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Lions of Timbavati
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Credits to Tintswalo Safari Lodge.
Safari Update 30 May 2018 The week started off with a bang! A sighting that none of us will ever forget... The Mbiri pride managed to bring down a huge male giraffe - this on its own was a sighting to behold. While watching the Mbiri pride feed on the carcass, their arch enemies the Nharu pride joined them on the same carcass! How do we explain this? Two different prides that for the last 2 years have competed for territory and resources now feed off the same carcass?! All we can say is...this is nature at is best! Always a surprise in store. Then to make the sighting even more exciting, the 3 Giraffe/Avoca male lions ran in and chased both prides off the carcass and fed on it for the night. In the morning when we got back to the sighting with our guests, 21 lions were submerged in the carcass! Who were they? They were the 3 Avoca/Giraffe males, 12 Mbiri lions and 6 Nharu’s all on one carcass. We couldn’t believe our eyes! Why would the Mbiris be feeding off the same carcass as the Avoca/Giraffe males? This after the fact that these males have been responsible for the death of a number of Mbiri cubs. Additionally, why would the Nharu pride feed with the Avoca/Giraffe males as they are the not the fathers to the sub adults? Nature is truly amazing and always surprising... The Mbiri’s also mangerd to kill a zebra and wildbebeest this week, so they seem to be doing very well and are keeping the cubs and young Nharu male well fed. The Nharu pride has headed East towards Kruger but one lioness stayed behind to mate with the Avoca/Giraffe male. We are looking forward to seeing what happens from this! The Birmingham pride also managed to kill a zebra on our northern border. The 3 young Avoca males were seen mating with the Talamati pride in the South.  *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
The Lions of Tintswalo
THE LIONS OF TINTSWALO: THE DRAMA CONTINUES As always, the lions’ dynamics at Tintswalo are like a great soap opera unfolding in the greater Kruger National Park wilderness. Just as you think you are on top of the story, something else changes—a new male lion, a new set of cubs—that upsets the equilibrium, causing a ripple effect through the reserve. In order to best understand the current situation, let’s lay out the latest summary of all the resident lions in the Manyeleti and how they are living together in the Greater Kruger National Park. A while back, we wrote an introduction to the Lions of Tintswalo which gave a background to the various prides. But things have changed (constant change is just a state of affairs with lions) and it’s time for an update on the resident prides, new arrivals and dramatic moments over the last few months.  *This image is copyright of its original author Mbiri Pride Anyone who has visited Tintswalo in the last few years would have enjoyed the company of the resident Mbiri Pride. A 12 lions in total (4 lionesses, 7 cubs and a sub-adult), they are the largest and most respected pride on the property and you can’t but sit in awe when you encounter them in the bush. Unfortunately, they are still recovering from the tragedy that befell their pride a few months ago when the Avoca Males came into the area and killed a number of their cubs. The pride was going from strength to strength, and it seemed like nothing could stop them. But the painful death of Sizanani, the Legend of the Manyeleti, caused a vacuum in the bush, and made room for new males to come into the area. Sizanani’s brother’s (Skorro) power began to fade and a new set of dominant males made their way into the area—and these came in the form of the Avoca Coalition of males.  *This image is copyright of its original author One night in February, the males attacked the Mbiri Pride. It must have been a terrifying scene as the males tore into the pride, and killed six of the cubs. Thankfully, 6 of the cubs survived the onslaught and they are alive and well and growing quickly. Shortly after, the Mibiri Pride managed to bring down a big giraffe, which must have been an unbelievable scene. We are not sure how, but the Avoca males managed to find the kill, and we thought it was all over for the rest of the cubs. Surely the Avoca males would want to take out the remaining cubs? But, to our amazement, the males arrived at the giraffe carcass and proceeded to eat right beside the cubs—sharing a meal with the siblings of those cubs that they had slaughtered not long before.  *This image is copyright of its original author All the lion textbooks would tell you that male lions would never tolerate the cubs born from another male, and yet here they were, eating side by side. Thankfully, it looks like the remaining six Mbiri cubs are going to make it after all and will go on to make their mark in the Manyeleti. The Avoca/Giraffe Males The three Avoca Males are now the resident dominant males in the Tintswalo area, and they are making their presence felt all over the reserve. We recently had the pleasure of hearing one of the males roaring, announcing his territorial supremacy over the area, and the spine-chilling sound is impossible to forget— the true sound of a king in full reign. Interestingly, one of the Avoca males is now mating with one of the Nharu females, so it won’t be long until that pride welcome a new set of cubs in the area and the males enjoy the benefits of two separate sets of females.