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The Matshapiri Males
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From: Londolozi
Is There Honour Between Lions? by James Tyrrell on June 7, 2017 Three mornings ago we bumped into the non-injured Matshipiri male and followed him for 100 metres through the chilly dawn until he lay down in a clearing, looking about him. His face bore many cuts and gashes, and on his spine was a fresh puncture wound, with a thin trickle of blood running from it down his flank. Ranger John Mohaud was joining us in the sighting, and we could see his vehicle approaching, when suddenly his urgent voice came over the radio “There are two more males here approaching rapidly!” Looking towards John’s Land Rover, we suddenly saw the shape of a young male lion emerge from the bushes, and then a second, both moving quickly with heads down, clearly on the scent trail of the Matshipiri male.  *This image is copyright of its original author His face scarred up, the Matshipiri male who was chased lies down only moments before the two Avoca males burst out of the bushes in the background in pursuit. Photograph by Vedant ThiteNeedless to say heart rates spiked, but none more so than that of the Matshipiri male, whose head suddenly snapped round as he heard the other males footfalls, and then took off, running for his life. Seeing him flee, the two other males, by now identified as the Avoca young males, immediately gave chase. Luckily we were in relatively open country, which allowed us to follow the lions on a crazy ride as they ran at high speed through a succession of clearings towards the Londolozi airstrip. The two young Avoca males were roaring as they went, but the Matshipiri male remained silent, with only escape on his mind. His saving grace came on the far side of the airstrip, where a thick band of vegetation a couple of hundred metres wide lay between the next clearing. With visibility far reduced, the pursuing Avoca males lost sight of the Matshipiri male, who cut west out of the thicket, while his chasers, having lost sight of him, emerged about 20 seconds later, but continued on the same north-west trajectory they had been following.  *This image is copyright of its original author Moving at a trot, one of the Avoca coalition glances towards our vehicle while in pursuit of the Matshipiri male. Photograph by Vedant ThiteCamp staff had a loud awakening as the Avoca males continued to bellow as they swept past the camp access roads, just as the sun began to peer over the horizon, but of the fleeing Matshipiri male there was no more sign. The Avoca males continued to roar intermittently as they tried to find his scent trail, but as an hour passed they eventually gave up and fell asleep next to a local waterhole.  *This image is copyright of its original author One of the Avoca males scent-marks while he roars, a sure sign of territorial intent. Photograph by Vedant ThiteDiscussions back at camp revolved around the chase, and how lucky it was that it hadn’t been the Matshipiri male with the broken leg that the Avoca males had found, else he may well have been killed, being unable to run. Ranger Greg Pingo, returning late from drive, had more news. During the early parts of the chase that morning, the Avoca and Matshipiri males had run past a big waterhole not too far from the airstrip. What no one had noticed however, being so fixated on the running lions, was that right next to the waterhole, lying in one of the inlets, was the other Matshipiri male, the one with the broken leg. He must have been there for two days, since the Ntsevu lionesses had killed a young giraffe close by and he had joined them to feed on it. With that having been his only decent meal in goodness-knows how long, he was in a badly emaciated condition, and in no condition to get in a fight with rival males. No wonder he kept quiet as his brother ran by. This was by no means the end of the story though. Realising that there was a good chance that the Avoca males might find the injured Matshipiri male that evening, Greg and Alistair Smith returned to sit with the younger coalition after dinner. The two lions got up and began retracing their steps, and as expected, it wasn’t long before they caught the scent of the injured Matshipiri male, and had found him within a few minutes. Needless to say, Greg and Alistair expected fireworks, but nothing like that happened. Instead of rushing in to finish him off, the Avoca males simply circled him at a distance, scent marking every bush and tree, but doing nothing to initiate a physical conflict. The Matshipiri