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Lions of Timbavati
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The 2 Ross males on Keer Keer property this morning, about 500m from where the Hercules pride was feeding on a buffalo (Scott Property just west of Evoka).
Credits to Ryno Vosloo  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Pondoro Game Lodge
The first casualty after the arrival of the Machaton males seems to be Blondie, part of the Mohlabetsi coalition, whose badly decomposed body was found today. Tracks around the carcass indicate that he put up quite a fight. The remaining 5 Mohlabetsi males were seen today and were in good health, but they are doing their best to avoid any further interaction. We will only be sure that it is Blondie after seeing the Mohlabetsi males again as it was only a quick visual this morning. Apparently he was the only one not seen. Interesting though is that one of the Machaton males is badly injured and might have a dislocated hind leg. No-one knows how he received the injury, but it was not from a fight with the Mohlabetsi males. Attached a photo of Blondie.  *This image is copyright of its original author
This is Blondie, photographed on 15 July 2017
 *This image is copyright of its original author The corpse of a male lion was found on the eastern side of the reserve yesterday. It is believed to be the Mohlabetsi male known as Blondie (cousin of Sonof), likely to have been killed by the Machaton males. Lion pride dynamics here starting changing a good 18 months ago with the drought meaning that lion territories were overlapping in a bid to find food With Sonof leaving the Takazile pride generated interest from many nomadic males. The Singwe male was with them a lot of the time but when the Mohlabetsi males pushed further west, the lone Singwe male knew it was safer to leave the adult females and stay with the sub adults. When the Machaton males started pushing further in this side recently from Timbavati, the largest Mohlabetsi male took a hiding and the coalition of 7 gave way to them. The Machaton males (3 of the coalition of 4) have been in this area a lot recently and one has been seen mating with one of the Takazile females. When a lion in his prime, the size & condition of Blondie, loses his life you know for sure that the Macahaton males are a formidable Interesting times. that's for sure!  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
When a lion in his prime, the size & condition of Blondie, loses his life you know for sure that the Macahaton males are a formidable Interesting times. that's for sure!
[/quote] Well, in my opinión when a lion in his prime loses his life fighting against 2, 3 o 4 males That does not mean the opositive coalition are formidable. Simply he was outnumber. Macahaton males will be formidables for other reason I think. Is my opinión RIP Blondie. Its sad see die a lion in his prime
SAFARI UPDATE : The 3 Machaton males were found with full bellies this morning and the biggest surprise of all is that they were later joined by a 4th male (shown in the close up image lying on the side of his face), can this be the 4th male that was missing for a while? The Kudyela Pride was found yesterday with bloodied faces. A few small herds of buffalo are around. An elephant bull came walking down a dry riverbed. A male giraffe easily reaching the the succulent leaves. A male impala showing his dominance by chasing the others off. A crocodile basking in the sun
 *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
https://www.sundestinations.co.za/blog/u...he-balule/
The 3 Machaton male lions have entered into Mohlabetsi turf with an arsenal of attitude and brazen bravado. Looks wise, they’re a powerhouse of all the lion stereotypes – heavyset, cascading manes and a strut that oozes confidence. The Mohlabetsi male lions were initially 8 lions strong and appeared to dominate the Balule area around Ezulwini. Recently, they dwindled to 6 and they’re regularly spotted while out on game drive with Ezulwini Game Lodges. The Machaton males entered Mohlabetsi turf and terrorised the large Mohlabetsi male; and with that the dynamics of the area shifted almost immediately. The male walked away relatively unscathed, but did have a number of deep scratches. Having put the fear of God in the coalition of 6, they now flee when confronted. This dramatic event unfolded about 2 weeks ago.  *This image is copyright of its original author Circa 1 week ago, our ranger and photographer Kevin MacLaughlin was on assignment in the Balule and sent us a detailed version of lion events that unfolded during the course of the week. He spotted the Machatons relaxing on the side of the road. Two of them were gaining their much needed sleep in order to conserve energy for their nocturnal patrols; while the third male was mating with a female. Clearly sowing his wild oats to sire cubs in order to continue the bloodline.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Quote:These incredible lion sightings and dramatic events took place during the course of last week while out on drive with Ezulwini Game Lodges. Today, we have just herd news from a neighbouring lodge that a body of a badly decomposed male lion was discovered. Speculation is that it’s “Blondie” from the Mohlabetsi male, but this is yet to be confirmed. The lodge reported that the remaining 5 Mohlabetsi males are in good health, but are still on the run from the Machaton boys. It’s always heartbreaking when a lion passes away, and this can quickly create a shift in behaviour from prides within the area.