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Nharu Pride The Nharu Pride is spending much of their time in the south of the reserve. In some ways, they are biding their time, waiting to become one of the great forces in the Manyeleti. The recent giraffe kill was the scene of another fascinating behaviour. The entire Nharu pride appeared at the kill and began to feast at the same carcass. This was an extremely strange occurrence, seeing as lion prides almost never mix. Both males and females are highly territorial and don’t tolerate other encroaching prides. Perhaps lions are happy to share very big kills and they have an understanding that if there is enough meat going around—then all can feast. In the end, there were over 30 lions on the carcass, and the giraffe kill seemed to become the central point for all the Lions of Tintswalo. The Nharu pride currently has four big young male lions who are going to start causing some trouble in the years to come. They may well form a powerful coalition and vie for territory in the Manyeleti. Let’s see!  *This image is copyright of its original author The Thanda Impi Males Skorro, the last of the famous Thanda Impi Males, was seen in Kruger mating with one of the resident females in the Mshlowati concession in Kruger. With the death of his legendary brother, Sizanani, perhaps he was nursing his broken heart. He has been quiet… when lions are alone they will stop calling. If or when he becomes dominant again, we might hear his roars echo across the Manyeleti once again. All in all, the Lions of Tintswalo are as enthralling, fascinating, and amazing as ever, and it’s a real privilege to be able to follow their ongoing dramas. Every day, when we head out for a game drive, we truly never know what will happen out in the bush. We’ve had so much feedback from past guests around the world who love to connect with the Lions of Tintswalo and follow the story, and we promise to keep you updated! 
Safari update
Wow! What a week in the Manyeleti we have had. Firstly with the cold fronts moving into the low-veld and making sure all the guides are wearing their jackets and fleeces. The cold weather seems to be playing an important role for all our animals around Tintswalo, with especially the predators being in better condition and also a lot more active into the mornings and in the afternoons. Ours lions have been the main characters over the last week, showing themselves on numerous occasions. The local Mbiri pride has been hanging around the lodge for most of the the week and all seem to be in great condition. All four females, six juveniles and one Nharu young male are present in the pride and the social structure remains the same as the previous safari update. The pride managed to bring down a kudu and wildebeest this week, making sure they were very well fed. The Nharu pride was also found and numbered 10 individuals, they were seen hunting buffalo and chasing wildebeest but were unsuccessful, however one of the young male lions was treed by the buffalo herd and provided an incredible sighting for our guests. The pride has been seen in the South Eastern parts of the Manyeleti for the past week. One big highlight for the guides especially was the surprise visit from two males from the Southern/Central Timbavati named the Ross Males, they were seen in the northern Manyeleti for a day and then moved back to their territory in the north. The Birmingham Pride, consisting of four lioness and two sub adult males, were seen at Kokomoya dam on one day and the next day we saw the Koppies pride in the same area numbering four lionesses and two Juveniles - with the Koppies male and coalition partner known as the Red road male. The Koppies pride could’ve possibly pushed the Birminghams back north as they have the force of the two nearly fully grown Koppies and Red road males. Reports from our southern stations recorded an incredible sighting of the Talamati pride bringing down an adult sable antelope! An amazing sighting it would’ve been to observe! Sticking with the Talamati pride, the three young Avoca males have been seen with members of this pride. This bodes well for us and hopefully the Talamati females will accept these males and they will become the dominant males for this pride in the future. These three males have been roaring into the night, advertising their presence to all. Lets wait and see what will happen with the Birmingham coalition in the south. Will they take this area of theirs, or leave it to these three young up and coming males? Five male lions were seen in the south eastern Manyeleti around main camp, we did not see them but they were reported. A coalition of two male cheetah known as ‘the brothers’ also passed through the eastern parts of the central Manyeleti a week ago - and our featured leopards for the week were Nompethu female, Muluva Female and an Unidentified male found with a kill close to the lodge! 
