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The Mighty Mapogos
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ARATHUSA
25 January-2010 Mlowathis Sightings (Mr T with an Injured Paw) Lion Lion sightings in the area have also been very good. The Styx pride has accounted for most of the sightings in the far eastern part of our traversing area, and has also been seen within 3km of our lodge. The Sandy Patch pride has also been seen a few times on our property. The lions in this pride are in very poor condition and seem to be struggling. The two Mapogo males (Mlowati males) were sighted a lot in the first week of the New Year, but not since then. Rumors have been heard from some of the other rangers in the neighboring MalaMala and Londolozi Game Reserves that the male known as Mr. T has an injury. We are not sure how it was sustained. His back paw pad has been removed and he is seriously injured. If this is the case, the odds do not look very good for him, as a dominant male lion that cannot travel far distances or hunt effectively will soon lose its dominance and eventually perish. http://arathusa.co.za/happy-new-year/
ARATHUSA
4 January-2010 Lion sightings have been very good with the Tsalalas – a pride that roams a large part of the south western part of the Sands – killing two fully grown male kudus quite close to the lodge one morning drive. We were very lucky to see this pride of three adult females and eight cubs eating on the two kudus for about three days before leaving the area. The two Mapogos have also been seen quite far up north, as has the Sandy Patch female and her cub. The Kuhuma Pride from the north east was also around for about two drives where they were seen eating on a young, sick female buffalo before also moving out of the area. http://arathusa.co.za/leopards-abound/
01/05/10: Djuma Bush Lodge Rangers Diary for April
LION Lion sightings were not as bountiful as the leopards but we had very interesting ones. A total of 43 different lion sightings were had. The sightings were made up of Gejima males (12 sightings), Mapogo males(6 sightings), Styx pride ( 8 sightings) but not always together. The Styx pride are fast becoming a very mysterious pride were there is a lot of splitting up and confusion as to where the rest of its members are. Nkuhuma pride, also not always together, were seen 15 times. When viewing the Nkuhuma lions we encountered mainly 2 females with a sub-adult male together but other times it was a single female with the 2 Gejima males and the odd occasion where it was just 2 females together. Then on the 14th of April during an afternoon drive we encountered a male coalition of 5 young males at Twin Dams! It turned into an amazing sighting when Nkarula and her 2 cubs joined the sighting! No harm was done to the leopards. The next day was an exciting experience as these 5 males found 6 of the Nkuhuma pride( 3 young males & 3 females) close to Big Dam in the North and proceeded to chase them into Manyeleti Game Reserve in an attempt to gain territory. Stay posted as to what happens in the next few months!!! http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=311
Djuma 01/10/09: Back from the dead
I last saw her on the 10th of August last year This morning turned out to be an amazing dive. We headed straight for the Kruger Park boundary, upon hearing there was a dead young buffalo, not far off from one of the privately owned camps on our traversing area. Since we have not had any lions on our traversing area for the last four days, I was hoping that this feast going begging would draw in some lions for us. As we neared our destination we were greeted with a pleasant surprise of the two new males from Manyaleti and a lioness lying out in the middle of clearing nearby the privately owned camp. I recognized the two grumpy boys immediately and warned my guests that they had to be very wary of their movements on the vehicle as any sudden movement could trigger an extremely aggressive response from either of these two males. We began a tense negotiation with the two boys, who allowed us to get into a fairly decent position to view them from. After much tail flicking and deep seated growls, we settled on a comfortable distance we were both happy with. After watching the boys very closely for signs of aggression and after their vocal warnings had subsided, I began to have a closer look at the lioness. I was absolutely amazed to see it was one of the ladies from the Huma pride who I last saw about a year ago. When she was last seen, she was an absolutely pitiful sight with every bone in her body visible and a very bad limp in her front left leg.  *This image is copyright of its original author I must admit that I didn’t rate her chances of making it to be very good, but have seen lioness dwindle to such a terrible state before and still make a miraculous comeback to regain condition. Most of the guides had told their guests she would die, but all be it a small chance I did hold out a small bit of hope that she would survive. But, after such a long period of not seeing her with the pride, had wondered whether she had in fact made it or not. But to my absolute amazement here she was looking as glorious as ever; she still carried a fairly bad limp, but not nearly as bad as she had been. One of the big boys was doing his best to mate with her but she was having none of it, swatting at him with her paws accompanied with lots of growling and teeth bearing threats. The bigger of the two males was at least a gentleman regarding the situation and did not push the issue too much with her. This is great news and will hopefully be the start of the Huma pride reclaiming their turf back, after the huge loss of nine members of their pride at the hands of the Mapogo males. The surviving cubs are now around three years old and it is around the time when the young males are going to be forced out of the area, thrust into a time of hardship which all young males go through. I look forwards to seeing how she gets on and hopefully she will hook up with the rest of the pride. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me so did not get any shots of her but hopefully will when we go and check up on them this afternoon. It is just good to have her back. http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=95
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Rangers News Idube two remaining Mapogo did make a brief appearance in the western sector, tracks showed that they may have even joined up with the Ximhungwe pride for a short time, the two old boys seem resigned to the fact their territory is gone and have been reported wandering far and wide over the Sabi Sand reserve, trying to avoid the other coalitions of males that are spread around. We may yet see them again but as nomadic males they will now be just passing through. http://idubelodge.blogspot.com/2012/04/rangers-news.html
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The week that was....(5). Idube
Update and Rangers Pictures From The Last Month (July 2012) IDUBE
Pretty Boy backs to Western Sabi Sands to check his lost Empire. the commotion attracted the attention of what seems to be the last remaining member of the Mapogo male lion coalition that the Selatis ousted in March. The lone Mapogo cautiously approached the area until he could see what was happening, the Selati noticed the watching intrude and the two spent at least 30 minutes staring at one another from a distance of about 150m, eventually the Mapogo male broke the standoff by running away. A sensible move as soon after another Selati male was seen approaching the area with two Ximhungwe lionesses in tow. At the end of June it was rumoured that one of the other three lionesses had given birth to cubs up on one of the rocky hills in the west, there was much debate as to whether the cubs were fathered by the Selati coalition or the Mapogo males as the lioness was seen mating with both groups prior to the takeover by the Selatis. It would be possible that different cubs in the litter could be fathered by different males. As the den was inaccessible it would be a while before any sightings of any cubs were possible. http://idubelodge.blogspot.com/2012/08/update-and-rangers-pictures-from-last.html 
Big Mak and PB on Londolozi TV during their days as nomads
Credits: Londolozi  *This image is copyright of its original author
Monday, December 6, 2010
Rangers Newsletter IDUBE 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... http://idubelodge.blogspot.com/2010/12/rangers-newsletter.html
Friday, March 16, 2012
The End Of An Era IDUBE  *This image is copyright of its original author Today saw the end of the reign of the Mapogo coalition as the dominant lions in our area. The four males of the Southern or Selati coalition have reduced the once mighty coalition to a partnership of two old men. This morning a fierce battle took place between the two coalitions, the four young males emerging victorious, fatally wounding the Mapogo Male known variously as Mohawk, Mr.T or SaTan. The two remaining Mapogo fled east all but giving up their territory to the new males. It seems that Mr.T stood his ground as the four younger males approached, giving the two older males a chance to escape, whether this was the intention is debatable but many would like to see it that way, a noble end to perhaps the most notorious anti-hero of the coalition.
