It was early in the evening when the lions were found on the move by the open grasslands of the Sparta/Castleton break. Tails flicking and eyes set straight forward, it was evident that they were on the hunt. As the late August night sky set in, the Southern Pride moved towards a herd of buffalo. Sensing an opportunity the pride moved quickly and isolated a buffalo calf from the rest of herd. With stealth, strength and masterful agility a single lioness brought the calf down and ended its life.
The pride were, however, not done and spent the next 30 seconds bringing down not four but five different buffalos. Each lioness brought down a buffalo apiece. This is an astonishing occurrence in the African bush given the size and aggressive temperament of buffalo herds.
The blackened night had completely set in as they started to feed, first the dominant male and then the lionesses.
![Hamerkop Diving For Plattana [rcb] (26)](https://media.londolozi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/10105855/Hamerkop-Diving-for-Plattana-RCB-26-280x178.jpg)
Who is the southern pride? Where do the come from. Another great sighting. Thanks
The Southern Pride is otherwise known as Shaw’s Pride. They use the Southern section of Londolozi as the northern part of their territory. The pride consists of 15 lionesses and sub adults, and are at times joined by the dominant male to make up the 16th.
Greg, just after you left Londolozi, the Shaws Pride split into ‘The Hildas’ Rock Pride’ and ‘The Southern Pride’.
The Hildas Pride was a small breakaway much like the Tsalala Pride in 1998- probably enforced by 2 lionesses as they had a new litter and weren’t able to introduce their new offspring into such a large pride. In recent times the Southern Pride have been seen up on Dudley more frequently courtesy of some pressure from 3 dominant males currently pushing north and west from the Skukuza area.
Hello, amazing story, was wondering if anyone has witnessed a single lioness or single male lion bring down a bull buffalo before?