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The cats continued to play along wonderfully, with another week of being spoilt for choice with the lions that we chose to spend time with. Here at Tanda Tula Plains Camp, the Giraffe Pride continued to make the plains a regular hunting ground and the pride of spending a few days in the area. A year ago we were lucky if we got a couple of sightings of this pride over a month, but now we seem to worry if we don’t see them for more than two or three days. Long may it last. The pride began the week with 22 members sprawled out on the plains having fed the night before. That afternoon one of the mothers left the pride and returned a little later with the three missing cubs to reunite with the rest of the family. Although the pride set off on the hunt as darkness fell, they were not successful whilst we were following them.
*This image is copyright of its original author
*This image is copyright of its original author
In the east, the three River Pride females continued to move around the immediate surroundings of Tanda Tula Safari Camp, and we found a River lioness in the company of one of the Vuyela males close to Safari Camp one morning – two other Vuyela males also sniffing around but soon left the honeymoon couple and headed off in search of the other two females. The group spent the next two days out on the open sodic sites east of Safari Camp. When the three boys left the ladies later in the week, I decided to head east to spend the evening with them, hoping that they would give us a roar (something my regular return guests had not experienced before). We stopped for a sundowner on the crest of a ridge, and when I went to check for a safe bush to ‘mark our territories’, I spotted one of the males lying in the grass watching me from about 80m away. As he wasn’t too perturbed by our presence, we returned to the vehicle to have our drinks and wait for them to roar. Once finished, we got back in the game viewer and went to spend time with them – they got active at the time I predicted, but that was where my predictive skills ended, and despite guaranteeing my guests that they would roar that night, the lions had hunted on their minds and opted for a silent advance into the darkness, leaving me doubting my understanding of animal behavior.
The week also started with the Sark Breakaway Pride remaining in the area, and they were found just off the access road with a fresh buffalo kill one morning; the pride spent a day and a bit on the carcass before moving deeper into the Timbavati. Eric tracked them down a day later as they lazed in a small river bed, and the pride stuck around for another couple of days, making yet another buffalo kill during that time. That was the same evening that the Vuyela males set off on a mission and by morning, they had reunited with the Sark Breakaways, and were sporting bulging bellies – the eleven lions had finished an entire buffalo in a night. That wasn’t the only buffalo to meet its end that night, and about 2km further north, the third Vuyela male was sitting with a buffalo kill of his own that kept him going for the rest of the week.
*This image is copyright of its original author
If that wasn’t enough, the Mayambula Pride also made a return to our eastern sections when they were found close to Machaton Dam. All 20 members were present, and they were looking in fantastic condition. Having spent time with other lions of late, one can now see just how big the Mayambula females are compared to our other lions in the area. Their arrival back to the central regions coincides with the Vuyela males moving back to the west, and I suspect that this is how things will play out over the coming months – when the roaring in the east stops, the Mayambulas will feel confident moving back into the area, but when the Vuyela males are with the River Pride and announcing their presence, then the Mayambulas will move back towards the Kruger Park.
A fantastic capture of the Vuyela coalition and the Sark breakaway pride in the early hours of the morning at Timbavati Game Reserve
Image credit: Frank de Beer
The Machimba/Eastern male. A fine specimen of male lion. Last sighting of this magnificent cat was in early 2020 in the Northern parts of Kruger. Not too far from where he was sighted sometimes (Ingwelala/Ntsiri/Northern Timbavati). Unfortunately, his brother had a sad fate, was killed by poachers back in the day. Isn’t surprising, due the facts many lions from Timbavati in the past had meet the same fate as the Machimba male.
Image credit: Rodney Brian Van Soest
I managed to get my eyes on the Guernsey Females newest litter of cubs, sired by the Black Dam Males, who are quickly showing how dominant they are in the south of Thornybush!
The next day, I got some time in the east as we were tracking a male leopard, but soon got drawn away from the area by the news that the Mayambula Pride and Skorro males were found nearby. I have been waiting to come back to this area to spend more time with one of my favourite pride of lions. Sadly, the Skorro males are not in good shape, and have been involved in some series of fights of late – we are not sure if it has been with the Birmingham males, the Vuyelas, or perhaps even some other unknown coalition. The rest of the pride was looking good, and that evening we watched as they had their evening drink ruined by a grumpy hippo. After this, the pride went on a bit of a walking spree. They headed far north, and way out of our concession but returned to the heart of the River Pride/Vuyela males territory on our northern boundary. They were drawn by a small breeding herd of buffalos, but it appears that during the night the Vuyela males predictably picked up on the Mayambula pride and a great deal of roaring and fighting could be heard. The next morning the pride’s tracks were all over the show before they were eventually found back in northern Timbavati. A couple of days later the Vuyela males could be heard roaring in the same area and tracks suggest that the Mayambula pride was chased again. The problem for them is that wherever they run, they seem to bump into a male coalition somewhere. This does not bode well for the stability of the pride, or indeed the survival chances of the younger members. The lionesses can either spend the next year on the run and move off into the deep recesses of the Timbavati and Kruger, or something will give with either the Birmingham or Vuyela males taking over the pride. One thing is for sure though, the lionesses are not going to go down without a fight and will do their damnedest to keep their youngsters alive – already the mother of the youngest lions seems to be keeping them away from the pride.
*This image is copyright of its original author
*This image is copyright of its original author
We also enjoyed a couple of sightings of the River Pride lionesses in the central regions before they disappeared north with all this commotion. I also made a journey to the plains in the west to see most of the Giraffe Pride (we counted 21) one evening – although the sickly Sumatra male was present, we only saw the impressive Hercules male as he lazed about with the pride. So all in all, with four different prides seen during the week, it was a good one for lions, even if the future is a little uncertain at the moment.
This particular male has been hanging around Waterside quite a bit lately. With his brothers spending time with their offspring in the south of the reserve. He has been protecting another group of females which have now also got cubs of their own.
