About the Author

Rich Laburn

Head of Digital

Rich is the driving force behind Londolozi’s online storytelling and the founder of the Londolozi blog. His passions of digital media, film and photography have seen him build Londolozi's online ecosystem into a unique platform for advocacy of the restoration and rewilding of ...

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37 Comments

on The Month of March

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The two mapogos Mak and PB look to be in great shape.

Thanks for the update Paul.

Thanks for the update Paul.

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Beautiful Rich, what a stunning world we live in, lets take care of it.

I agree Sheena, thanks for your comments. rich

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What frantastic photographs. Just makes me want to be out in the bush. Thanks.

Thanks Stella, I hope to see you at Londoz in the near future. rich

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Hi Rich

Great photo’s

I just want to know what your take is on the chances of the Matimba’s moving south to Londolozi ..?

Hi Juan,

One can only speculate about the movements off the Matimbas south, which I would rather not do at this stage. Perhaps in time, once new dynamics come into play, we will do a write up with some thoughts. We will keep you posted, rich

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Dear Rich,
Fantastic collection of photographs! Thanks for sharing.
The picture with the male lion in front of the horizon at sunset is incredibly intense.

Well I also have some questions, which I put on the Londo-fb-page, but maybe noone noticed it.
It was on the posting dt. 21st March 2012 on the subject of the weekly sightings, referring on the sightings of the 10-14 days prior to the 21st March, so here again the questions, hope you are able to answer some:
Dear Londolozi, dear Adam and Rich, could you please specify with which Majingilane BB was mating ? Seems that Dark Mane was away recently with the Styx-pride, so just wondering whether he is back, or which other guy took over with BB ? Also the Majingilanes were mating with 2 Sparta lionesses ? Can you tell us which one, or were all 3 taking happy turns, thus Golden Mane also getting his share ?

Thanks, Patrik

I am not sure which Majingilane BB was mating with.
The Dark maned male is still north of the property with the Styx pride as far as I know. He may have moved last night, however that remains to be seen.
The males who were mating with the Sparta Lioness can be seen on a post we put out a few weeks ago: http://blog.londolozi.com/2012/03/majingilane-mates-with-sparta-lioness/

Thanks for your interest,

rich

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Hi Rich,
a great series of pics. A minor correction to the Saddle Billed Stork photos, though- the first photo is a male while the second is a female, and therefore not the same bird. Males of the species can be identified by the yellow wattle hanging from their bills near the base, whilst the females are identified by the yellow ring around their eyes.

Thanks for that correction James, I have amended in the post. Will remember this fact for the future,

rich

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Thank you Rich for the lovely photos. I particularly liked the saddlebacked stork about to take off.

Haha, I thought you might Kate. I actually thought of you when I saw this pair. 🙂 Thanks for your comments, rich

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Once again, we are so lucky to have you out there with your camera, passion and talent Rich! We are so beyond fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.

I completely agree Anna, its a wonderful privilege to be able to share the magic of this place in photographs to the rest of the world. rich

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I have heard that BB are injured?

Yes, she was mauled by male lions north of Marthly. We are not 100% sure if it was the Matimbas or Majingilane’s who are the cause of it. This is all the information we know so far.

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Just love all the “moody” skies in the pics, only in Africa!!!!! 🙂

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Dear Rich,

Just some additional questions came up, hope you don’t mind:
– the side portrait of the male lion, is it the golden maned: well then his mane is darkening significantly
– the other one with the wound on his forehead, isn’t it the hipscarred lion (pale eyes)
In general, did you observe that DarkMane was absent a lot recently ? We read he is spending a lot of his time with the Styx-pride. This would mean that the other 3 are the ones mainly occupied with the mating sessions with the Eyrefield-females. In a week-in-pictures I think from end February, there was one lioness also pregnant, any news on this ? And finally, do these 3 Majingilanes have contact with BB and the 2 sisters ? Have their relations with the Tsalalas improved, or are the females still all on their own ? Thanks for any additional informations you can give us.

The side portrait is of the Dark Maned Male, not the Golden maned male
The male with the wound on his forehead is the hip scarred male, you are correct my apologies
The dark maned male has been spending time with the Styx pride and has thus been absent. The mating sessions with the Sparta pride ended a while ago.
The lioness who was pregnant has had cubs, however we have not been viewing this lioness and her cubs owing to the fact that we wish to be sensitive to them whilst they are at such a young age. We will keep you updated once they are old enough to be viewed properly.
As I mentioned to a couple of the other comments, I am not entirely sure of the full story with the Tailless Female and her injuries. Whether they resulted from the Majingilane Males or the Matimbas remains to be seen.
The Majingilanes have not spent much time with the Tsalala pride recently as they have been preoccupied with the Sparta Pride.

It is also important to remember that whilst we report on the movements and activities of these lions, it is impossible for us to witness everything and provide information on all movements at all times. Our reports are compiled on what rangers and guests have seen as well as what we may have heard from neighboring properties. We strive to be factually correct in our reporting, however as with any story, the facts can at times get misrepresented owing to human error. We will try our best to share as much as we know with you, however please bare with us if we cannot provide you with all the answers and stories that you are desperately searching for online. At time we also like to let the story unfold before we compile a post which contains a broader overview of the situation and happenings.

Thanks again for your interest,

rich

Member
Guest

Dear Rich,
Thanks for all your explanations and clarifications. We really appreciate and love these blogs and reports, even more knowing that your main business is taking people out into the wild, and that writing reports is just a slim part of all activities at Londolozi. I hope you don’t mind too much me asking as lot of questions. Best regards,Patrik

That’s a pleasure Patrik, I dont mind you asking the questions at all. rich

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The scar on the dark maned Majingilane looks like a bullet hole. Is he the dominant male lion in the Majingilane coalition?

Hi Devin, he appears to be although it is difficult to establish if there is just one dominant male in the coalition or he shares the dominance with the scar nosed male. rich

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Interesting that the Majingilane has the new scar. BB is badly injured. I wonder if there’s any connection?

I dont think so Syl, this image was taken before BB got injured.

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Awesome pics!!!!

Thanks T, glad you like them. I hope they come to good use in your presentation. rich

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Wishing JV a speedy recovery!!!

Thanks Kerry, we will keep you updated on his progress via Facebook. Be sure to visit our page: https://www.facebook.com/londolozigamereserve

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Thank you again for the magnificent pictures. Will be back next March & hope to see the babies all grown up ready for action!

Awesome to hear Arden, looking forward to seeing you back in March. If things continue to go well for these cubs, they will be much bigger when next you visit. We will keep you posted until then, rich

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I have a closeup, full face photo of Freddy from Nov. 2010 that is just about my favorite photo out of 1500 that I took while at Londolozi. Freddy was/is fantastic! Can’t wait to see him again this December.

And we cant wait to see you again Judy. You are right, Freddy is fantastic both in the bush and on camera. I will pass on your regards. Thanks for your comments as always, rich

Member
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Hi Rich ,fantastic pictures , and good news on the lion front it seems that in the Majingilane territory piece reigns ,it would be great to some cubs raised to maturity. Thanks again .Keith

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