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The Mighty Mapogos
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Among the many "adventures" the Mapogos had, one of the most intriguing to me ( maybe because of it being somehow mysterious ) is the reported fight of 18-19 of June 2011. Initially reported to be between the Mapogos and the Majingilanes, but later went into popular believe to be between Mapogos and Matimbas after rangers discussed it on Khimbini's FB post and an information of from a photographer who used to take many photos of Matimbas saying it was 3 "Sava/Matimba males".
Still, in the Matimba thread some very good arguments were presented by "Fredymrt" ( who unfortunately hasn't logged in since 2019 ) stating it couldn't have been Matimbas for several reasons. After reading a lot about this I wanted to give my take on who was involved in that fight... This will likely be a long post: 1. First I wanted to give the options for which lions it could have been and exclude some immediately, the most obvious at first were Majingilanes, but later Matimbas came into it and even the 2 Othawa boys that are confirmed to have fought their fathers that month. I think we can use common sense and exclude the 3yo Othawa boys from being the culprits because let's be honest 2 subs wouldn't be roaring as reported and then be able to serious injure all their 3 fathers to a point Khimbini would report the 3 Mapogos were "dripping blood" when he arrived. But still, after figuring everything out, in the next month, Khimbini/Inyati reported that Mapogos had at least 2 fights in June excluding the interaction with Othawas:  *This image is copyright of its original author https://inyatigamelodge.com/2011/06/27/w...june-2011/ A similar option was also suggested by Fredymrt, the 2 young Nkuhuma males, but for the same reason we can easily disreagrd them, 2 subadults wouldn't be able to injure the 3 adult males to such degree Khimbini would say they all were injured and were literally dripping blood even by the time he arrived to the scene:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author EP also reports that they got news from the fight that they were all limping around after the conflict: "Regarding the big boys, we got news from the west that the Majingi’s and the Mapogo’s had a brawl and after this they were all limping around" https://www.elephantplains.co.za/big-5-b...june-2011/ Although they report it as being between Majingis and Mapogos. But maybe the most important report about wounds, alongside Khimbini's who also saw them afterwards, is Singita's, since it happened there in Othawa. Mark Broodryk, Head Guide of Singita, reports in June 22 that Majingilanes killed a Selati male and weren't necessarily the ones to have fought the Mapogos, of which he describes their condition as: "Forty-eight hours ago we located 3 adult male lions just north of the lodge (presumed to be the ones people refer to as “the Mapogos”). We found them by responding to vocalization; it sounded like a massive fight between adult male lions. On locating these three, we noticed that they had been badly beaten, were bloodied and received massive fresh scars from the ensuing morning battle." https://www.facebook.com/notes/352371402707907/ 2. With this said ( lots of territorial roaring and serious injuries inflicted to the 3 Mapogos ) I think it's clear it wasn't 2 Othawas or even the 2 Nkuhumas, but rather 3 adult males. But then, which males, 3 Majingis like initially reported? Mele Andru says it couldn't have been them:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author They have been somehwere else and have no injuries. Arathusa also saw 2 Majingis after the fight and makes no mention of any injuries: "Monday 20 June This morning we came across a group of five rhinos just as they were waking up and starting to feed. It really is quite something to see these hulking beasts while they’re still sleepy. After watching them for a while we went looking for the lion cubs again, but unfortunately they were either well hidden or off somewhere with their Moms because we couldn’t find them anywhere. We did find one of the Styx lionesses however, and she’d been joined by two of the Majingilane males. Could there be love in the air?" 3. But if it wasn't them, then could it have been the Matimbas? I'll address Fredymrt's [very good] arguments saying it couldn't. Since we just mentioned Mele Andru, let's start with him, one of the points made by Fredymrt was that Mele Andru said Matimbas were never in Othawa:  *This image is copyright of its original author And someone else Matimbas went just as far as Chitwa, Arathusa, Djuma and Nkorho, not west enough to have met Mapogos in Othawa:  *This image is copyright of its original author However, I've to point out that they are unaware of Elephant Plains reports saying to have seen the Matimbas in their property in July ( fight was in 19 of June ): "Manager’s Report July 2011 On another occasion they were treated to sightings of some new male lions in the area. These seem to be the Matimba pride from Manyeleti Game Reserve." https://www.elephantplains.co.za/big-5-b...july-2011/ EP borders Othawa in Singita:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author So yeah they did hang out west enough around that time even to have met the Mapogos in Othawa. 