the Selati coalition

[Tshokwane]

Credits to Singita.

Rival male lions come face to face (Article and images by guide, Marc Eschenlohr). (Images here on the link)

April 2013.

We set out for our afternoon game drive with the intention of following up on a male lion that had been seen in the morning, lying on the sandy banks of the Sand River - at a place we call 'the beach'. As we approached the first drainage line, lined with massive jackalberry trees, we heard the sound of a Wahlberg’s eagle that was not happy about something... Not being able to see what the commotion was about, we used our binoculars to have a closer look, and discovered a large Verreaux’s eagle-owl, perched in the
shade. The eagle was taunting the owl. Owl mobbing by diurnal birds is fairly common, as they see them as a threat. Owls will prey on roosting birds, and in the case of Verreaux’s eagle-owls, they feed on a wide range of prey including young monkeys and warthog piglets.

As the owl flew off to another large dense riverine tree, followed by the eagle, we heard a male lion roaring and the sound was coming from the beach. As we arrived there my colleague, Mark Broodryk, radioed that he had found the lion lying close to its last position. We were lucky to hear him roaring once more. Roaring is ability unique to leopards, lions, tigers and jaguars. It is
due to two hyoids bones in their throats that vibrate, and a specialized larynx. The male was most likely trying to find his brothers - they had been separated for the past week since one of them had been seen mating with a lioness. The male we were looking at had not been as victorious and was recuperating after a rather vicious fight that left him limping and in a rather sorry state! What followed next could not have been predicted.

We saw the head of a rival lion emerge from the tall grass on the northern bank, a mere fifty metres from him. We sat patiently and saw another head appear… then another. They were three large males from a coalition known as the Majingilane. Their territory extends to the east of Singita and rarely have they been seen so far west.

Our male, the Selati male, seemed to have no clue of the danger he was facing, as the three males peered down the bank but were unable to spot him lying on the sand! Luckily for him he didn’t roar and opted for what lions do best, which is sleep...


A hooded vulture landed right in front of him, adding to the eeriness of the scene. My tracker Mishack and I were convinced the males would soon descend the bank and most likely kill the
lone male. After 30 minutes of sniffing the air and gazing intently they made their move. Choosing a prominent game trail north of our male, scent marking as they came down the bank, they arrived at the river's edge. Two of the Majingilane then crossed the river.

At this point the third male saw our single Selati male. Our male crouched and held his ground. The Majingilane male started making soft moans and contact called his brothers who were looking about on the southern bank. The Selati male then, to our utter astonishment, stood up and strode towards the third brother, who quickly crossed the river to join up with the other two.

When all three regrouped and realised they had no sign of him on the southern bank, they turned to see him standing defiantly on the opposite side. Galvanized together they chased after him, running through the river and out of view. The Selati male had a good 50 metre lead on the Majingilane males, and ran due north. After 10 minutes we heard lots of roaring and saw three Majingilane males running south, through the river and being trailed by the Selati male and a couple of minutes later one of his missing brothers. The territorial dispute was over and the Majingilane males opted for a hasty retreat rather than fighting the two Selati males.

What an amazing afternoon full of surprises and excitement that ended well for all of them. It was good to see the Selati males stand their ground, because a couple of years ago, before they had become territorial males, they had lost another of their brothers to the Majingilane males. This was the first time we've witnessed them coming face to face since, and it will surely happen again. They are now evenly matched, a total of four in each coalition, and all in their prime. Reply