There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
A true beast of a male lion - The bigger Mbiri male with the Skorro pride on the move at Tamboti Tented Camp in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Photo credits: Kyle and Jeski
Tanda Tula Update
We will start off with some interesting developments in the lion dynamics. Last week I mentioned that I was hoping that the limping Nharhu male hadn’t succeeded in finding the Mayambula Pride and chasing them off, and thus unsettling them just as they started to move back into the area. Well, it turns out that he must have found them, and indeed succeeded in chasing at least the younger portion of the pride away but this had the exact opposite effect on the four adult lionesses! Rather than running away, these lionesses were found throwing themselves at the two Nharhu male’s last weekend!
It was the first time in close to a year that I had got to enjoy a sighting of these strong and beautiful females. It was fascinating to watch how they were doing their best to flirt with and appease the new males and making sure that their attention was focused on mating, and not wandering off to look for the dozen sub-adults that would be at risk during the pride take-over.
After watching them mating, we found tracks for the rest of the pride not too far away, but sadly for us their tracks went straight into the Kruger Park. A few days later we did have tracks for what appeared to be a portion of the young breakaways, but sadly our efforts at tracking them were hampered by the fact that about 80 elephants had walked through the area and obliterated any sign of where they may have gone.
This does make for an interesting shift in dynamics; how much time with the Nharhu males spend with the River Pride now if they have new interests further east? And will the River Pride still venture into the south-eastern parts of the territory with the Mayambula Pride returning? As the week played out, the Nharhu males returned to the River Pride and spent the last half of the week with them, and the River Pride interestingly started using parts of their old territorial core to the north of Tanda Tula Safari Camp, an area that they have largely ignored for the past few months.
There is more than enough space for both prides to utilise the area, and we are all keeping fingers crossed that this is indeed how it plays out.
The River Pride were seen on a daily basis during the latter part of the week and were looking in good shape following a kudu kill. The injured Nharhu male is still limping quite badly, but he managed to hobble around on all four legs when mating with the Mayambula ladies, so hopefully this is some encouraging news on a slow recovery for him. We didn’t spend any time in the west this past week, so there were no reports on the Sark Breakaways during this reporting period.
Photo credits: Chad Cocking
We would love to see who can come up with the funniest caption for these pics! Socha is busy courting this River pride female (do we really need more cubs?!) and it seems she wasn't quite in the mood