4. Now, addressing perhaps Fredymrt's strongest point at the time, that it couldn't have been Matimbas because there are photos of some Matimbas taken by Rudolf Kals on Cheetah Plains on 18-19 of June, like this one:  *This image is copyright of its original author Shared on july and claimed to have been taken on 18-19 ( some in 18 and some in 19 ). Therefore, as per Fredymrt, they were too far from Othawa to have been involved, as the distance between Cheetah Plains and Othawa is around 18km:  *This image is copyright of its original author However, to counter this is actually very simple: lions can and have crossed such distances in a single night. Take for example this MalaMala report: "January 11th. 6 lion sightings: the Matshapiri males covered a huge distance last night (15-20km) and were found near Hyena Waterhole this morning. The Eyrefield pride were a mere 200m from them but both were unaware of the others presence." 5. Now that I've addressed the points of why it couldn't be Matimbas, let's compile the evidence it could have been them. As everybody knows, Kyaw got info from a photographer saying it was 3 Matimbas:  *This image is copyright of its original author Now, we know from the reports that the males who fought the Mapogos couldn't be sighted because they were hiding in thick bush, but something I've never seen brought up here is that in the Singita report that I've already shared here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/352371402707907/ Karen Gilliam ( who works for WildEarth ), replies to Mark ( Singita Head Guide who made the post ) in June 22, talking about Khimbini's post and saying this: "There was also a report of 5 males in Djuma/Western Gowrie and Torchwood area on Saturday, so it sure looks like quite a few different males are wandering about lately. Those Matimba in Manyeleti are getting a bit frisky nowdays too in crossing boundaries, as of last night 3 of them still not accounted for." 3 unaccounted Matimbas, coincidence? Considering the Matimbas were the ones involved and the fact there were 6 of them, it's hard to tell their composition between 18-20 of June, they could have split in different groups and moved among themselves for all we know, but even among the ( I'm not sure how many ) Matimbas photographed in Cheetah Plains ( by Rudolf Kals ), at least one seemed to have injuries, maybe two but it's hard to identify them. This one has similar scratches to Mr.T's after his second fight that month according to Khimbini, Matimba:  *This image is copyright of its original author /\ June 19. Mr.T June 2011:  *This image is copyright of its original author So these are the types of scratches you can get in these territorial fights. Tbh this particular Matimba male already displayed these similar scratches in photos from June 18, but again, Rudolf was uploading them in July and just marking the many photos as being from 18 or 19 of June, so he could very well have been mistaken a photo from 19 as one from 18 ( though tbf we don't really know exact hour the fight took place between 18 and 19 since when rangers arrived the fight was already over and they only heard the roars, roars can happen before, after and during the actual fight ), still could any of these Matimbas' injuries have been from the said fight? Here a Matimba male by Rudolf ( uploaded in July, claimed to be from June 18 ):  *This image is copyright of its original author He looks pretty beaten and it seems very fresh. Could it have been from mating rights? It looks way to bad to be. And in the Sabi Sands where I think they had no prides by June 2011? It looks similar to how Makhulu was:  *This image is copyright of its original author Matimba male by Rudolf Kals, shared in July, said to be from June 19:  *This image is copyright of its original author A bit similar to Makhulu's injury below the eye, from the same fight? Photo by Khimbini:  *This image is copyright of its original author Now a photo from PB who Khimbini said was also dripping blood but the injuries from the other 2 Mapogos were worse according to him:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Now to finish it, Colleen Holland's statement that was shared here on WF already on who she thought fought Mapogos:  *This image is copyright of its original author https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-the-mat...on?page=22 6. CONCLUSION: There's no real evidence that it couldn't have been the Matimbas, but we have plenty of evidence pointing out to them being the ones involved. When you add all the evidence and exclude the Majingilanes and any duo of subadults, honestly, unless some unknown coalition of 3 suddenly teleported to Sabi Sands around that time and area, I don't see how it can be anyone but the Matimbas. 
Nice, I've never seen those shots of White Face and Slit Nose. Any idea who of the other Matimbas could have been with those two in the fight?
 (03-29-2023, 09:58 AM)Mapokser Wrote: Among the many "adventures" the Mapogos had, one of the most intriguing to me ( maybe because of it being somehow mysterious ) is the reported fight of 18-19 of June 2011. Initially reported to be between the Mapogos and the Majingilanes, but later went into popular believe to be between Mapogos and Matimbas after rangers discussed it on Khimbini's FB post and an information of from a photographer who used to took photos of Matimbas saying it was 3 "Sava/Matimba males". Very nice bit of detective work @Mapokser, very convincing amount of information, regarding an often debated topic.
@Potato
I went to give a better look at Rudolf's Matimbas photos from July/claimed to be from June 18th, there's also this male who looks to have injuries too, he looks different from the other(s) I shared above, but I can't tell for certain if he is a different male or not:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
I think my theory that when Rudolf was uploading the photos in July, he mistook some of the June 19th photos by being from 18th or maybe even a bit earlier earlier ( he was in Cheetah Plains and took photos there from 15 to 19 ), and the photos showing injuries from 18-19 by Rudolf are indeed from the fight with Mapogos.
