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Lions of Timbavati
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Tanda Tula update
Another lovely surprise this week was getting to see the six newest members of the Mayambula Pride. Jack and I were looking for lions one morning and had tracks for a lioness coming and going from a thicket on the banks of the Machaton, and upon investigating found three small lion cubs – we had just spotted them when a call came through confirming two lionesses with three other cubs a few kilometers further up the road, so realising that the mother wasn’t in the area we left them and headed on over to see the other three bundles of joy. The other eighteen members of the Mayambula Pride were a little less cooperative this week and spent an increasing amount of time to the north of the concession. Jack did manage to track them down one morning, but they didn’t get up too much. Later in the week, the two lionesses with the six cubs were found with all the cubs together again in the northern parts of our concession, and they seemed to settle into a new den site in that area. In the west, the Giraffe Pride only popped into our concession once this past week and sadly didn’t spend much time in the area as their tracks crossed back south.  (09-21-2022, 06:46 AM)DE_66 Wrote: Some video of the cubs @Potato told us about, fantastic, the pride continues to grow, which is great! Given that it was the females who pushed the Birmingham Breakaway males off of their own buffalo kill, I do believe that they, coupled with the Skorro boys, should be able to drive those youngsters off for good. But, with these new additions it becomes even more imperative that they drive them out sooner rather than later. Those breakaway boys clearly don't have their confidence underneath them yet, so now is the best time to get it done. 
Three of the six Mayambula boys at Orpen in KNP
Photo credits: Neil McDonald  *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
 (09-23-2022, 04:29 PM)Timbavati Wrote: Three of the six Mayambula boys at Orpen in KNPi hope all 6 stick together 
You can hear the chit chat and laughter of guests in the background, but it's still a good video. The guide deftly answers their questions while still narrating the "action" and giving backstory and general knowledge.
I'm glad the Breakaway BBoys aren't more aggressive because they could have probably split some of the cubs from the rest of the pride in a mad rush and killed them. These girls aren't pushovers, though, and at least one of the Skorros was there so I think the pride is fairly safe for now. They may have to move in the future like they did a couple of years ago when the Nharu Males were pressing. Mayanbulas Remains as they Drive Out The Birmingham Breakaway Male Lions from the Pride lands Ep 112 - YouTube (09-23-2022, 04:54 PM)kobe8jf1234 Wrote:(09-23-2022, 04:29 PM)Timbavati Wrote: Three of the six Mayambula boys at Orpen in KNPi hope all 6 stick together I wonder if his mane will fill in or if he will be Mohawk, Jr.... I think if they split down the middle that's not the worst thing in the world. A coalition of 3 lions is pretty powerful. Now, if they start splitting like the Kambulas, then that wouldn't be good at all. They will have trouble surviving the nomad stage if some of them go solo.
Ok, so here is the rest of my first sighting of the 2nd Masungulo Brother
 *This image is copyright of its original author Mark your calendars, end of the year we are likely to have an explosion of cubs! And, thanks to Trevor from Jejane, also the domain of these Masungulo Brothers, i have some more info on these cannibalistic machines... name, age, shoe size, etc -------------------- No one knows exactly which area the Masungulo Brothers came from or from which pride...or I should say 'prides', as it is believed that these brothers are not blood related! The Masungulos were first noticed in the Klaserie area, moving west into Boston /Jejane around 2019. Since then they have been the pride males that side... and pretty much all sides, being the dominant males of about 6 prides in total now, including our own Takazile Pride! With their penchant for mass pride domination through mating and siring many, many, many, many, many cubs it is not surprising that they have earned themselves the names of our gas stations, Sasol and Total! Both around +/- 6.5 years of age, Sasol, the scar-faced boy with just half a left ear is the more dominant of the two. Total is the pretty boy. Their cannibalism has been documentated before, with their killing and eating a lioness on Boston in 2019. There are beliefs that they have despatched other lions, which suddenly disappeared from the landscape, in this fashion, but without proof.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Five of the seven Birmingham Breakaway Males feeding on a buffalo cow they killed this morning. The oldest one of the 7, the one that has been injured for a while now has joined them. He is part of the 5 eating the buffalo.
https://www.facebook.com/594181530/videos/396617795998781 (09-23-2022, 10:38 PM)Potato Wrote: Five of the seven Birmingham Breakaway Males feeding on a buffalo cow they killed this morning. The oldest one of the 7, the one that has been injured for a while now has joined them. He is part of the 5 eating the buffalo. wow amazing new i hope the number 7 stay close to his bros if he does he have a better chance to make it |
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