, and his calls as the sun started to set initiated a bellowing match between him and one of the Birmingham males in east-central Londolozi, about four kilometres away (see map).
Often when big territorial males hear an intruder, they are immediately up and running in his direction, intent on committing grievous bodily harm to the interloper.
Not this time though. The Birmingham male simply lay there, often roaring from a fully reclined position. He seemed quite content to erect that vocal boundary rather than initiating a physical confrontation. The theory was that being alone, he was reluctant to engage in a fight. If his coalition-mate had been there, it may well have been a different story.
Although we could not hear the second Birmingham male calling from where we were (with the first Birmingham), we figured it likely that at some point during the night the pair might meet up to at least roar in a united front, in an attempt to drive the Othawa male away. The lioness the Othawa male was with was, after all, an Ntsevu female, and the Birmingham coalition should certainly feel their proprietary rights were being infringed upon.
Lo and behold, this morning at around 05:10, before the sun had risen, we found the Birmingham males with the bulk of the Ntsevu pride, only a few hundred metres from where the Othawa male had been roaring. The second Birmingham male had come from the deep south to join his brother, and together they had moved north.
I’ll be perfectly honest here and say that I don’t – nor can I – know the exact motives of these two males for being where we found them. Truth be told, it’s more often the pride that dictates the direction and pace, and the male(s) simply tag along behind. It does seem highly coincidental though that the morning after an intruding male was roaring from their territory, the dominant pair showed up at almost the same spot and their rival was nowhere to be seen.
This theory pretty much falls apart if the Othawa male was still close by (we didn’t find him). Or it can hold, but it means the approach of the Birmingham males didn’t have the desired effect and the intruder wasn’t to be deterred.
I don’t know how much info is conveyed in a lion’s roar; whether or not males can ascertain the threat level of a foreign male just from his voice. They can certainly tell the difference between roars (people can do it too, but it’s tricky and you need to have heard individuals roar a good many times before you start recognising their specific call) and know when a roar is not made by a lion they know, but beyond that, I’m not sure.
I think tonight will be when we find out more. If we hear the Othawa male roaring from close by, the intimidation tactics of the Birmingham males have failed and they’ll have to come up with another plan. If the Ntsevu female is still with the Othawa male and he’s still close by, this may be the tiniest shift in the male lion power struggle that we’re witnessing…
Written and Photos by: James Tyrrell
*This image is copyright of its original author
*This image is copyright of its original author
From the post, it looks like Tinyo is the one who had a roar off with the Othawa Male. I understand the Rangers thought the Birmingham males were only in that location the next day because of the pride but Nhenha does seem to be scent marking so it does seem he is in a dominant mindset. It also seems the Othawa Male and Birmingham don't have a very competitive mindset even though the Birminghams have chased him off a buffalo kill a few months ago. We haven't seen a confrontation between them before. For all we know Tinyo was simply warning the Othawa Male but we also can't understand the mindset of these males at the end of the day.For example, It might have been a different story if it was Nhenha. As Londolozi reported, Nhenha chased the Avoca last month. People don't believe it because James attached a photo of Blondie and not Nhenha however James said it was true and he just attached the wrong photo. If Nhenha was confident enough to confront 2 prime males, I don't think he'd be too afraid of the Othawa male. We will have to see what happens next though.
Hi Slayerd, Nhenha chasing the Avoca males was just speculation. Since he used the word "I think" and never claimed that it was 100% true and hence James himself erased his own post!
It did indeed happen. James confirmed it in the comments.
The story he told had many incongruities, he never affirmed in the main article, there was only speculation on his part (James Tyrrell). In fact that is why he deleted it... I think this Avoca and Birmingham stuff is boring, so let's focus on the recent news!
The only thing that I have read is that one of the two Birmingham males was challenged by the male Othawa who is a beast in body and there was no response, for me it was very accurate from the Bboy since a physical confrontation in a 1 vs 1 would be detrimental to the 2 males as it could cause serious injuries and there is much to lose and little to gain since the male Othawa himself is not a serious threat... And I think the smartest thing the Birmingham male did was to wait for his partner to deal with the threat more decisively!
Indeed the Londolozi Birmingham vs Avoca is very boring. I don't think either coalition have any reason of facing each other. I only brought it up to show the Birminghams are not strangers to facing males. This also seemed like a smart move for the Birmingham. The truth is the Othawa Male would be more cautious around the Birminghams as he is younger an inexperienced and he know that unlike himself the Birmingham could not be alone. Also I think the Birminghams are quite smart lions. They have chased him many times and he has always escaped them. I don't think Tinyo was willing to that far north and already be too late. I think he just wanted to scare the Othawa Male off.
(10-29-2020, 01:32 AM)Tr1x24 Wrote: Birminghams know OM for few years now, they know that he is their western neighbor, and that he is alone.. They know very well that he is no threat to their territory and pride..because of that they never went to "search and destroyed mission" against OM as they did vs 4 N'ws..
Lions are smarter then we think, they know their neighbors, also i think that they can distinguish roars, from just "territorial" roars from their neighbors, to threatning "takeover/challenge " roars..