[video=youtube]http://https://youtu.be/TIIHVBOAY5A[/video] It was Mr.T that was known for his aggression towards other lions, and he had a reputation for killing cubs too. Some of his reputation was deserved but mostly he was misunderstood. It is true that he was a killer, but all lions are. The coalition as a whole was responsible for the deaths of many lions in the early years of their takeover but Mr.T seemed to be singled out due to his appearance, his short Mohawk mane and a seemingly broken nose made him look more of a fighter than the others. Over the years his face became a mass of battle scars, but many of those scars were from fighting with other members of the coalition over food and mating rights. For a couple of years the six males split into two groups, one of four and one of two, meeting irregularly in the middle of the territory. Mr.T and his brother Kinky Tail were the two that stayed in the eastern part of the territory and were the first to come across a challenge from new males – the Majingalane coalition. Brutal images of the two Mapogo attacking and fatally wounding an isolated member of the new coalition further enhanced Mr.T’s brutal reputation. Later the same day when the four remaining Majingalanes fought back it was Mr.T that fled leaving his brother to be killed and eaten.  *This image is copyright of its original author Returning to the west and joining with the four remaining coalition members Mr.T managed to take the coalition into another battle with the Majingalane males, with a disastrous outcome – only four of the five males returned, one with serious injuries and the eastern territory was lost. During Mr.T’s absence from the west, the other Mapogo males had taken over a new pride – the Ximhungwe pride. A number of cubs had been born into the pride since the takeover but as Mr.T had not been with the other coalition members at the time he did not recognise the cubs as family and instinctively began to wipe them out. This again enhanced his brutal reputation, yet he was only following his instincts in order to ensure that the next generation of the Ximhungwe pride would have the blood of the Mapogo coalition running through their veins, there was no way for him to be sure that the cubs at the time already were of the Mapogo bloodline.  *This image is copyright of its original author Seemingly content in a smaller portion of their territory the four remaining Mapogo started to build on their dominance of the Ximhungwe pride until one day one of them decided to go for a walk in a north-easterly direction towards their old territory, and never returned. Down to three, the Mapogo coalition seldom left the western sector of the reserve and Mr.T seemed to settle down in his old age. There was no reason for the Majingalanes to head west, as they were content with their takeover in the east. The three old males seemed to be heading for an easy retirement until the arrival of the four young Southern Males.
[video=youtube]http://https://youtu.be/Sk97wHC7IwE[/video] At first the new males were wary of the old warriors and were even chased out of the area by them on one occasion. As they became bolder they pushed further west, but still left an unfinished buffalo kill to the vultures and hyenas when they heard the roars of the Mapogos getting closer. It took a lioness of the Ximhungwe pride to build their confidence, she came into oestrus at a time that the Mapogos were far from the pride on a buffalo kill, hearing the roars of the new males she headed towards them to mate. Finding a female to mate with brought the younger males closer to Mapogo controlled territory and it was not long before there was a confrontation between the two coalitions.  *This image is copyright of its original author The first confrontation ended with all seven males walking away, but the Mapogo looked like a beaten trio, one had narrowly avoided serious injury and the three took some time to recuperate. The Southern males used the time that the Mapogo were inactive to explore the territory and heal from the minor cuts and scratches they had sustained themselves. Gradually the distance between the two coalitions was reduced and in the early hours of this morning the Southern males laid claim to the west. The two remaining Mapogo will probably now become nomadic, avoiding the larger coalitions, it is unlikely we will see much of them now. So it is a sad day as we mourn the passing of a well known lion, yet an exciting day as a new area has begun – The King Is Dead, Long Live The New Kings!
Idube Game Reserve
Thursday, June 9, 2011 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. (12-29-2016, 02:18 AM)Georgel Wrote: @
Idube Game Reserve, 2012
23 February AM 3 Mapogo male lions, one (Pretty Boy) looking severely beaten after an encounter with the 4 Southern/Selati males, the other two looked ok.  *This image is copyright of its original author 2 March PM, 3 March AM 3 Mapogo male lions, sleeping.  *This image is copyright of its original author 3 March PM Southern/Selati male lions roaring east of the lodge and Mapogo male lions roaring much further south. 4 March AM 4 Southern/Selati male lions lying just east of the boundary. Makulu Mapogo mating with a Ximhungwe lioness (the roaring from the previous night must have attracted her away from the younger males).