male, injured and helpless, simply lay there growling. Unable to run off or rush in to attack, he simply had to await his fate. Interestingly, the two young males, after scent-marking, simply walked away. Why would two male lions, apparently intent on taking over the territory, leave their seemingly defenceless victim alone? Is it a case of not kicking a man when he’s down? Did the fact that the Matshipiri male no longer represented a threat to them meant that they weren’t interested anymore? As I understand it from Greg and Al, the injured male had his vulnerable rear end backed up into a bush, meaning the Avoca males could only attack his front, which could still have been very dangerous for them. The risk of attacking an already severely injured foe would not have been worth it. Just how down-and-out the Avoca males could sense the Matshipiri male to be no one can say for sure, but I imagine they would have had a fair idea from his emaciated condition. Also, with him not being able to run, the chase response would not have been triggered in the antagonists, so they contented themselves with merely scent-marking, establishing their dominance in front of him, then roaring as they moved off. With lions it is sometimes simply a numbers game; without his brother, the uninjured Matshipiri would have felt far more vulnerable, and his instinctive flight (on a number of occasions buy now) would trigger an automatic chase response in the Avoca young males. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had the Avoca males arrived two months ago, before one of the Matshipiris broke his leg. As a pair of larger male lions, I don’t think the Matshipiri males would have had much trouble in dealing with this new threat. This is a moot point though, since what has happened has happened, and the Matshipiri coalition seems to be losing their hold, although nothing has been concluded.  *This image is copyright of its original author The healthier of the two Matshipiri males, bellowing on the morning that he first encountered the two Avoca young males.The really fascinating thing in this situation for me is the youth of the Avoca young males; only having been independent since last year, I would never have imagined two males with such short manes to have fancied their chances of taking over a territory. They have obviously been able to establish how weakened the Matshipiri males are with the broken-leg male effectively hors de combat.  *This image is copyright of its original author The sparse manes on the young Avoca males are clearly indicative of their youth.I remember when the Majingilane moved off Londolozi a few years ago; there was a succession of coalitions of two that moved in and were then driven off again by the next big males to come along. The Styx males were supplanted by the Fourways males who were soon ousted by the Matshipiri males, who tended to stay south with the Sparta pride (more on them in a blog next week), leaving space for the Matimba males to move in from the north. It is quite possible that these young Avoca males, if they do succeed in either killing or driving off the Matshipiri pair, may well be ousted in the not-too-distant future by an older and bigger coalition that wanders in from the Kruger Park. Three of the massive Birmingham males were seen in our northern areas yesterday morning, and the rumours of the Mantimahle males continue to loom from the south. I imagine that we’re in for some interesting times, which most likely doesn’t bode well for any cubs currently on Londolozi. Filed under Featured Wildlife 
I find it interesting that the young avoca males didn't finish off the injured matshpiri. To me that suggests a lack of confidence and inexperience and rightfully so considering they are very young males for taking over a territory, they are not ready to become territorial males if they can't finish off an injured male. If the healthier matshpiri can catch one of the avocas alone he has a decent chance of inflicting some damage and scare the already what seems an inexperienced young coalition to move off. I am hugely impressed by the healthier matshpiri, a lot of males would have simply ran off and given up by now but he is clearly a fighter.
Mala Mala sighted him alive bad in bad condition next to a tree waiting for some scraps of a leopard kill fall down!
And the king lives on. Quoting MalaMala "the injured Matshapiri male has covered a surprising amount of ground from we we last saw him. He was at Buffalo Bush Dam, well fed and still crunching down on the remains of an impala". The Matshapiri's showed true character in this ordeal.
