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sanjay · 09-23-2015, 04:20 PM

A few days ago the Charleston males have returned to Kirkman's Kamp. One of the Charleston male, however, has received an injury to his one canine. Matthew Poole (Ranger) managed to capture these images of the male before they crossed the Sand River. We can assure you all that we have sent the images to the appropriate people and we are waiting for the assessment on his condition.
We all know these are tough males and have made it through many adversaries in the past. But we will try and keep you updated on their condition as much as possible.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Credit to: Matthew Poole

Tshokwane · 10-25-2015, 10:46 PM

Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
The Charleston males were found this morning scent marking on the reserve. The two males seem to be in very good condition and were walking around with pride, despite the hanging tooth! Could this spell trouble for the Fourways males? We spent a great deal of time with the Southern Pride females this morning as they moved through the reserve, presumably in an attempt to avoid the Charleston boys.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Like they say, very interesting times ahead and both coalitions having equal numbers, we'll see which one gets on top.

GrizzlyClaws · 10-26-2015, 05:00 AM

Holy crap, his lower jaw must suffer a fracture as the canine was initially deeply embedded into the bone.

Can he still survive?

Tshokwane · 10-26-2015, 05:36 AM

That I'm aware, he's in excellent condition, aside from that. I saw a comment were people were wondering how it didn't fell out on its own with all the eating and chewing, but apparently that Charleston male is ok.

Tshokwane · 11-13-2015, 02:51 AM

Ok, some updates on the Fourways males and the Charleston males, from Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve.

November 5th
In two separate sightings:
The Fourways males were looking quite thin and were slowly in pursuit of a herd of buffalo.
Four Southern Pride females were resting this morning, with the tracks of one female moving quite a distance from the four of them.

*This image is copyright of its original author

November 6th
Four of the Southern Pride females had a long grooming session before laying down to rest again. In a separate sighting, the Fourways males were looking intently into the direction that we found lion tracks of two other males, possibly the Charleston males.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tshokwane · 11-13-2015, 02:58 AM

November 8th
Seen on safari:

The two Charleston males were seen yesterday evening very close to Earth Lodge in the presence of a Southern Pride female. They were located again this morning looking very comfortable.
The Fourways males are not too far away from the Charleston males. They also seem quite contented at the moment, however, they did get chased around by a large herd of buffalo yesterday afternoon.

*This image is copyright of its original author

November 9th
The large Charleston male, Fourways male and five Southern Pride lionesses were tracked down this morning to the same area. The females were sitting with the Charleston male, but showed some serious aggression towards him while the Fourways male was clearly intimidated. What this means for the future of the Southern Pride, time can only reveal.
And one of the comments:
With regard to the other 2 males: the orange-eyed Fourways male is about 1,5km away; and the other Charleston male was not seen - possibly in a neighbouring reserve as we did see tracks heading off our property.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tshokwane · 11-13-2015, 03:06 AM

November 10th
The Southern Pride was once again in the company of the large Charleston male. They made an attempt on some kudu, but were unsuccessful in their endeavour.

*This image is copyright of its original author

From today:
This morning we came across the five Southern Pride females sleeping next to a dam. After a while the females all started staring into the same direction and there he was, the Charleston male coming down for a drink after a good meal!

*This image is copyright of its original author

Now, as you can imagine this is a puzzling situation, because the Southern pride females had already accepted the Fourways males as dominant in the territory. And now, the Charleston males walk in and the Fourways go all quiet and tame, when personally I expected them to stand up and fight them.
What is going to happen? Extremely interesting times...

Tshokwane · 11-17-2015, 06:54 PM

I found a blog that in some ways answers the question raised in an earlier post, about the confrontation between the Fourways males and the invading Charleston males.
From A WEEK IN THE BUSH VOL. 77, emphasis in bold is mine:
The significant presence of the Charleston males over the last two weeks revealed, the female’s disappearance was more associated with the latter as, much to our horror, the Charlestons were found harbouring the missing female. This was later in the week overshadowed by the discovery of the one Charleston male in the presence of all five females! Although no mating has been witnessed, and the females have been far from welcoming, the Charleston showed no indications of cowardice when resting for the day less than 2km from the Fourways males. When both male coalitions finally met, it was indeed the Fourways who spared no second thought to running. Only time will tell if the Charlestons are on the brink of a new take-over, but with at least one of the Southern Pride females showing signs of being pregnant with the offspring of the Fourways males, it will certainly have disastrous repercussions for the future of the cubs. We wait with baited breathes!

Tshokwane · 11-20-2015, 04:18 AM

From A WEEK IN THE BUSH VOL. 78:
On the lion front it looks like things didn’t turn out as expected and there is no sign of the Fourways males. The one Charleston male has been following the Southern Pride females around and the tension between them is starting to subside. They spent some time on our private airstrip and later on a buffalo kill in the area. Guests enjoyed this spectacle in a slight drizzle just before the big storm hit which sent the lions moving into some thickets for cover. A couple of days later the one Charleston male was on his own, with no sign of the females, and constantly calling for his brother. It is going to be interesting to see how lion dynamics develop in the next couple of weeks here at Sabi Sabi.

*This image is copyright of its original author

From today in their facebook page:
The Charleston males were located this morning, regrouped after being separated for quite some time.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tshokwane · 11-26-2015, 09:53 PM

From A WEEK IN THE BUSH… VOL. 79:
The lion dynamics have kept us all on our toes in recent weeks, but this has become the norm when it comes to the Southern Pride. The females have been seen in the company of the Charleston males again and to date there has been little to no sign of the two Fourways males. Just when it looked as though the females were settling down and the Fourways males were looking comfortable, a very large spanner in the form of the Charleston males appeared. Now it must be said that the Charleston’s have had every opportunity to make an entrance since the demise of the Sand River males, but they had been very ‘quiet’ until very recently. The competition must’ve spurred them on… In any event, if either of these coalitions were to be successful in establishing themselves as the dominant force in the area, it would be great for the Southern Pride. I guess we are just going to have to wait a little bit longer than expected for the arrival of some cubs.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tshokwane · 11-27-2015, 07:00 PM

From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
The two Charleston males were found on the reserve this morning after spending a few days feeding on a buffalo.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tshokwane · 12-06-2015, 10:50 PM

Sabi Sabi:
The larger Charleston male was seen last night in the company of three Southern Pride lionesses. The other two lionesses were seen much later and quite some distance away.

*This image is copyright of its original author

From yesterday:
The Charleston male with the broken tooth was found in great condition and with a full belly. His tooth seems to be healthy with no obvious signs of infection, but one wonders when it will fall out.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tshokwane · 12-10-2015, 10:15 PM

From Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve:
The three lionesses and one Charleston male were seen yesterday afternoon resting on one of the plains amidst some massive storm clouds.

*This image is copyright of its original author

A WEEK IN THE BUSH VOL. 81:
The lions seems to be doing well. We have been seeing the bigger Charleston male with the females often and the other brother is still focused on his Aunt with her two cubs to the east of us, but he still comes for a visit every so often and we get to photograph his new signature. With the disappearance of the two Fourways males, we hope these two brothers are here to stay.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Tshokwane · 12-11-2015, 11:32 PM

Sabi Sabi:
The Charleston male was seen with only two of the Southern Pride females yesterday, trailing a large herd of buffalo. Last night when they got moving, they looked very interested and this morning they were found to have downed a large bull!

*This image is copyright of its original author

LionKiss · 12-11-2015, 11:38 PM

it seems that they secured a very good meal,

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