I had to refer to the rangers sightings book to try find out exactly when these male lions were last seen at Londolozi. The answer…May 2012
For those of you who are avid followers of the Lion Warfare that has been playing out, both at Londolozi and the Sabi Sands as a whole, I thought I would update you that just the other day we managed to find Tsalala Young Male (a.k.a. Solo) together with his trusty companion: The Sparta Male. A few months ago, the third member of this coalition, the male with the Half Tail, went missing and is assumed to have been killed by one of the numerous male lions in the area. This leaves these two males to fend for themselves.
The Half tail Sparta Male crosses the Sand River (April 2012) – photographer unknown
The two big males make themselves comfy on a carpet of lush green grass. The Tsalala Young Male is in the foreground and the Sparta Male is in the background (Sept 2012) – Adam Bannister
They have moved up into the southern throws of Londolozi after a reported run-in with the three Toulon Males. Reports from the southern Sabi Sands is that the Toulon Males chased these two males aged approx. 7 and 4,5 leaving these males with no where to go but north. Pity for them is that they are currently in the territory of the mighty Majingilane Four…and any of you that have been privelledged enough to see these males will no that that is BAD news.
We follow with interest…
For a fairly comprehensive piece on these males click here.
Young male from the Sparta Pride (May 2012) - Rich Laburn
Tsalala Young Male Portrait (May 2012) - Rich Laburn
Written by Adam Bannister
Photographed by Adam Bannister and Rich Laburn
Wonder update. Thank you for this update Adam and Rich.
Always on the edge of my seat getting updates on the real life soap opera playing out at Londolozi. Thanks Adam!
Thanks guys, much appreciated. Hope they stay safe!
I hope these guys aren’t too old to group up with another nomad or two. With all the larger coalitions in the area it isn’t looking good for my favourite two males. Lion sands posted a pic of three unknown males in the area as well. What does your crystal ball say for these two Adam? Thanks for the update!
Todd
OH MY GOSH, IS THIS THE ‘SOLO’ THAT APPEARS ON THE BIG CAT DIARY SERIES ON
NAT GEO WILD??? UNBELIEVABLE, AND THE TIMELINE IS ABOUT RIGHT…HE WAS SUCH
A CUTE CUB AS SHOWN IN THE SERIES WITH JONATHAN AND SIMON KING…I STILL WATCH THE RE RUNS VERY OFTEN…SO AMAZING TO THINK HE IS OK AND ALIVE AND
HOPEFULLY ADDING TO THE GENE POOL SO DESPERATELY NEEDED DUE TO THE SMALL
REMAINING POCKETS OF PRIDES…
THIS SERIES WAS THE ‘ BIG CAT DIARY’ SERIES., BUT ITS POSSIBLE SOLO COULD HAVE BEEN IN THIS AREA? OR TRAVELED THIS FAR….HEARTWARMING…
The Sparta males mane has grown back considerably. They have been having good times lately (aside from being chased around a little bit). Great to see pics of them together 🙂
Solo definitely has a look of his mother BB about him, so glad he’s still doing fine, bit worrying that he’s in Majingilane territory tho !
thanks Adam and Rich for the great pics and update, and yes they were chased by the 3 Toulons at Kirkmans a few days ago so i dont know where they can go from here with all the bigger coalitions around except for the now single Kruger male but he is territorial in the south,which is also were the Toulons are acting dominant like they were in the past. Keep up the good work guys.
THIS IS WHAT ‘S GOING ON WHEN THEY ARE LOSING THEIR HABITAT… THERE IS NO WAY THEY CAN GO… GOOD LUCK BOYS…HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT.
I guess they made it this far. The Tsalala male must have grown up with the Eyerfield females and knows the Tsalala females very well. So, it must be interesting if they ever meet up. I guess now that the Kruger males are down to one, they could try and take over the Southern Pride-unless of course the Toulon males and some other larger coalition has the same plan. Life ain’t easy for a small coalition.
Do they join up with other males this late in their life?
Great soap opera–better than any human story!
Thank you for the post Adam.. always interesting in the lives of our lions. Glad to see these two doing alright for now.
Any more sightings of these lions (Solo and the Sparta male)? I would love to know how they are doing but am thinking that no word on them might be good – maybe means they have left the Majingilane Four’s territory and greatly increased the chances they are doing well!
I cant help worrying that thier time of running and evading cant go on forever with a happy ending..Sooner or later one or both of them is gona get clipped by the bigger coalition boys if they get caught by greater numbers.. But I do hope im wrong and I hope somehow someway they can make it.. Maybe rangers can dart them and transport them to a new haven somewhere in another part of africa 🙂
where are majingilane lion are they died or a live
and second question who are solo and Sparta male and tsalala young male are they mapogo offspring or not thanks