 (06-02-2017, 12:58 AM)leocrest Wrote: Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that is factual^. Bro dat ain't factual, it straight up lion bias bleep. seriously, don't know what those ppl are smokin that make those kind a videos, but those lions are as cool as a pimp strutten into his long magenta 78 T Bird. (05-31-2017, 06:05 AM)stoja9 Wrote: I would hardly say those hyenas are intimidating those two males. The hyenas aren't even moving and the two lions look like they couldn't give two fucks about them... Heh, bro exactly, I can tell you if somthin is afraid and I can tell you for a fact those lions ain't afraid, I mean lions just straight up don't fear a lot of stuff, most of the other cat family are some skittish bros, fierce yeah they can be, but on the whole they ain't like lions, who are made to be some tuff mother dudes who don't take you know what from anybody. There was this cat I remember named Peedy where I grew up, it was like a an alley cat but had owners, da thing was one tuff mother, I mean it was the toughest cat in town. We seen it get in fights all the time, it would beat the stuffing out of most other bros it came into contact with, coincidently da thing was a legend. It was like stone faced, un moved by other avasarys, it walked with this toughness in it like it knew it could kick the ==-- out of you and you better realize that or get off his lawn. We were all amazed with this cat, it beat up dogs, one time it even had a snake trapped between its paws, the snake was like so mad, it couldn't get away, it would go one way, and Peedy would smack down its paw in front of it, then the snake would try to go the opposite direction and Peedy would then swat its paw super fast on the ground blocking the other direction, big snake couldn't do a thing but hiss and just keep trying to bite, Peedy was just amused keepin the bro imprisoned between its two paws. When I think of lions, it remind me of that cat Peedy, that toughness in their demeanor and da way they walk about as if in control and willing to fight for it at any moment without hesitation. Seenin alley cats fight and how they act ain't that dis similar in to how these real bigcat bros are. 
This was just posted on Malamala's instagram, about an hour ago.
TODAY: June 25th. Wow, what a day... we woke up to a magically misty morning in the bushveld and things got exciting quickly. We'd planned to follow up on the Treehouse male leopard with his impala kill from last night but on the way our plans changed. The sound of lions roaring thundered through the blanket of mist. It was coming from 3 different locations and upon following up on the closest audio we discovered a young 'Avoca' male, walking at a brisk pace south of our airstrip. He crossed the Sand River eastwards and then met up with the other 'Avoca' male. They were on a mission and started jogging northwards. We followed them for some distance before losing visual. Whilst trying to relocate the coalition we happened upon 2 leopards being harassed by hyenas near Campbell Koppies! It was the Senegal Bush male and the Piccadilly female. We viewed them mate several times as they moved through the koppies. Things got even more interesting when they noticed something to their south- a Matshapiri male lion. Their 'shock' was short-lived as it was the injured male- in a show of what could be perceived as arrogance, the leopards just strolled past him. The lion is in very bad shape and the mating pair deemed him not to be a threat as they carried on their way. The other Matshapiri male lion was seen soon after in front of Main Camp. The 2 young 'Avoca' males were seen again this evening and they were moving north towards the area of the Matshapiri males. As I type this update I can hear lions fighting and roaring east of Main Camp. If you follow their instagram, you will see in their stories the two Avoca males on their walk and also the Mohawk Matshapiri male, who is skin and bones. I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow we have news of at least one lion killed or at least injured.  (06-26-2017, 04:40 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: This was just posted on Malamala's instagram, about an hour ago. If the other male wasn´t injured the "Avoca" males wouldn´t have had a chance I guess it´s the way of the wild (06-26-2017, 04:40 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: This was just posted on Malamala's instagram, about an hour ago. mala mala now discovered that the majingilane males are trying to kill the healthier matshapiri male: this is the continuation of the last mala mala article that you posted: " "We were abruptly awoken just before 5am by the deafening roars of lions in front of Main Camp... As we followed up we came across the 2 Avoca males and 2 lionesses from the Kambula pride, walking westwards at a brisk pace. By the looks of it these lions had not taken part in the overnight brawl as they were free of fresh battle-scars. Tracks of 2 large male lions were located coming into MalaMala from the west, just north of our Airstrip and they were making a bee-line to the