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Lions of Sabi Sands
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MALAMALA TODAY: April 9th-11th. 7 lion sightings: Over the last two weeks we’ve noticed increased lion activity in our northeastern corner and on Monday we believe we found the culprits; pride, composed of 5 lionesses and 8 cubs, known by our neighbors as ‘the Torchwood pride’, was seen at Matshapiri Dam. The Styx pride was viewed hunting wildebeest in Mlowathi Open Area. Both Avoca males were seen in Charleston. A single Gowrie male spent one day in the vicinity of the Kambula pride’s newest cubs (which we could hear) south of Maxim’s Lookout and another day on our airstrip where he killed an impala. A second Gowrie male and 5 Kambula lionesses were found south of Rattray’s Camp. We watched them kill an impala after dark. When they were next seen the male was absent and the lionesses were hunting impala again at Rattray’s Camp.
(04-12-2018, 12:36 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: Looks like the lions are having trouble in find and get the buffaloes, their main prey. The prides are starving and only killing impalas, zebras or gnus. Bboys went to far south and tynio belly is looking very empty. And the death of all 3 old majingis at the same time by starvation show something about it. Could be true.. Tsalala males are also looking very thin
Tsalala/Marthly males before three days in Sabi Sabi GR.
Scary as they look!Their condition is currently worrying. Photo credit to C.Robinson  *This image is copyright of its original author
vinodkumarn there is something wrong right there. I dont know if buffaloes left the reserve or something but the lions are not getting meal enough to keep health. Majingilanes were the most fragile with that as they were the older lions of the reserve. I asked rob ranger about it and he only said about majingilanes losing imunity with the age advancing. But all three at the same time? Its weird.
(04-12-2018, 04:10 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn there is something wrong right there. I dont know if buffaloes left the reserve or something but the lions are not getting meal enough to keep health. Majingilanes were the most fragile with that as they were the older lions of the reserve. I asked rob ranger about it and he only said about majingilanes losing imunity with the age advancing. But all three at the same time? Its weird. Golden Mane mostly due to injury from buffalo at that age. Also I think if Male lions loose females/pride their condition deteriorate quickly. I have observed this with Matimbas as well, when they lost Kambulas. (Still they had territory in Londolozi and Tsalala pride, but they became nomads) Scarnose and DM are inseparable.. They too got separated, that's also contributing factor. Had they been together, hunting success would have been greater and hence survival.
vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.
Bboys went even to sabi sabi looking for big meals cause the kambulas are only killing small preys like impalas and zebras.  (04-12-2018, 04:39 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.It might not be due to lack of food the mhangenis are still very young so they haven't fine tunned their hunting skills the Tsalalas are a shadow of their former selfs and the Majingilane are old, I think there might be a serious problem in Northern Sabi Sands there are no buffalo around that's one of the reasons why the BB's and the Northern Sabi Sands prides have moved South from their natal territorys but I never heard of any problems concerning food resources in Londolozi and Southern Sabi Sands. The Nkuhuma's and specially the Styx are always looking quite skinny. I think it might be just a serious of unfortunate situations. (04-12-2018, 05:39 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 04:39 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.It might not be due to lack of food the mhangenis are still very young so they haven't fine tunned their hunting skills the Tsalalas are a shadow of their former selfs and the Majingilane are old, I think there might be a serious problem in Northern Sabi Sands there are no buffalo around that's one of the reasons why the BB's and the Northern Sabi Sands prides have moved South from their natal territorys but I never heard of any problems concerning food resources in Londolozi and Southern Sabi Sands. Could be the same reason Torchwood pride was seen in malamala for the first time! (04-12-2018, 05:41 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote:Might be there is nowhere near enough food sources for big prides in Northern Sabi Sands a pride like the nkuhumas with 5 adult lionesses and 6 sub adults close to adulthood needs buffalos or Giraffe but there is none and with the BB's controling everything they might migrat south the Torchwood situation might be due to pressure from the nkuhumas.(04-12-2018, 05:39 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 04:39 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.It might not be due to lack of food the mhangenis are still very young so they haven't fine tunned their hunting skills the Tsalalas are a shadow of their former selfs and the Majingilane are old, I think there might be a serious problem in Northern Sabi Sands there are no buffalo around that's one of the reasons why the BB's and the Northern Sabi Sands prides have moved South from their natal territorys but I never heard of any problems concerning food resources in Londolozi and Southern Sabi Sands. (04-12-2018, 05:47 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 05:41 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote:Might be there is nowhere near enough food sources for big prides in Northern Sabi Sands a pride like the nkuhumas with 5 adult lionesses and 6 sub adults close to adulthood needs buffalos or Giraffe but there is none and with the BB's controling everything they might migrat south the Torchwood situation might be due to pressure from the nkuhumas.