Birminghams have no reason to go and fight OM if he is not threat for their territory/pride..
But he is literally mating with their female now... I think we can all agree that no collation “shares” their pride with other males. At the very least the Birminghams don’t know what’s going on yet.
10-29-2020, 01:48 AM( This post was last modified: 10-29-2020, 01:49 AM by Tr1x24 )
(10-29-2020, 01:43 AM)Gijima Wrote: But he is literally mating with their female now... I think we can all agree that no collation “shares” their pride with other males. At the very least the Birminghams don’t know what’s going on yet.
That female is literally roaming around and searching males for mating, because she is infertile and always in estrus, Birminghams can nothing do about that, its not like they are 24/7 with that lioness..
If they see OM with that lioness, thats a different story..they would definitely act then..
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(10-29-2020, 01:13 AM)Gijima Wrote: @titose Agreed “We heard Birminghams calling and moving north in response to the Avocas calling" (along with "no footage") sounds like another night in the bush, not anything worth hyping up.
I also think we need more faith in the Ottawa Male... This is from 2018 (When the Ottawa Male took over the Mhangeni Pride):
"Whatever happened, the presence of a rival male with lionesses (Mhangeni) that they have been mating with will certainly be unwelcome by the Birmingham coalition. Years ago the Majingilane went on the hunt when they heard the young Southern Pride males roaring, and after 48 hours they caught and killed one of them. I’m not saying the same thing will happen here, but with the ominous and silent approach by the Birmingham males that was witnessed last night, the Ottawa male would be best advised to make himself scarce." https://blog.londolozi.com/2018/10/20/ot...ngerously/
And... nothing happened. So why would he fear the Birminghams? Animals learn behavior from experience and his experience with the Birminghams so far hasn't been that scary. I guess my point is, I think most lions have to be a bit audacious and bold if they have any chance of success in their short lives. Like the Red Road male who kept flirting with the Orpen Males' prides until he eventually took over one of them. Obviously it can go horribly wrong but if it doesn't, then like RRM and Ottawa Male, you get to be a territorial male. So good for him.
He has every reason of being afraid. The post you brought up? Yeah the Birminghams chased him that time. He barely escaped. All 3 Birminghams chased him silently. Fortunately for him the Birminghams abandoned the Mangheni pride but if it was all 4, I doubt they would have abandoned the pride. Earlier this year the Othawa Male was with the Ntsevu female and ran after hearing a Birmingham roar close by. The Birminghams also chased him off a buffalo carcass a few months ago. According to Singita the Birminghams roared in close proximity to him in Singita and he did not answer. Not to mention Singita has said the Birminghams are bigger. I don't know if they meant both but Nhenha is definitely bigger. Plus both males are experienced, he is not. So he has every reason to be afraid. And finally it's 2 on 1. He is young, inexperienced, smaller than at least one of them and they are 2 males that he knows have chased him before.
(10-29-2020, 01:32 AM)Tr1x24 Wrote: Birminghams know OM for few years now, they know that he is their western neighbor, and that he is alone.. They know very well that he is no threat to their territory and pride..because of that they never went to "search and destroyed mission" against OM as they did vs 4 N'ws..
Lions are smarter then we think, they know their neighbors, also i think that they can distinguish roars, from just "territorial" roars from their neighbors, to threatning "takeover/challenge " roars..
Birminghams have no reason to go and fight OM if he is not threat for their territory/pride..
I also think @Tr1x24 is right. If the Birminghams really thought of the Othawa Male as a threat to them, they would have confronted him as they did with the N'waswitshaka and Plains Camp Males. Apparently they also mauled one of the young males seen in their territory a few months ago or at least 1 of the Birminghams did. So I don't think they view him as a threat. But if they saw him infront of their faces, that might be a different story.
(10-29-2020, 01:43 AM)Gijima Wrote: But he is literally mating with their female now... I think we can all agree that no collation “shares” their pride with other males. At the very least the Birminghams don’t know what’s going on yet.
That female is literally roaming around and searching males for mating, because she is infertile and always in estrus, Birminghams can nothing do about that, its not like they are 24/7 with that lioness..
If they see OM with that lioness, thats a different story..they would definitely act then..
I disagree with you on what you said, at this moment the Othawa male is a threat, he has been in the territory of the BIrmingham males with one female Kambula mating, that is not a threat?
(10-29-2020, 01:13 AM)Gijima Wrote: @titose Agreed “We heard Birminghams calling and moving north in response to the Avocas calling" (along with "no footage") sounds like another night in the bush, not anything worth hyping up.
I also think we need more faith in the Ottawa Male... This is from 2018 (When the Ottawa Male took over the Mhangeni Pride):
"Whatever happened, the presence of a rival male with lionesses (Mhangeni) that they have been mating with will certainly be unwelcome by the Birmingham coalition. Years ago the Majingilane went on the hunt when they heard the young Southern Pride males roaring, and after 48 hours they caught and killed one of them. I’m not saying the same thing will happen here, but with the ominous and silent approach by the Birmingham males that was witnessed last night, the Ottawa male would be best advised to make himself scarce." https://blog.londolozi.com/2018/10/20/ot...ngerously/
And... nothing happened. So why would he fear the Birminghams? Animals learn behavior from experience and his experience with the Birminghams so far hasn't been that scary. I guess my point is, I think most lions have to be a bit audacious and bold if they have any chance of success in their short lives. Like the Red Road male who kept flirting with the Orpen Males' prides until he eventually took over one of them. Obviously it can go horribly wrong but if it doesn't, then like RRM and Ottawa Male, you get to be a territorial male. So good for him.