area in which the separated Matshipiri males were last seen. Although we never located the makers of the tracks, odds are it was most likely the Manyelethi males!...This leads us to believe that the fight we heard was between the fuller-maned Matshipiri male and 2 of the Manyelethi males." the majingilane males are crazy to kill some one! they are doing their legendary history in sabin sands yet! (06-28-2017, 04:02 AM)T Rabbit Wrote:Come on man that's just fanaticism. There is no reason or necessity for the Majingalanes to be getting into scraps with young males even when they out number them. Looking big and bad is no achievement in the wild, the Majingalanes are very strategic and this very trait has allowed them to be as successful as they are. These guys need to be in perfect condition for the time when a coalition actually throws down the gauntlet, or they will go out the same way as the Mapogos. These males are not "Crazy to kill some one!" as you put it.(06-26-2017, 04:40 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: This was just posted on Malamala's instagram, about an hour ago.  (06-28-2017, 09:39 PM)sik94 Wrote:(06-28-2017, 04:02 AM)T Rabbit Wrote:Come on man that's just fanaticism. There is no reason or necessity for the Majingalanes to be getting into scraps with young males even when they out number them. Looking big and bad is no achievement in the wild, the Majingalanes are very strategic and this very trait has allowed them to be as successful as they are. These guys need to be in perfect condition for the time when a coalition actually throws down the gauntlet, or they will go out the same way as the Mapogos. These males are not "Crazy to kill some one!" as you put it.(06-26-2017, 04:40 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: This was just posted on Malamala's instagram, about an hour ago. I think there is a language issue with T Rabbit's post, but it does border on fanaticism. i don't think we should pull for one wild animal against another. it's a pleasure to be able to observe and share. (06-28-2017, 09:39 PM)sik94 Wrote:Sorry, I have to ask - What is "will go out the same way as the Mapogos" mean? That they were pushed out because they were very old and outnumbered? And what would the Mapogos have done in that instance? The only thing they could have done is fight and they did.(06-28-2017, 04:02 AM)T Rabbit Wrote:Come on man that's just fanaticism. There is no reason or necessity for the Majingalanes to be getting into scraps with young males even when they out number them. Looking big and bad is no achievement in the wild, the Majingalanes are very strategic and this very trait has allowed them to be as successful as they are. These guys need to be in perfect condition for the time when a coalition actually throws down the gauntlet, or they will go out the same way as the Mapogos. These males are not "Crazy to kill some one!" as you put it.(06-26-2017, 04:40 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: This was just posted on Malamala's instagram, about an hour ago. And let's not forget, the Mapogos did put a beating on the Selati males first. After that, PB was caught alone and battered. If it weren't for Mak coming in and saving him, he could have been a goner. And even after Mak and PB went out, Mak still put a beating on the KNP males - And he did this all at the age of 14! And what is this perfect condition? They are all 12/13 years old, cut down to 3. There is NOTHING left here. They can delay the inevitable but in the end, they will be kicked out. (06-29-2017, 10:00 AM)HouseOfLions Wrote:When the Selaties challenged the Mapogos, Mak and PB were carrying injuries and weren't able to help Mr T defend the territory. The Majinglanes need to stick together, avoid conflict, and be in 100% health to put up a good fight when a coalition actually challenges them. You are right in saying that that they are too old and it's inevitable they will be ousted sooner or later. This perfect condition is not being skin and bones, and make it a 3 vs fight instead of 2 or 1.(06-28-2017, 09:39 PM)sik94 Wrote:Sorry, I have to ask - What is "will go out the same way as the Mapogos" mean? That they were pushed out because they were very old and outnumbered? And what would the Mapogos have done in that instance? The only thing they could have done is fight and they did.(06-28-2017, 04:02 AM)T Rabbit Wrote:Come on man that's just fanaticism. There is no reason or necessity for the Majingalanes to be getting into scraps with young males even when they out number them. Looking big and bad is no achievement in the wild, the Majingalanes are very strategic and this very trait has allowed them to be as successful as they are. These guys need to be in perfect condition for the time when a coalition actually throws down the gauntlet, or they will go out the same way as the Mapogos. These males are not "Crazy to kill some one!" as you put it.(06-26-2017, 04:40 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: This was just posted on Malamala's instagram, about an hour ago. |
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