Mbiri male lion vs hyena
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author No one ever said Africa was not cruel and nature at its harshest exists out in the remotest places. When the Mbiri male got hold of this hyena it stood little chance of survival. Image by chadcocking
From: Tintswalo Safari Lodge
June 15 2018 Safari update Wow! What a week in the Manyeleti we have had. Firstly with the cold fronts moving into the low-veld and making sure all the guides are wearing their jackets and fleeces. The cold weather seems to be playing an important role for all our animals around Tintswalo, with especially the predators being in better condition and also a lot more active into the mornings and in the afternoons. Ours lions have been the main characters over the last week, showing themselves on numerous occasions. The local Mbiri pride has been hanging around the lodge for most of the the week and all seem to be in great condition. All four females, six juveniles and one Nharu young male are present in the pride and the social structure remains the same as the previous safari update. The pride managed to bring down a kudu and wildebeest this week, making sure they were very well fed. The Nharu pride was also found and numbered 10 individuals, they were seen hunting buffalo and chasing wildebeest but were unsuccessful, however one of the young male lions was treed by the buffalo herd and provided an incredible sighting for our guests. The pride has been seen in the South Eastern parts of the Manyeleti for the past week. One big highlight for the guides especially was the surprise visit from two males from the Southern/Central Timbavati named the Ross Males, they were seen in the northern Manyeleti for a day and then moved back to their territory in the north. The Birmingham Pride, consisting of four lioness and two sub adult males, were seen at Kokomoya dam on one day and the next day we saw the Koppies pride in the same area numbering four lionesses and two Juveniles - with the Koppies male and coalition partner known as the Red road male. The Koppies pride could’ve possibly pushed the Birminghams back north as they have the force of the two nearly fully grown Koppies and Red road males. Reports from our southern stations recorded an incredible sighting of the Talamati pride bringing down an adult sable antelope! An amazing sighting it would’ve been to observe! Sticking with the Talamati pride, the three young Avoca males have been seen with members of this pride. This bodes well for us and hopefully the Talamati females will accept these males and they will become the dominant males for this pride in the future. These three males have been roaring into the night, advertising their presence to all. Lets wait and see what will happen with the Birmingham coalition in the south. Will they take this area of theirs, or leave it to these three young up and coming males? Five male lions were seen in the south eastern Manyeleti around main camp, we did not see them but they were reported. ! Avoca/Giraffe MalesLions  *This image is copyright of its original author Young Avoca male  *This image is copyright of its original author Ross male lion  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Koppies Male lion  *This image is copyright of its original author Red road male that walks with the Koppies pride  *This image is copyright of its original author Young male from the Koppies pride  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Greg McCall-Peat - Umlani Bushcamp.
Last night we joined the two Mbiri males as they patrolled their territory, it is truly an awesome experience being amongst these big males at such close quarters.  *This image is copyright of its original author Another photo of the impressive Mbiri boys on a territorial patrol, its easy to see why no one wants to mess with them.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Chad Cocking - Tanda Tula.
