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The Mighty Mapogos
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Kinky Tail
Credits to Marius Coetzee  *This image is copyright of its original author
Along with old Makhulu, I think he's one of the most respected Mapogos, each for very different reasons.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
I found this info in the archives of the Idube Game Reserve blog, dated from July's last week of 2010.
The week that was: A great sighting of the oldest member of the Mapogo coalition (known as Makulu meaning Big) roaring and three other coalition members replying far in the distance. The other point of interest in this sighting was how worried MrT became when he got separated from the older male, zig-zagging up and down and giving contact calls after only a minute of the two losing sight of one another, eventually he started roaring (an unusual occurrence in the heat of the day) and Makulu replied enabling them to locate each other again. It seems MrT is still having some safety fears after the fight with the new coalition up in the northern Sabi Sand where he was badly mauled and his brother killed. 
MrT was not injured in the fight with the Majingilane, not even in the day battle where the 5th Majingilane was killed
From Idube, the Rangers Newsletter from December 2010:
The lion population can often be a disappointment – spending most of their time sleeping – but this last few weeks they have been the stars of the show! The 4 Mapogo male lions killed a big bull buffalo north of the river there was plenty of interaction between these four big lions and also one instance of them roaring whilst surrounding the vehicle – Brilliant! The kill was finished in under 48 hours. The Ximunghwe pride had a kudu kill at the same time and two of the new cubs ( 1 male + 1 female) were out in the open providing lots of entertainment. One of the Mapogo joined them to finish off the scraps after leaving the buffalo kill. The Ottawa lions also caught a buffalo north of the river and were joined by one of the Mapogo - this sighting coincided with a large amount of rainfall! The male (Makulu) left during the rain and was seen the next morning with the Ximunghwe lionesses. The Ximunghwe pride also killed a young giraffe and the cubs were brought out to this kill too, there was also a wildebeest kill for the pride and the cubs were there too, Mapogo male Mr. T, notorious for killing cubs (even those sired by other Mapogo) joined the pride at the wildebeest kill and the cubs were not seen the next day – the tracks suggest that their mother moved them elsewhere but at the time of writing I am unsure of exactly what may have happened to them... The Mapogo lions were back in action after a few days of patrolling – they killed a young hippo! This kill was out in an open clearing so there were some great photo opportunities! It seems that the hippo had tried to take refuge in a small waterhole but it was too shallow and the lions dragged him out again...
From Idube's blog, January 2011:
The past few weeks have seen yet another shift in the lion population dynamics in our area. Firstly it was confirmed that the two cubs of the Ximunghwe pride that we had been seeing regularly in November were now gone, most likely at the hands of the Mapogo male Mr.T. We then started seeing the two younger cubs of the same pride more regularly, these the first litter to be conceived since the return of T. These two young male cubs seem to have been accepted by all the males and were seen joining a wildebeest kill with the males in attendance recently. The Ximunghwe lioness with the tip of her tail missing also left the pride recently to give birth and we hope she will show of her new litter sometime in the next few weeks. At the same time the Mapogo males seem to be another member short as the dread locked individual with the short tail tuft has not been seen for quite a few weeks, there have been no reports as to what could have happened to him. The three remaining males now seem content to stay in the western areas mating frequently with the Ximunghwe females which are not yet pregnant, a sensible choice as here they only have to worry about their eastern border, the other boundaries are the edges of the reserve and no incurs\ions are expected from outside the border! February's report: The three Mapogo male lions seem settled now and are seldom apart unless one of them is mating – this has been a frequent occurrence with the one Ximunghwe lioness whose cubs were killed late last year. The males shared a couple of kill with the Ximunghwe pride, at a wildebeest kill close to the old airstrip the two cubs belonging to the older lioness even came to feed, it seems that all the males have accepted this pair of cubs, the first ones conceived after the return of the Mohawk maned male known as Mr. T.
From Idube, March 2011 Latest Rangers News:
Moving on to the Ximunghwe pride - the pride is in a rebuilding phase now that the Mapogo male coalition seems settled again. the two cubs belonging to the older female are doing well and two other litters have been spotted – the short-tailed female has two cubs in the region of 6-8 weeks old and one of the other females was found with 4 tiny cubs that at the time were 2-3 weeks old. The smallest cubs were seen with two of the big males in attendance although the mother did not let them get too close. The three remaining males of the Mapogo coalition have been very happy to stay within our traversing area, rarely venturing east for more than a few hours; however, the male who many know as Mr.T due to his Mohawk styled mane suddenly decided to go on holiday recently. One evening he got up and left the other two males, heading straight east, a few days later he was reported as being up in the northern Sabi Sands where he used to spend most of his time before being chased off by the Majingalane males that moved up there last year. About a week passed after that report before he returned to our area having managed to elude the new males up north. During that time, it was reported that he had killed and eaten a baby giraffe. His brothers did not go without food as they shared a buffalo kill with the Ximunghwe pride (including the two oldest cubs). The Ottawa pride were seen a number of times, mostly north of the river, they continue to look healthy and successful; the two young males in the pride are developing rapidly. The pride was seen in the company of one of the Mapogo males (Makulu, the oldest) and he was very relaxed with his heirs, in fact all three males were seen lying together at one point, the older male did become a bit aggressive as he started to feed on a huge leopard tortoise but this is usual for lions.
From Idube, April 2011 Latest Rangers News:
The lion population is still doing well with all three of the big Mapogo males reunited again. The males have been spending most of their time with one or more of the Ximunghwe pride, still showing great interest in the females without cubs and mating when the opportunity arose. In-between the courtship the males did spend some time together close to the lodge and their roars were often heard all through the night. Interestingly there were also roars heard from other lions on occasion, some from the North East, and some from directly East of Idube, on one such occasion the Mapogo heard the calls and proceeded to head in the opposite direction!
From Idube, June 2011 Latest Rangers News:
The lion population in the area has also been added to; one more of the Ximunghwe lionesses was seen with tiny cubs a few weeks ago. The four older cubs in the pride are still doing well and are seen regularly. The five females are seldom seen all together but are still all looking well and healthy. The Mapogo males are seen most days either with the Ximunghwe females or off on their own, the last few days saw two of the males feeding on a young hippo that they killed close to the western boundary. The females in the Ximunghwe pride without cubs have been mating with various members of the coalition. One such pairing led to a huge fight between two of the males (Makulu and Mr.T) which ended with both of them limping and bloodied and the older male victorious. The Makulu Mapogo killed a huge old male warthog at ebony dam, close to the lodge and he ate undisturbed for two days, he then joined the Ximunghwe lionesses on a hunt and stole an impala kill from them, the lionesses left him to it, killed a second impala a short distance away, and fed undisturbed. 
Andrew Aveley The Photographer:
A legend of the SabiSands area. He was one of the members of the Mapogo Coalition and had the name , Kinky Tail. This image was captured early one morning as he moved along a track towards a lioness he was mating with. The magic of the bushveld sunrise showering hm with golden light.  *This image is copyright of its original author
PB
Credits to Brent Leo-Smith Photography  *This image is copyright of its original author
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