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The Birmingham Males
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 (05-24-2018, 02:36 AM)Michael Wrote:Raising cubs no matter of the species is pure instinct, some younger females have this instinct more developed than even some of the older ones.Its my opinion after i followed different domestic species and wild also.But there can be some situation in which(im talking for the mammalian ones) they are not producing enough milk, or the quality of the milk its very poor.(05-23-2018, 08:43 PM)Tshokwane Wrote: That I'm aware of, the Matsahapiri males did the killing of the Kambula's first cubs after the Matimba males chose to leave the area without a second fight. It wasn't a thing of the girls, the Matimbas just left.All that is true but there were also accounts of lionesses killing each others cubs and they already lost litters while the BB's were controling the pride so the jury is still out, let's see how things evolve and we will be able to tell for sure if it's just inexperience or inability to raise cubs. 
Credits to Peter Thorpe.
A male lion carefully checks the path ahead of him as he walks in the direction of other lions’ calls.
Credits to Paul Danckwerts - Londolozi.
Over the past week we have had regular sightings of the Birmingham males; currently the dominant coalition on Londolozi Game Reserve. This dark maned male was mating with a lioness from the Ntsevu pride within sight of two other mating pairs. The puncture wound behind his left eye suggests that he had had to fight for his right to mate with the female. With mostly darker manes and a prominent light halo, all four males are as magnificent as male lions come.  *This image is copyright of its original author Three Nstevu lionesses mating with three of the Birmingham males in relatively close proximity gave Londolozi’s guests some truly spectacular lion sightings this week. Fellow guide Andrea Sithole provided some side-lighting to this male lion as he took a break between mating bouts; a composition on many a wildlife photographers’ hit list. With two of the six lionesses in the Ntsevu pride already seemingly pregnant, we await the next few months with great anticipation.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to James Tyrrell - Londolozi.
Birmingham Males Brawl Over Lioness: Photographs or video. Which one are you going to try capture? Decide now! Because invariably if you try and bounce between the two during a sighting, you panic, forget to change settings, and ending up ruining both, when you could be getting something amazing. That was pretty much the gist of it for me when two of the Birmingham males clashed wildly over an Ntsevu lioness. Grant Rodewijk and Jerry Hambana found a mating pair of lions on a large clearing overlooking the Sand River, and as the sun slowly rose in the east, tracker Freddy Ngobeni spotted another male slowly approaching from further down the hill. The second male approaches from the direction of the Sand River.  *This image is copyright of its original author The first male, from his termite mound vantage point, started growling as he watched his rival approach (both were Birmingham males, but with mating rights at stake, the gloves came off in a heartbeat), the volume of each successive growl rising as the approaching male broke into a canter, coming steaming in at the run. The approaching male comes charging in.  *This image is copyright of its original author Teeth bared for the initial contact.  *This image is copyright of its original author The next few photos of this unbelievably violent clash between two 400 pound predators I am kicking myself about, as a small Combretum tree blocked what could have been something quite worthwhile. The sounds alone were terrible to hear, with both males bellowing at each other, mane-fur flying and viciously hooked claws ripping through skin. The poor lioness meanwhile was rapidly retreating, not wanting to get caught up in the fray. Not my favourite tree! Despite the blocked view, one still gets a great sense of the power and violence in the altercation.  *This image is copyright of its original author With the lioness fleeing and the fight eventually having subsided, the male who had initially been with the female took off after her again, trying hard to stay on her scent, with the second male trotting doggedly along behind. The lioness swung in a big loop, moving through some dense bushwillows and then eventually crossing a clearing into another thicket, heading back east, quite possibly changing her direction to deliberately confuse the males. With such superb senses of smell, the two Birmingham males were on her trail again before too long, having been sniffing around within a few metres of each other, all animosity resolved. Evidence of the fight; new cuts about the eye and a badly torn lip.  *This image is copyright of its original author Blood runs down the foreleg of one of the males from a cut inflicted by a razor-sharp claw.  *This image is copyright of its original author The lioness meanwhile was far ahead, contact calling for the rest of her pride. She shortly disappeared into a thick Tamboti stand. The cause of all the trouble puts distance between her and the two males.  *This image is copyright of its original author Ironically, despite a clash that could easily have resulted in the loss of an eye or other debilitating injury, neither male appeared to come out as the conquerer, and with the lioness long gone, there was no more prize to fight over. Maybe it was simply a reestablishment of the hierarchy within the coalition. We saw similar conflicts between the Majingilane males, although we are yet to work out the exact pecking order within the Birmingham coalition. Whatever the reason for the fight, it certainly ranks up there with the most memorable sightings of 2018 so far, and the excitement is still buzzing through me now as I type this! 
Tinyo has had the darker mane since they all started growing them. he is impressive. Mfumo and Tinyo have moved to the lead in this coalition over the past six months.
(05-30-2018, 08:42 PM)leocrest Wrote: Mfumo and Tinyo have moved to the lead in this coalition over the past six months. I don't think #4 is leading anything. He's less dominant than #3 on their subgroup, and in the other subgroup, #1 is clearly the dominant over #2. So, in any case it's #1 (who I think is the dominant male overall) and #3 the ones that lead the coalition, I'm not sure how it stands between #2 and #3. 
Their pecking order is not clear at all. In my observations Mfumo has been dominant over Tinyo since at least late 2016, but I haven't seen any clear signs of dominance over Nhenha from any of them. Really a mistery.
(05-31-2018, 02:18 AM)Abomai Wrote: In my observations Mfumo has been dominant over Tinyo since at least late 2016People get easily carried away by #4's size, he's the biggest, as if that had anything to do with dominance. But it doesn't work that way, it isn't defined solely by that. (05-31-2018, 02:18 AM)Abomai Wrote: but I haven't seen any clear signs of dominance over Nhenha from any of them. That's because in general #2 tends to spend more with #1, rather than with the others. The same way, #3 and #4 stay together more than with the others.
Credits to Anthony Goldman.
Male #3. Birmingham male showing a beautiful mane at Londolozi,South Africa.  *This image is copyright of its original author
 (05-31-2018, 06:06 AM)Tshokwane Wrote:I get it, but that's not the case. Mfumo doesn't let Tinyo bully him around anymore, and shuts him down quite easily.(05-31-2018, 02:18 AM)Abomai Wrote: In my observations Mfumo has been dominant over Tinyo since at least late 2016People get easily carried away by #4's size, he's the biggest, as if that had anything to do with dominance.
Credits to Grant Rodewijk - Londolozi.
Male #2 first and then #1. One of the Birmingham males pauses after mating with an Ntsevu lioness as he hears one of his brothers calling into the distance. Lions have incredible senses of hearing and this allows them to hear calls from over 10km away in still conditions.  *This image is copyright of its original author One of the Birmingham males walks around looking for the scent of a lioness after a massive fight with one of his brothers for the mating rights; you can see the blood on the side of his face from the battle that happened minutes before I took this photograph. Lionesses will mate with as many males as possible during the period of oestrus to try and ensure the survival of their cubs.  *This image is copyright of its original author
they are in the singita, very close to matimbas... hope the old matimbas play the ghost game and avoid this guys...
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