I'm saying this because Fredymrt shared more Matimba photos from June 18, from a different source than Rudolf here:  *This image is copyright of its original author And in these photos the Matimbas either don't show all the the injuries shown in the Rudolf photos ( 18-19 ) or straight up show none, here Slitnose:  *This image is copyright of its original author Another Matimba ( not Ndhuna, not HB, maybe SN again? It doesn't look like him to me ), also no injuries:  *This image is copyright of its original author Another male ( not HB, not Ndhuna, not Slitnose ), it has some scratches but not really as many wounds as the photos by Rudolf, but rather older scars:  *This image is copyright of its original author Matimba male, not the best quality in this one but I'd argue also not injured as in the Rudolf photos:  *This image is copyright of its original author Then suddenly in the Rudolf's photos, posted in July, claimed to be from June 18-19 ( which I believe may all be from 19, after the fight, a day after the photos above ), we suddenly get them with injuries like these: *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author And, consistently, in both Marc & Tara's photos and in Rudolf's photos, HB shows no injuries, which would imply he wasn't one of the 3 involved, Marc & Tara's HB:  *This image is copyright of its original author Which would make sense with the fact he split from any other Matimba at some point in that day to hang out with a female ( I think they were trying to take over Nkuhuma pride at that time or something ), HB perfectly fine on June 18th by Tara & Mark:  *This image is copyright of its original author HB by Rudolf, also completely fine:  *This image is copyright of its original author So if I'm right the chronology goes more or less like this: HB splits from some Matimbas to go after a NK lioness in June 18th ( 5 "unknown males, suspected to be Matimbas" were sighted in North SS on June 18th after all ), then a group of 3 Matimbas decide to move west. At some point in the night of 18 to the morning of 19 these 3 Matimbas fight the Mapogos and not long after that they run back east and rejoin HB in Cheetah Plains, where Rudolf takes pictures of them injured ( minus HB who was fine ). With all the splits, confusion, fast moving lions, with 5 males seen together on 18th, then HB alone, then 3 males fighting Mapogos, WildEarth had a difficult time keeping track of them all and Karen reported 3 were unaccounted.  (03-30-2023, 09:10 AM)Mapokser Wrote: I think my theory that when Rudolf was uploading the photos in July, he mistook some of the June 19th photos by being from 18th or maybe even a bit earlier earlier ( he was in Cheetah Plains and took photos there from 15 to 19 ), and the photos showing injuries from 18-19 by Rudolf are indeed from the fight with Mapogos. Shaka, white-faced and Hairy Belly. (03-30-2023, 10:51 PM)Mapokser Wrote: @Potato @Timbavati Wow I was certain it was Slitnose because his mane looked very well developed and SN seems to be the oldest after Ndhuna. Shaka and Slit Nose look very alike each other. It is not difficult to mistake one for another. Anyway so it was Nduna, Slit Nose, Hairy Belly, White Face and Shaka who were in Northern SS at a time while Ginger was the 6th, a male who was absent at a time, correct?
@Potato I'm not certain, it's difficult to tell their composition since they were moving a lot, splitting and rejoining all the time even in the same day, like HB seeing with other males in one day, then alone with a female in the same day, then again with brothers the next day but without the female. They moved through Djuma, Othawa, Cheetah Plains and crossed into Manyeleti all within 18-20, they were often splitting in multiple groups in these days.
For example in the same month there's that photo of 4 of them in Nkorho, Ndhuna, HB, Slitnose and I'm not sure if the other is WF or Ginger. Then 1,5 month after the Mapogo fight a group of 4 similar to the Nkorho photo got in that clash with the Majingilane, that group had Ndhuna, Slitnose and I think HB. They were moving, exploring, splitting and reuniting seemingly randomly at that time in northern SS.  (05-06-2015, 04:20 AM)Pantherinae Wrote: Hei @vizions and @majingilane and all other who is so well informed of the lions of Sabi sands, we need a thred dedicated to the Mapogos! Share information and pictures :-) I will put in as much info as I can, but you know much more about them than I do!Guys, I wanted to ask you for an opinion, but don't criticize me. do you agree like the SS people kind of make a museum or something like honoring reserve legends like WSM , mapogos , majingilanes. In my opinion, I don't think it's wrong to make something like a tribute painting or a museum to show the history and trajectory they had in Africa throughout their reign. I know that all animals and all lions have their value. but i think mapogos , WSM , majingilanes are very special (04-01-2023, 09:48 PM)lucas_kruger Wrote: do you agree like the SS people kind of make a museum or something like honoring reserve legends like WSM , mapogos , majingilanes.There is no Sabi Sands as a whole. Sabi Sands is split between various smaller lodges which own their own piece of land. Each of those lodges could make museum or anythink on their own property if they would see point in doing so. Those are private owners so such thinks are fully up to them to decide. (05-06-2015, 04:55 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: Amazing Pantherinae!! I think it's great to honor this males, they were true legends.and guys all good? I would like to ask a question for those who understand the history of the mapogos well, I really like to study, does anyone know how many deaths the mapogos made against mature adult male lions? any real estimates? |
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