It’s just my opinion, but I think the Sparta pride is in trouble. A few weeks ago, we ran a post entitled ‘What are These Lions Doing?” in which we looked at the strange territorial movements being displayed by the Mhangeni and Sparta prides. We ended off with the suspicion that the lions were on a collision course, it seems to me that this prophecy may have come true.
A young Sparta male has been limping along behind the pride for the last couple of weeks. Severe gashes just behind his right foreleg and wounds on his rump and the base of his tail suggest a serious encounter with another predator.
The injuries around the base of his spine and tale. Without a steady supply of food, his condition deteriorated rapidly.
A leopard? Almost certainly not. The young male is pretty much the same size as a male leopard, and any leopard taking on the young lion would be taking on the whole pride as well. Likewise for hyenas. With the Majingilane as the apex predators, Hyena-Lion interaction is currently rare in this area. Coupled with this is the fact that there are enough leopards making kills in the reserve for the Hyenas to rob and get an adequate supply of meat. The Majingilane have never displayed aggression towards the Sparta cubs, and the placement of the injuries on the young Sparta male are not ones that would have been sustained whilst feeding at a kill, where a lashing out from an adult male may inflict a wound.
Given the pride’s movement in recent weeks and the movement of other lions, all evidence points to the Mhangeni pride as the culprits.
When Dean Smithyman and Elmon Mhlongo tracked the Sparta Pride to Sunset Bend Clearing two days ago, all four Majingilane were in attendance, but of the young male there was no sign. His emaciated condition has deteriorated rapidly over the last few weeks, and we strongly suspect that he has succumbed to his injuries and died.
The emaciated frame of the injured young Sparta male, limping along gamely behind the pride. We think that by now he has sadly succumbed to his wounds.
Although the rainy season is generally a time of plenty, it seems that the abundance of young animals like impala and wildebeest was actually to this lion’s detriment. I have watched the Sparta pride make a few kills recently, and each one has been a young animal (a zebra foal and two wildebeest calves were their prey on the three separate occasions I have seen them hunt successfully in the last month). Although catching and killing a small calf is easier for the lions, what it means is that there is not quite enough meat to adequately satisfy the pride, and unfortunately, since the injured young male has been limping along a few hundred metres behind the pride on their night forays, he has always arrived too late to share in the spoils of the kill. He has been unable to race ahead to join in the feeding, and even if he could, in his depleted condition it is doubtful whether he’d have been able to muscle his way in to grab a portion of the meat. Had the pride brought down bigger, adult animals, there would most likely have been sufficient meat left over for him once the rest of the pride had fed.
As you will see in the below video, the Mhangeni pride are bringing down much larger animals, such as zebra, which provide more than enough meat for their pride:
So what next?
As well as losing one young male (although his death is as yet unconfirmed), one of the adult lionesses of the Sparta pride has been walking with quite a serious limp. Should the Sparta and Mhangeni prides clash, it would be four healthy lionesses (Mhangeni) versus two healthy and one limping one (Sparta). The Mhangeni lionesses are slightly larger in my opinion, and my money would be on them to come out on top in a serious encounter.
The full Mhangeni pride turn their heads to listen to the nearby roars of the Majingilane.
This is all simply conjecture, remember, and anything could happen, but I am convinced that the next 6 months will see significant changes in the lion dynamics of Londolozi, with the Mhangeni pride possibly emerging as the dominant group of lionesses in the central Sabi Sands.
For those of you who have been following the ongoing saga of ‘Lion Warfare‘ let me know your thoughts, comments and opinions below…
Written and Photographed by James Tyrrell
Hello,
thanks for your update on the lion dynamics. How old was this cub?
Just under two years Dan
James
Thanks James. Too bad
So hard to see injuries like that on the cub! Since it sounds like recovering seems unlikely, hopefully he is out of his misery – poor little one! How old was he? We saw some Sparta cubs in summer of 2012 that were quite small – I assume this wasn’t part of that group?
Thanks,
Amy
One other question – where do the remaining Tsalala pride fit in this mix? And, how is the sub-adult female doing these days? They have the two sisters (one with tail and one without), the sub-adult and then a cub or two, correct?
Very Sad. :0(, the Sparta Pride is for sure struggling. Thank you for the Blog.
Watching the changing dynamics in the bush is both heart warming and heart breaking. Nature rules!
Thanks James, Which Sparta lioness is limping (Tailess, Tailed, or The Sub BiBi took care of) thanks again, and is the sub looking healthy?
Hi Mike,
It is the Tsalala pride you are referring to. The Sparta pride is a completely different pride, with three adult females; two of them sisters, the other one a cousin (their mothers were sisters).
James
aaach, I hate it when the little one’s suffer the sins of their fathers…poor babe. I know, I am anthropomorphizing….still, it would be better if the big guys would just battle it out, and leave the little ones to grow up. They are a lovely pride! Hope they can all find a space of their own.
I’m so sorry to hear of the likely loss of one of the Sparta cubs James. We had a chance to watch them one morning in Sept. and they were all so beautiful. It’s really hard to see the day to day struggle to survive that these beautiful animals have to deal with, and I’m sure even more so for you there at Londolozi to not be able to step in to help them. Hopefully the adult lioness will recover and go on to live a long life.
James, this is extremely difficult to hear. Although I know it is not wise to become attached to the beautiful animals that roam your land, it is very difficult not to. Sparta pride holds a very special place in our hearts. Having spent three consecutive years watching them, and the Tsalala pride, I can’t help the concern and sadness I feel when I read about these hard times. Just this past October we were amazed by their ability to maintain such a large pride, and raise such beautiful males. We had hoped those males would mature quickly and one day become a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps they still will. We will be glued to the blog until we return in October. We hope Sparta can weather the storm.
That is sad news indeed. I don’t think that he is going to recover from those wounds on his back, they look quite serious & his right foot is very swollen. Oh James I do believe that you guides feel the pain as much as we do just looking at them. I guess that you will keep us posted on the outcome or would you say that its tickets for him?
Which coalition sired the cubs from these 2 prides? Thank you!