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Lions of Timbavati
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From tintswalo sarafi lodge
Practicing the skills needed for adult life is the most important part of any young animals journey in the wild!  *This image is copyright of its original author Always under the thorough supervision of the mothers, a litter of cubs may learn to hunt by trial and error. When cubs become adults, this game could turn and be fatal if the necessary hunting techniques was not properly observed while they were young!  *This image is copyright of its original author The mothers of our resident Lion pride close to Tintswalo Safari Lodge, decided to take their cubs hunting lessons to the next level. They caught a young buffalo of less then a year and held on to the little bovid. Two of the lionesses remained close to the buffalo while one of the mothers went back to fetch the observing cubs that was waiting about 300m away in thick bush. a Grasshopper or the tip of father’s tail make equally exciting targets, but those days were gone for now and their schooling skipped too a new grade! At the time the cubs were about 5 months old and very inexperienced in the hunting department. The ‘trigger mechanism’ came into play when the young buffalo got up and tried to escape, motivating the cubs to rear up and thump their claws onto its rump and follow on his hind legs. Every now and then one of the mothers would step in and grab the buffalo by its throat (not killing it) to set an example of how to induce a fatal bite The entire ordeal went on for about an hour until one of the mothers ended the buffalo’s struggle. Its such a privilege to witness unique behaviour like this, but in the same breath its sad on the behalf of the young buffalo. But i guess in the wild , ‘natural selection’ does not ask questions when evolution selects those young animals of all species that rises up to accept the challenge of surviving  *This image is copyright of its original author The Images that I’ve added was when the same cubs in the video were about 8 months old on another occasion. In the following video clip, you will see that life is an endless game, or rather a series of games, for lion cubs 
Brothers in Arms, Avoca male at a waterhole hole, at Shindzela Tented Camp, Timbavati Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, Kruger, South Africa
by #wildographer Johan Adolf Smalman.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Makanyi Lodge.
We spent some time with 2 powerful Ross male lions last night as they made they way through the African bush. The perfect way to end a beautiful day in Africa.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Nthambo Tree Camp
This is a little glimpse into what our weekend looked like, beginning on Saturday morning with a battle for a buffalo kill! Incredible sighting of the Mapoza males as they chowed down on their kill, only to be hassled by 6-7 hyenas and loads of looming vultures until they eventually moved off and left the remains to the scavengers. Unforgettable encounter with these 3 iconic species. Read the full story here: http://www.sundestinations.co.za/blog/li...re-frenzy/  *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 Tintswalo Safari Lodge
Safari update On the afternoon of the 5th of February, the Mbiri pride were found on tamboti. The Skorro male was mating with one of the younger mbiri Lionesses. The rest of the afternoon produced some great general game. The morning of the 6th, the Rhulani male leopard was found on catwalk west. He managed to steal an Impala lamb kill from a Cheetah, who ran to the north. We sadly couldn't relocate on the Cheetah. The Mbiri pride was relocated at Ingwe manzi, with the mating pair in the same sighting. The afternoon of the 6th, Rhulani was relocated in the same place on catwalk west. The rest of the afternoon was quiet, except for a Buffalo herd at Xigamba pan. The morning of the 7th, 3 young male Lions were found on Mveve link. Another unknown male chased them north into the KNP. Interesting that all these new young males are in the area. Junior Nkuhuma and the other new male were found on Nzaka loop with a Buffalo kill. An unknown male Leopard was also found on Nzaka loop, with an Impala kill. Unfortunately he was a little skittish. Rhulani was also relocated on catwalk west. Yesterday afternoon, the skittish male Leopard was relocated on Nzaka loop with his Impala kill. The junior nkuhuma male Lion and his coalition mate were also relocated in the same place. 2 of the Mbiri lionesses were found at Konkoni quarry. This morning, the beacon male leopard was found at Wild dog dam. The rest of the morning was a bit quiet. Skorro  *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 New male  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Giraffe male
Credits to Images of African wildlife  *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
Credits to Kambaku Lodges.
Mapoza males.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Tintswalo Safari Lodge
Safari update Yesterday afternoon, produced one of the best Lion sightings I've had in a while. The Mbiri pride had killed a Buffalo close to ignore manzi. While watching them feeding and the cubs playing, the peace was disturbed by the Skorro male Lion, who rushed in sending cubs scattered in different directions. He was trying to mate with one of the younger females. We spent most of the afternoon with the Lions.  *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
Ross male
Credits to Johan Adolf Smalman  *This image is copyright of its original author
The end of a story . The only survivor from 9 Giraffe pride cubs that was born just over 2 years ago. All other cubs were killed in 2 day's by the trilogy Males . Phillipe as we called him this last week or so , managed to stay alive for these past 2 years . He was attacked and bitten by 2 other male lions and was paralyse in his back . He was also very weak due to lack of food .