The Mapogo story. Wild Earth Saturday, 17 May 2008
 *This image is copyright of its original author We (Karen in VA and Aquila) were asked to share some bits of information/background on the Mapogo Male Coalition with you. We have been gathering info from various sites (Mala Mala, Londolozi, Djuma, Nkorho, Elephant Plains, Singita, Arathusa, Ulusaba, Wildwatch) and their sightings databases along with a few helpful people answering the questions we sent their way. Some of this information was first part of a Database that we were compiling for Africam. Graham asked if we would share this with the WE Viewers as well. We hope you find this info as interesting as we have.  *This image is copyright of its original author Misty morning 03/05/08 Mapogo Coalition - 6 Male Lions also known as the Eyrefield Males, the Sparta Males and in some regions the "Cannibals". They were named Mapogo after a security company that utilizes rather harsh methods in dealing with offenders. We've found several different meanings for Mapogo. Ulusaba refers to it as meaning "Vigilantes" and Savanna Lodge refers to the Mapogo name being a Zulu word meaning "Rogues". What ever the meaning, they are Bad News! Pride they Originated From: Eyrefield Pride aka Sparta Pride. This pride still exists and consists of 3 adult females and 9 cubs. Two of the remaining Eyrefield pride lionesses are siblings of the Mapogos and the third and oldest lioness may very well be the Mother to some of them. The dominant male of this Pride today is the one remaining Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton Male. Sired by: A Coalition of 5 Male Lions known as The West Street Males aka The Sparta Males. (Note: There is a twist to this story that we will share a little later.)  *This image is copyright of its original author 1st day WE saw them on cam 12/27/07 These males took over the Eyrefield/Sparta pride from the Manyeleti males in 1998. They were approximately 8 yrs of age at the time and successfully raised many cubs to adulthood during their reign. The last of this coalition died in 2004 at the approximate age of 14 years or even older (some reports indicated the last two were plus/minus 16 yrs in 2003 when two of the original four Marthly/Split Rock/Robson males moved in).  *This image is copyright of its original author After lioness & cubs were killed 03/13/08 The Oldest Mapogo Male is said to be unrelated to the other 5. The story is that the original pride (Eyrefield/Sparta) lost a male sub adult of 20 to 21 months of age in May/June 2000 and in July 2000 this male of about the same age latched on to the original pride. Though not readily accepted by the lionesses, the West Street Males barely tolerated him though they didn't kill him as he was no threat to their dominance due to his age. His life was not an easy one as he was considered an outcast, yet this young lion became one of the boldest and most valued hunters by helping to keep the pride fed when the West Street males became too old. Londolozi refers to the oldest Mapogo male as "Ngalalalekha". Ngala means lion so does lalekha mean "old, older, oldest"? Good question for Rexon.  *This image is copyright of its original author Mr T After lioness & cubs were killed 03/13/08 This oldest Male is elusive. He is said to be bigger, bolder and darker than the other five. He is believed to be the sire of most of the Mapogo cubs that have been born so far but with more recent reports of matings it seems some of the other males will become fathers too if not already. Prides that currently have cubs sired by a Mapogo are the Tsalala pride, the Othawa pride and the Sand River pride. More than likely, there are others as well. One story about this older male that sticks out in our minds is when Londolozi reported a sighting of two hyena clans on a buffalo carcass. A group of approximately 25 adult elephants standing shoulder to shoulder with little ones behind them were staring the hyenas down. A noise was heard behind the vehicle and when the spotlight was shown in that direction an "enormous" male lion burst into their sight roaring louder than any roar they had ever heard before which sent 30 hyenas scattering. It was the leader of the six Mapogos. He stared down the wall of elephants which after about 5 minutes of standing their ground finally gave way to the lone male and moved off.  *This image is copyright of its original author Giraffe Steal from Nkuhuma 01/12/08 The Other 5 Mapogo Males are said to be sired by the West Street Males but here is where the twist comes in...... the two youngest might have been sired by the Roller Coaster Males aka Shaw Males aka Castleton Males. The Roller Coaster males were believed to have started out as a Coalition of 6. Four of which enticed some of the Eyrefield/Sparta females into mating with them while the aging West Street males were away from the pride. Thus it is unclear who actually fathered the two youngest. And to add another little twist, it is said that the West Street Males who sired the Mapogos also fathered the Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton males. Estimated ages of the Mapogo Coaliton as of May 2008: Older Unrelated Male - 9 yrs 7 mos Two Older Related Males - 7 yrs 4 1/2 mos One a Little Younger Male - 7 yrs 2 mos Two youngest males (possibly