It would seem that every time we scratch our heads and say, ‘Hmmm, we haven’t seen the Majingilane in a while!” they show up in force, put us in awe of them once more, and then disappear into the wilderness again.
Last week was no exception, as again they were reportedly seen in the far west of the reserve, in company with one of the Otthawa females, expanding their territory in that direction, again leaving the Sparta and Tsalala prides relatively exposed in the East.
One thing these two prides may need to be concerned about is the newly deposed Selati males. They were chased off a buffalo kill by the Majingilane last week and were found wandering east over our boundary one morning by ranger Tom Imrie. Well, at least one was found, softly calling for his brother, whose tracks disappeared into the grasslands. The brother was not found, but sometime during the next night these two remaining males from the original group of five (!) did reunite, and in the morning were found trailing a large herd of buffalo. It took them 24 hours to make their move, but they did eventually bring down a buffalo calf not too far south of the Sand River.
One of the Selati males eyes a separate buffalo herd, from which they were to snatch a calf later that day.
As mentioned last week, it is highly unlikely that these two males will be able to take back their territory from the Majingilane, but since their new existence will – at least for the time being – necessarily be a nomadic one, the Majingilane might have done themselves a disfavour. By focusing their attention on their newly conquered prides in the West, the Majingilane seem to be neglecting the females they have spent the last four years presiding over, namely the Sparta and Tsalala females, and with two big males (Selatis) now moving around as vagrants in the central Sabi Sands, will these two prides and their youngsters be at risk?
Some of the Sparta pride stretch against a leadwood tree in preparation for a buffalo hunt.
The Tsalala pride is currently made up of the two older sisters, the young lioness from the 2011 litter, and the 4 cubs of the older tailed female. 7 lions in total. The Sparta pride is slightly larger at 8 lions, but the 5 young ones are significantly older than the Tsalala cubs, all being roughly around 2 yrs old. All youngsters, whether 2 yrs old or 7 months, would be in serious danger should they bump into the Selati males.
But just when we think the Majingilane have been gone for far too long, back they come with an outrageous display of force, roaring, scent marking everywhere, and making sure that all lions in the area, whether prides or vagrant males, know absolutely that this is their territory.
A few days ago, after an almost two week absence, all four Majingilane were found crossing the airstrip, closing in on a large herd of buffalo that the Sparta pride had been trailing for a day.
When the rangers and trackers went to follow up the next morning, there was no evidence to suggest that they had killed anything during the night, but all four males patrolling the centre of Londolozi served as a poignant reminder that they are still here, they still mean business, and they will most likely be a force to be reckoned with on Londolozi for some time to come.
Written and Photographed by James Tyrrell
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Hi James.. Do you think the majingilne are biting off more than they can chew with them expanding their territory to the west? Surly at some stage some new males from up north or even Kruger will come over and try a take over?
Brandon
Hi Brandon,
It all depends, as for now no coalition is pushing into their territory. Once things settle in the west and the roars of the Majingilane are no longer as frequent in their initial eastern areas, other males may set their sights on the Tsalala and Sparta prides.
For now though, I am pretty confident the Majingilane will be aware of any incursions and move to repulse them.
James
Very interesting blog James. There is nothing more impressive than seeing the big male lions altogether! Hopefully they will stay on Londolozi and protect their prides.
James,
Thank you for your updates regarding the Majingilane! I do hope they stay around enough to keep the cubs safe. Both the Sparta and Tsalala prides depend on them to watch over the area so their cubs can reach maturity. I hate reading about the loss of so many cubs as the turmoil continues with the Selatis, the Sandriver males, etc.
Amy
Please continue with the updates. It’s really amazing that these brothers stick together and continue to dominate the sands and beyond.
I’ve been wondering how to coinrtbute ever since I originally read about Londolozi in the blog: John and David Varty, who inherited the land when they were teenagers. Since then, they’ve repaired massive swathes of land all over Africa. According to one of the geologists who’s helped them do this, it would cost $38 billion dollars to repair every ecosystem on earth. Repairing the earths’ ecosystems sounds like a great place to start changing the world, and $38b doesn’t seem so out of reach, not with fellow team members like Oprah. I searched online and couldn’t even find a way to donate to the Vartys’ private efforts. Martha, help!