From Klaserie Drift Safari Camps
River pride killing a buffalo cow! not for sensitive viewers
From
Tintswalo Safari Lodge: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_f...1357614057 Safari Update August 8, 2017 Our Big 5 sightings the last few days has been tremendous! Lions dominating the predator sightings comfortably! The Avoca/Giraffe male lions were found yesterday in the northern section of the Manyeleti Game Reserve.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Their descendants, the younger Avoca males has also been found twice in the Northern areas.  *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 Nharhu pride was located twice in the southern parts of the central Manyeleti. They were in sublime condition and managed to take down a buffalo close to the southern gate of the reserve 2 days ago. The only worry was that only 12 of the 13 individuals were seen with the pride when they were found yesterday on Scratches plains. The Mbiri pride’s dynamics is unchanged and they seem to be doing well! Two of the lionesses and the Thanda Impi males were sighted on a buffalo kill towards the eastern parts of their territory in the central Manyeleti. (08-07-2017, 09:09 PM)Chris Wrote: How did the mohalebetsi coalition go from 8 to 6 and why are they running away when there going against 6 to 4? @Tshokwane 2 Mohalebetsi males Vanished, nobody knows how. Actually one of the 8 is father of 6 and adopted one of the unrelated sub-adults to the pride. (Like how Makhulu of mopago was accepted by west street males) So the older Mohalebetsi male formed coilation with his 6 sons and the unrelated adopted male. Now the younger males are sub-adults, 3.5 to 4 year old and not fully grown. Whereas Machaton males are in their prime.  (08-07-2017, 09:09 PM)Chris Wrote: How did the mohalebetsi coalition go from 8 to 6 and why are they running away when there going against 6 to 4? Well, when you think about it it's not really that hard to get. There was only two adult males in the Mohlabetsi coalition, the rest are just boys. In contrast, the Machaton males have age and size all over their coalition, and so it ends up being more of a 4 vs 2 in the Machaton males favour.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Photos and info by Karl van der westhuizen"This is about 3 days overdue from my side, but finally I've found the time. The Machaton males are 4! The first pic is of the 3 leg male. He arrived here with the injured back left leg, and I have it on good record that he's been coming with this injury since they left the Timbavati in 2015. The second male is also scarred up and has a big lump on his front right leg, as for the other two males, you can see the difference in scars on their faces. The fact that they are 4 and not the 3 that we thought, is good reason that they have the Mohlabetsi males running scared. After doing a head count on the males over the last week, everyone has been accounted for except Blondie. A badly decomposed carcass of a male Lion was found in the South West of our section, and the tracks told of a big fight. We can only then assume that it's in all likelihood that sadly Blondie was the victim. 3 of the River pride cubs were walking with the Mohlabetsi males, but have returned to mom. We saw them yesterday on a Buffalo kill on the river lodge side, looking a little worse for wear. It's been a tough time for them over the last while, but they're all still alive which is important, and will probably get a bit more food with mom than with their hungry older siblings in the Mohlabetsi coalition. Only time will tell the outcome of the Lion dynamics on the reserve at the moment. As for the Kudyela/Takazile pride, they were seen this morning on Rome 2, where they'd tree'd a male Leopard. They seem to just be moving around avoiding conflict and staying out of trouble." |
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