(04-12-2018, 05:39 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 04:39 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.It might not be due to lack of food the mhangenis are still very young so they haven't fine tunned their hunting skills the Tsalalas are a shadow of their former selfs and the Majingilane are old, I think there might be a serious problem in Northern Sabi Sands there are no buffalo around that's one of the reasons why the BB's and the Northern Sabi Sands prides have moved South from their natal territorys but I never heard of any problems concerning food resources in Londolozi and Southern Sabi Sands. I think there are more number of lions in sabisands than ecosystem supports. I don't know at any point of time there are more number of lions than at this point of time in sabi sands could be the reason. May be this is nature's way of keeping predator/prey in balance. This could be attributed to success of Maji and BBoys coalitions. Current Lions in Sabi sands and neighborhood. (In recent past) Torchwood Pride. (5 Females + 8 Sub-adults) Nkuhumas ( 5 Females + 6 Sub-adults) Mhangenis (4 Females + 12 sub-adults) Othawas (4 adults, as sub-adults are 3 years+ I am counting them as adults) Styx ( 3 Adults + 2 sub-adults + 6 cubs) Ximhungwe Pride ( 2 Adults) Tsalalas (2 adults + 1 sub-adults + 1 cub) Kambulas (6 Females) Sparta (2 Females) Southern pride (3 Females + 3 Sub-adults, not sure exactly due to their recent deaths) 4 BBoys, 3 Majis, 3 tsalalas, 2 Avocas 48 Adults + 32 Sub-adults + at-least 7 cubs Apart from this Mantimahles and Matimbas are there (04-12-2018, 06:45 AM)I dont think this very slight difference changes your analysis of the predator / prey balance but there was mention on FB about some of the Mhangeni subs being down to 10 ... I think one female who was injured hasnt been seen in a while and another (possible male) died from starvation ..... just wanted to mention that. Didnt the Mapogos kill 100 lions in a year in these areas? If they did, then could that be an indication there were more lions in this area before that seemed to be doing fine? Second question .... Are their less food sources at this time of year because of migration? Or maybe less because of disease? over hunting? Thank you! vinodkumarn Wrote:(04-12-2018, 05:47 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 05:41 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote:Might be there is nowhere near enough food sources for big prides in Northern Sabi Sands a pride like the nkuhumas with 5 adult lionesses and 6 sub adults close to adulthood needs buffalos or Giraffe but there is none and with the BB's controling everything they might migrat south the Torchwood situation might be due to pressure from the nkuhumas.(04-12-2018, 05:39 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 04:39 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.It might not be due to lack of food the mhangenis are still very young so they haven't fine tunned their hunting skills the Tsalalas are a shadow of their former selfs and the Majingilane are old, I think there might be a serious problem in Northern Sabi Sands there are no buffalo around that's one of the reasons why the BB's and the Northern Sabi Sands prides have moved South from their natal territorys but I never heard of any problems concerning food resources in Londolozi and Southern Sabi Sands. (04-12-2018, 11:52 AM)jordi6927 Wrote:(04-12-2018, 06:45 AM)I dont think this very slight difference changes your analysis of the predator / prey balance but there was mention on FB about some of the Mhangeni subs being down to 10 ... I think one female who was injured hasnt been seen in a while and another (possible male) died from starvation ..... just wanted to mention that. Didnt the Mapogos kill 100 lions in a year in these areas? If they did, then could that be an indication there were more lions in this area before that seemed to be doing fine? Second question .... Are their less food sources at this time of year because of migration? Or maybe less because of disease? over hunting? Thank you! vinodkumarn Wrote:(04-12-2018, 05:47 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 05:41 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote:Might be there is nowhere near enough food sources for big prides in Northern Sabi Sands a pride like the nkuhumas with 5 adult lionesses and 6 sub adults close to adulthood needs buffalos or Giraffe but there is none and with the BB's controling everything they might migrat south the Torchwood situation might be due to pressure from the nkuhumas.(04-12-2018, 05:39 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 04:39 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.It might not be due to lack of food the mhangenis are still very young so they haven't fine tunned their hunting skills the Tsalalas are a shadow of their former selfs and the Majingilane are old, I think there might be a serious problem in Northern Sabi Sands there are no buffalo around that's one of the reasons why the BB's and the Northern Sabi Sands prides have moved South from their natal territorys but I never heard of any problems concerning food resources in Londolozi and Southern Sabi Sands. Mapogos killed 100 lions over a period of time, not in one go. This includes cubs from Othawa/Ximhungwe prides. Their total reign was 6+ years. Atleast in last 5 years, the lion population is at its peak in sabi sands. Migration matters a lot in areas like Masaimara. where lots of wildbeets along with other herbivorous migrate in savannah. (04-12-2018, 12:12 PM)Appreciate the feedback! vinodkumarn Wrote:(04-12-2018, 11:52 AM)jordi6927 Wrote:(04-12-2018, 06:45 AM)I dont think this very slight difference changes your analysis of the predator / prey balance but there was mention on FB about some of the Mhangeni subs being down to 10 ... I think one female who was injured hasnt been seen in a while and another (possible male) died from starvation ..... just wanted to mention that. Didnt the Mapogos kill 100 lions in a year in these areas? If they did, then could that be an indication there were more lions in this area before that seemed to be doing fine? Second question .... Are their less food sources at this time of year because of migration? Or maybe less because of disease? over hunting? Thank you! vinodkumarn Wrote:(04-12-2018, 05:47 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 05:41 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote:Might be there is nowhere near enough food sources for big prides in Northern Sabi Sands a pride like the nkuhumas with 5 adult lionesses and 6 sub adults close to adulthood needs buffalos or Giraffe but there is none and with the BB's controling everything they might migrat south the Torchwood situation might be due to pressure from the nkuhumas.(04-12-2018, 05:39 AM)Michael Wrote:(04-12-2018, 04:39 AM)T Rabbit Wrote: vinodkumarn dm and sn got lost and separated cause of desperate for food. The all three together could not bring down the buffalo and gm even died in the process. So together dm and sn would not help so much. But it is happening not only to majingilanes but with younger and healthier lions. Mhangenis, tsalalas are starving. Even the strong bboys are not eating well. Look how tynio is getting skinny.It might not be due to lack of food the mhangenis are still very young so they haven't fine tunned their hunting skills the Tsalalas are a shadow of their former selfs and the Majingilane are old, I think there might be a serious problem in Northern Sabi Sands there are no buffalo around that's one of the reasons why the BB's and the Northern Sabi Sands prides have moved South from their natal territorys but I never heard of any problems concerning food resources in Londolozi and Southern Sabi Sands. |
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