He was a fighter of note and it was sad to see him deteriorate this last week . Nature at its cruelest but the way it has to play outplay out . He finally was killed during the night by a leopard . As I watched this morning , 2 Tawny eagle were on the carcass and got chased of by a juvenile Bateleur . The Bateleur were chased of by the leopard and hyena arrived and chased the leopard . The hyena dragged the carcass around but did not eat it and left . A hour later 4 white headed vultures and 4 Lapped faced vultures also visited the carcass at the same time but did not ate much At least the suffering was at end and he had battles fought over his carcass . What a fitting end for such a little fighter  *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
From SunDestinations
The River Pride of lions is a youthful pride that calls the southern stretches of the Balule Nature Reserve their home. The pride was originally 13 members strong but now there are various sub-groups. The massive Mohlabetsi male coalition tend to rule over prides within the area. Here we have the Mohlabetsi male called "Blondie", cubs from the River Pride and one of the River Pride lionesses. We speculate the cubs were sired by one of the boys from this unique coalition of 8 males! Another great sighting for Ezulwini Game Lodges.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
THANDA IMPI MALES: UNLIKELY WARRIORS: By Darren Donovan - Tintswalo.
 *This image is copyright of its original author All of the guides at Tintswalo Safari Lodge have become quite attached to the Thanda impi males. The truth is that we never gave them a chance! When we first noticed the 2 males together, we recognized a familiar face. The Sizanani male was back, and he had a friend. This male was well known to us, he and his brother were territorial males in our area when I first started here in May 2012. They managed to hang on to the territory with the Koppies pride, until May 2013, when 4 of the Matimba males moved into the area, disposing of the male with the bad leg. He was alone! In one night, he’d lost it all. His brother, his territory and his pride! This however is the life of a male Lion, and they very rarely get a second chance. We watched the social media networks, and watched how he moved south again, wreaking havoc in his old stomping grounds of the Sabi Sands. Already this was an incredible story to follow, we had no idea of what was to come. Th Skorro male.  *This image is copyright of its original author In October 2014, we noticed that he was back, but in the company of another male. Several photos, frantically posted on Facebook and we had an answer as to who this male was. The male in question was one of the males that had been ousted from the Skorro pride, to our north. Ironically, he too had lost his brother to the very same Matimba male Lions. At this point, the Matimba’s spent the majority of their time north of our boundary, and this left a massive gap in what used to be exclusively Matimba territory, giving these 2 males an opportunity. There was one major hurdle in their way though, the also recently ousted Selati male Lions, had their eye on the same real estate. A new pride of females, the Nharhu pride were establishing themselves in the area around Main Dam and this was very alluring to both coalitions of males. Over a period of several months, we noticed that the Selati males had moved south and the Thanda impi’s were spending a lot of time with the Nharhu pride. By November 2015, we started seeing the first of the Nharhu pride cubs. Against all the odds, these 2 had taken a prime territory and sired 10 cubs. This was already and huge success, rags to riches type story, but more was to come.  *This image is copyright of its original author Sizanani takes offense to a boisterous greeting from the Nharhu pride cubs.  *This image is copyright of its original author After consolidating the Nharhu pride territory, their eyes began to wonder again. In April 2016, the Mbiri pride, who are our resident pride around the lodge, started acting up. The pride was 8 strong, 2 adult females, three sub-adult females and 3 sub-adult males, but an ancient urge was over coming the Lionesses. They started roaring, calling males to them. The Thanda Impi males heard their calls, but first had to take care of the sub-adult male problem. They swiftly sent the young males north, dealing with the competition in a typically savage fashion. The last interaction was in July 2016, and the young Mbiri males haven’t been seen with the pride since. As they started properly interacting with the Mbiri’s, an unforeseen threat had emerged. 2 of the 5 strong, Avoca male Lion coalition had also made a move on the Mbiri pride. After spending several weeks on Mbiri territory, and edging on the Thanda impi territory, a massive fight must have happened. We found the Thanda Impi’s with the Mbiri pride and one of the Avoca males sporting a very swollen face and injured hind legs. The Thanda impi’s had faced their second major threat, and surprisingly to all of us, forced these huge males out of the area. Competition eliminated, now to the business of mating. The Thanda impi’s began with the older Lionesses, before turning their attention to the younger females. Skorro mating with one of the older Mbiri Lionesses in late July 2016.  *This image is copyright of its original author The younger Lionesses were a bit more fiery, as Sizanani quickly noticed.  *This image is copyright of its original author By this stage the Thanda Impi’s now control about a third of the manyeleti, with 2 prides under their protection. They now have 20 cubs, that they’ve sired, and both made their way to this point the hard way. Hard lessons learnt have made them hard warriors. When will we start underestimating them? They have proved to be a very successful coalition. Territory controlled by the Thanda Impi male Lions.  *This image is copyright of its original author Skorro jealously guards a Buffalo kill from his own cubs.  *This image is copyright of its original author Skorro consolidating the Mbiri pride territory, after their pride take over in July 2016.  *This image is copyright of its original author Skorro in golden afternoon light.  *This image is copyright of its original author Both Thanda Impi males following up on a Mbiri Lioness that was vocalizing.  *This image is copyright of its original author Sizanani with a Buffalo kill at Ingwe manzi.  *This image is copyright of its original author Sizanani moving his Buffalo kill away from Vultures.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Old Avoca male.
From Ngala Private Game Reserve: "This old male lion may be close to the end yet is still the epitome of courage and majesty"  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Ezulwini Game Lodge
Over the past week, wildlife enthusiast Lance Van de Vyver visited the Ezulwini Game Lodges. Lance was lucky enough to spot the River Pride of lions, their cubs and one of the Mohlabetsi males. http://www.sundestinations.co.za/blog/we...e-unusual/  *This image is copyright of its original author
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