sired by the Roller Coaster Males) - 6 yrs 6 mos  *This image is copyright of its original author Giraffe Steal from Nkuhuma 01/12/08 As you can see, the Mapogo Coalition is not the first nor will it be the last large coalition. Being the first large coalition the WE viewers have encountered, it is hard to comprehend that the current lion population can survive with all these killings but they will. The survivors of this onslaught will be the "new" beginning, the "next" generation just as the survivors of past large coalitions were. We don't like it and we don't have to like it but sadly it is the nature of things. How have they impacted the lion population in just the couple of years they have been independent? Here are a few reports: Londolozi reports five prides that have been adversely affected by the Mapogos. They cited these three: Castleton Pride originally 22 and down to 6; Tsalala Pride originally 10 and down to 5; Ximunvanyane Pride originally 10 down to ZERO. We can say fairly confidently, the number of prides adversely affected has risen since the Londolozi report. Elephant Plains reported recently of receiving a report from Sabi Sands stating almost 40% of the lion population has been killed by the Mapogo Coalition in just the past year. That relates to approximately 50 lions. (Our thoughts: Do these numbers also include deaths that occurred from the pressure that the Mapogo coalition has put on other prides and coalitions in the Sabi Sands area?)  *This image is copyright of its original author Giraffe Steal from Nkuhuma 01/12/08 Quote from Elephant Plains referencing the Mapogos "Killing buffalo, adult giraffes, even young rhinos and hippos. And lions. And they were not just killing the lions..they were eating them" More on their cannibalistic ways. On February 7th 2007, the Mapogos not only brutally killed "Rocky" aka the Serengeti/Kruger male but they ate him. "Rocky" was the dominant male that sired the 6 cubs of the two younger Tsalala pride lionesses. All those cubs have been killed except for one sub adult female. Currently the Tsalala pride falls under the dominance of the Mapogos. In the same report where Singita tells of "Rocky's" death, they mention the Mapogos being seen eating a dead lioness the previous year. Hyenas better watch out too! We haven't seen any reports of them eating Hyenas but they do kill them as shown in this sighting from Singita. http://www.singita.com/site/Wildlife/rangerdetails.asp?rangerid=207 Recently, the Elephant Plains Newsletter had a graphic photo of a Mapogo Male with a Hyena in it's mouth. Though the Hyena was not killed on the spot, it died from the injuries sustained. Knowing how much we all love the Nkuhuma pride, we will only post the link to the killing of Blondie by the Mapogo Males. Reported by Arathusa, Dec 14, 2007. (Note: This is a PDF file) http://www.arathusa.co.za/pdf/diaries/Dec0701.pdf The Mapogo Males not only kill other males' cubs but cubs of their own. Ulusaba reported in June 2007 that a split in the coalition had occurred (though this split seems to have only been temporary). During this report period the 5 related Mapogos killed the oldest unrelated Mapogo's cubs belonging to the Othawa lionesses. The Mapogos seem to have banded back together as a coalition after the short term split in 2007, Ulusaba reported in March 2008 that the coalition had joined the Sand River pride on one of their occasional visits to see their offspring. They all shared in two wildebeest kills including the FIVE male cubs (beginning of another large coalition?). One of the cubs thought it would be fun to slap his sleeping Father on the nose. Boy oh boy did he find out that was a mistake. His Father exploded to his feet bearing down on the defenseless cub! Luckily, all the little one got was a good swat to his backside. LOL After some Motherly reassurance, the cub decided his siblings were a better target for that type of play. Items that may be of Interest:  *This image is copyright of its original author Mr T patrolling alone 02/03/08 To give you an idea of their strength, here is an awesome video posted by Youtube member mattwood22. Taking down a Buffalo Bull - January 2006. The dark mane one is the "oldest" Mapogo and there is one lioness with them also on this kill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RKBllKd590 It is only fair to show a softer side of the Mapogos. This article from Exeter/Wildwatch is about a sighting of one of the Mapogo Males (probably the oldest) interacting with his cubs. It includes some great pictures. http://www.wildwatch.com/sightings/ottawa-pride-cubs-found  *This image is copyright of its original author After lioness & cubs were killed 03/13/08 We hope this information has been helpful and may shed a new light on these bad boys. Are they BAD? Yes! Are they any worse than other large coalitions? Probably not, with the possible exception of their cannibalistic ways.. they tend to take that to an Extreme! Please remember, this information is not set in stone as it is an evolving story and there are conflicting accounts. Written by Aquila and Karen in VA  *This image is copyright of its original author Just lying around 04/08/08
Tribute to Legendary West Street Males (Fathers Of Mighty Mapogos)
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