Eternal Enemies: Not many people would guess that hyenas would be able to dominate lions in an area, but as is often the case, these mostly misunderstood predators are hugely underrated. Given their complex social organisations and the fact that their clans regularly number twenty five or more members, their dominance in such systems should not come as such a surprise. Over the last couple of years, aided by the drought of 2015/6, the hyena population in the Timbavati surrounding Tanda Tula Safari Camp became, without doubt, the dominant predatory force in the area. Leopards struggled to keep their kills, as before they could hoist them to the safety of the trees, the hyenas had run in and displaced them. Despite their cooperation, the wild dog packs also lost many a meal (and even a pack member) to the hyena clans. Not even the lions in this part of the Greater Kruger National Park were safe from the hyenas, and they made the last of the Machaton pride’s lioness' life a complete misery by stealing almost all of the kills that she managed to make. The hyenas dominated, and that was that. But times they are a changing……. There has been a slow power shift in the central Timbavati over the last while, and it appears that the balance has eventually tilted back in favour of the lions. Whilst still young and not yet in their prime, the two Mbiri male lions are starting to stamp their authority on the area in a big way. With two prides under their control, the Mbiri and two Ross females, they are covering large territories on their nightly patrols, and besides siring the latest offspring in the reserve, they are huge contributors to taking back control of the area from the hyena clans. We had the most unbelievable sighting a few days ago, proving just how formidable these lions are. Prior to departing for morning safari, we could hear the two Mbiri males roaring out towards our western boundary. When they were found, they seemed to be on a big mission, running to the west. With two packs of wild dogs having a fight, the guides assumed that this was what had drawn their attention, but they passed the wild dogs and carried on towards the sound of some hyenas; their eternal enemies. The next update that we received was that the lions had caught a hyena, and one can only imagine the racket that would have been going on at that moment as hyena clan members weighed up the odds of successfully assisting their clan member versus becoming another victim. This was not the first hyena to fall victim to the lions in recent times. We arrived on the scene a few minutes later as the younger male lay with the hyena firmly clamped in its jaws. Our first instinct was that it was dead, but when, after a few minutes, the male lion stood up and walked away, we could see that the poor hyena was still breathing. We followed the young male lion as he walked off, but he wasn’t stopping for anything, so we returned to view the bigger male who had, until now, just been resting nearby. Slowly, the lion got up from his position and inquisitively walked over to the hyena, but as he approached, the hyena sat up, much to my surprise as I had assumed this wounded animal was paralysed. The injured hyena sat there whimpering and squealing, but to no avail. The big male lion instinctively lashed out with his enormous paws and pulled the hyena towards himself, grabbing hold of its bleeding throat and clamping down with his powerful jaws. Suddenly the squealing stopped, the lion held on for a good couple of minutes before finally releasing his grip. Then the king of the beasts rose back up and casually walked off as if it was just another Friday morning. It was not the easiest sighting I have ever had to watch, but it was one of the rarer moments I have been privileged to observe out in the African bush. Death is never an easy event to bear witness to, but as the lions sauntered off, there was no malice in his demeanor, and no pleasure had been taken from his actions. It was purely the physical enactment of what nature has sculpted into his DNA. Lions and hyenas do not get on. They never have. They never will. They will always be, eternal enemies.  *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
It was interesting to find the Mapoza male with the two old Monwana lionesses and it will be interesting to see how this develops, especially since these lionesses have moved into a area they are seldom seen in.
Credits to Tom Coetzee  *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
From Pondoro SAFARI UPDATE: We've had a great start to the weekend regarding game viewing. A herd of buffalo have been spending time around our Tree Hide. Several herds of elephant are still moving around, the bush is in very good condition for being in the middle of winter. Last night we caught up with the Kudyela pride and all 3 Machaton males trying to find a meal. This morning we saw 4 Kudyela lionesses with the 3 older cubs and later a single Machaton male on their trail. At the Hyena den we only saw the single female with her 2 cubs.
Machaton male.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Photos by Marius zeilinga
 (06-24-2018, 07:08 PM)Fredymrt Wrote: From Pondoro SAFARI UPDATE: We've had a great start to the weekend regarding game viewing. A herd of buffalo have been spending time around our Tree Hide. Several herds of elephant are still moving around, the bush is in very good condition for being in the middle of winter. Last night we caught up with the Kudyela pride and all 3 Machaton males trying to find a meal. This morning we saw 4 Kudyela lionesses with the 3 older cubs and later a single Machaton male on their trail. At the Hyena den we only saw the single female with her 2 cubs.Isn’t it 4 machanton makes or did the injured one died¿
Mbiri Male Lions have killed 2 Hyenas this past month caught on video. Not sure how many in the darkest hours of the night. They have previously impressed the Timbavati rangers controlling a unbelievably large territory and showing no fear whatsoever...
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