He has every reason of being afraid. The post you brought up? Yeah the Birminghams chased him that time. He barely escaped. All 3 Birminghams chased him silently. Fortunately for him the Birminghams abandoned the Mangheni pride but if it was all 4, I doubt they would have abandoned the pride. Earlier this year the Othawa Male was with the Ntsevu female and ran after hearing a Birmingham roar close by. The Birminghams also chased him off a buffalo carcass a few months ago. According to Singita the Birminghams roared in close proximity to him in Singita and he did not answer. Not to mention Singita has said the Birminghams are bigger. I don't know if they meant both but Nhenha is definitely bigger. Plus both males are experienced, he is not. So he has every reason to be afraid. And finally it's 2 on 1. He is young, inexperienced, smaller than at least one of them and they are 2 males that he knows have chased him before.
But this is another case another different story, in the publication it is very clear that the male Othawa was challenging one of the Birmingham males and this one did not react and that does not mean that he is afraid, that means that he was cautious and did not want to risk an injury!
10-29-2020, 02:34 AM( This post was last modified: 10-29-2020, 02:45 AM by T I N O )
I need to say that a lion always is a threat to other lion.
Nonetheless. The Othawa male at this stage being casanova that has been seen mating with a same lioness for over 4 months now. The Othawa male Isn't showing any kind of interesting.
At the moment weven't witness of an intent of took-over the Kambula/Ntsevu pride rather than mating with just a lioness... Besides. The Ntsevu/Kambula lioness (infertile) always trying to mate with every lion that roames nearby of her... Her does this to increases the chances of their "future" cubs will be accepted by the male lions that she has mated before. on this way those lions will think that were sired by them instead by the dominant male of the pride who mated with her much before than them. But her don't know at all that she can't be mother for the rest of his life... meanwhile she is causing troubles with nearby coalitions. on this case the Othawa male and the Birmingham's males
One of the Avoca males (Mohawk/Lambula) seen today accompanied with the infertile Kambula lioness #6 at MalaMala Game Reserve
Image by: Safraaz Suliman
(10-29-2020, 02:21 AM)titose Wrote: I disagree with you on what you said, at this moment the Othawa male is a threat, he has been in the territory of the BIrmingham males with one female Kambula mating, that is not a threat?
No? What kind of threat he is? Because he is having an affair with 1 Kambula lioness behind Bboys back? When he is done he will just return west..
And idk why people act that Londolozi is whole Bboys territory? Londolozi is territory of OM, Bboys and Avocas, and dependig of movement, that territory and border changes day to day..
(10-29-2020, 02:37 AM)TinoArmando Wrote: One of the Avoca males (Mohawk/Lambula) seen today accompanied with the infertile Kambula lioness #6 at MalaMala Game Reserve
Image by: Safraaz Suliman
(10-29-2020, 02:37 AM)TinoArmando Wrote: One of the Avoca males (Mohawk/Lambula) seen today accompanied with the infertile Kambula lioness #6 at MalaMala Game Reserve
Image by: Safraaz Suliman
*This image is copyright of its original author
Is that the same infertile lioness that OM was seen with just yesterday? Did something happen to her to be infertile, or do we just know this due to her constant mating and not having cubs?
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(10-29-2020, 02:45 AM)Tr1x24 Wrote: And yet again this was punished by Londolozi..
We already know about their narratives of Avocas "trying to takeover" Bboys.. It seems that now is OM's turn..
Just lions roaring on their borders, this happens every night lol..
I think the whole conversation started with people thinking OM needs to watch out and some of us thought he didn’t... he’ll be fine. Just differences of opinion. I don’t think anyone thinks he’s going to try to take over Mala Mala.
(10-29-2020, 02:37 AM)TinoArmando Wrote: One of the Avoca males (Mohawk/Lambula) seen today accompanied with the infertile Kambula lioness #6 at MalaMala Game Reserve
Image by: Safraaz Suliman
*This image is copyright of its original author
Is that the same infertile lioness that OM was seen with just yesterday? Did something happen to her to be infertile, or do we just know this due to her constant mating and not having cubs?
To be honest. I don't know what happened with this lioness that can't conceive after to have mate with different lions for ages now
Yeah You're right: This lioness that today was with the N. Avoca male (Mohawk / Lamula) Yesterday her was with the Othawa male mating on the Plaque Rock at Londolozi ... Being honest as a lion enthusiast that I'm .. The infertile lionesses just cause problems in the lion dynamics as those movements that now this lioness is doing sooner or later will impacted in the Birmingham males and on the whole Kambula pride. It's just a matter of waiting to see what's will happens
