With things seemingly settling down in the South, and the new coalition of Sand River males looking set to inherit the Southern Pride kingdom from the Kruger male, it is anyone’s guess as to where the next threat to Majingilane dominance will come from. It has been almost two years since the Majingilane warded off the threat of this new coalition, but whereas the Sand River males are on the rise, it is quite possible that the Majingilane are about to enter a decline. Once this decline starts, it is often a slippery slope from which there is no coming back.
Things start snowballing, and within a few short months, there is the chance of the roars of this fearsome coalition being silenced in the Sabi Sands forever.
Have a look at this post from 2010 on the decline of another male lion. One can see that from April to October his decline was constant. And sad to witness. Magnificent beasts like male lions don’t deserve a death like this, at least in our minds. They should go out in a blaze of glory, carried out on their shields, their final roars of defiance still echoing through the night as they take their last breaths. Dying in battle like warriors of old is how it should be, not slowly wasting away, forced to eke out an existence by scavenging for the scraps left by superior animals.
I am painting a picture here, theorising on two possible outcomes for the Majingilane. One-by-one is how I see it eventually happening. Forced to spread themselves thin now, as has been discussed in recent weeks with their new territorial acquisitions in the west, I foresee a new coalition emerging from the rolling hills of the Kruger Park.
The Dark-maned male roars for his coalition. An answering roar from up the hill announced the presence of at least one more male, and moments later, the hip-scarred and missing canine males came marching out of the thickets.
Still all-powerful, but getting on in years, the Majingilane engage in nuzzling behaviour like this to reinforce their bond as a coalition. Still strong, still unified, it nevertheless seems likely that chinks will appear in their armour…
Younger, fitter, not worn down by years of long territorial patrols, the new pretenders to the throne will arrive in force, bellowing their intentions into the night sky. The Majingilane will be caught napping. The Hip-scar male will mostly be with the Sparta pride, the Dark-maned male with the Tsalalas, and the other two will be too far west to render any assistance. Hip-scar will be isolated, closest to the new threat as the Sparta pride venture closest to the Kruger park of all the Majingilane’s prides. Roaring for assistance, he will retreat, heading west to find his coalition, much like the much-vaunted Mapogo did once. But the new males will close in on his roars, forcing him into a corner, haunches to a thorn tree, lashing out with tooth and claw, fighting for his life. The rivals will be rushing in from different sides, and he will be forced to expose his flanks here and there, opening gaps for his assailants to assault. Weakened from wounds and against superior numbers, he will eventually succumb. And the Majingilane will be down to 3.
It is not hard to imagine where it goes from there. It may take awhile, and it may be any of the coalition who goes first, but eventually, as their strength fails and their decline marches on, the Majingilane will fall.
Tragedy for youngsters in any of the prides over which they rule, who will likely meet their deaths under the paws and jaws of the usurpers, but a natural part of the cycle of the bush.
No-one can foretell when it will happen. But the end will come.
It will come…
Written and Photographed by James Tyrrell
It will be sad when the day come that they are not there anymore, but it is nature. Love them. Always awesome to see them.
Let’s hope they stay with us longer. It would be very sad to see them go.
Respectfully, you say “theorising on two possible outcomes for the Majingilane” but I dont see or I am missing the second theory. What is it?
I am hoping they will hang on for a few more months so I can say good-bye & thanks for the fantastic sightings we have had each time. All 4 brothers look down on my bed so I can see them at night & in the morning.
It will be a sad day in the Sabi Sands when they are no more.. As we were all very sad to watch the demise of the Mapogos.. The new coalition will find their way into our hearts and we will keep out memories of those magnificent old warriors of yesterday… Thank you for letting us share in the lives of these beautiful wild cats!
I know with nature, you sometime can’t put a timeframe on things. But do you think this imminent? How many sand river males are there? I understand the general premise here, Majingilane stretched thin and aging. A month back you said Majingilane for a long time to come, I hope that’s the case. http://blog.londolozi.com/2014/06/majingilane-still-in-control/
Hi KJS,
I may have contradicted myself there a little, but although the decline may not necessarily be imminent, I was intending more to paint a picture of how it may well pan out when the inevitable does happen. As it stands, I think things are on an edge, and the fact that the advance of new males from Kruger is a completely unknown factor (in that a new coalition may arrive tomorrow or not for many moths) keeps the whole thing entirely captivating. What we do know is that with the Majingilane spending so much time in the west, their roars are not head in the east of the Sabi Sands as much these days, which may lead foreign males to believe the territory is not spoken for, and initiate their advance.
James
J, thanks for the response. I appreciate your blog, story and pictures. After I posted my comments yesterday, I read up on the males in the east and now have a broader picture of other males in the Sabi sands area. It’s amazing, when I started reading about the Majingilane and how they took pwer from the Mapogos, I was almost repulsed and equated them to a gang who dispensed their will over their territory. Having read up in the interim, I now understand that’s kinda how this whole lion thing works. Then a funny thing happened, seeing their pictures each week and hearing about their It seems being a couple continue Then, reading about their
The photos of these beautiful creatures are breathtaking…and James your story is amazing…I am always in awe of how carefully you track these amazing creatures….
How handsome & mighty they r !
The Mapagos were strong, the Maljingalane fierce and brave. I would not count this close knit alliance too soon. They have surprised us before. I love them.
As soon as new males begin to move into the massive territory of the Majingilane, the action will start! For the time being, they are stretching themselves way to thin across too many prides. Great photographs JT.
How fast time goes by, I can’t believe we are contemplating the end of the mighty Majingilane’s. Thanks for your blog James and preparing us for the inevitable.
I like your well thought out article James!What i have always wondered like when your imagining Hip Scar will be cornered because his closest to the Kruger Park why can’t he just run for his life and evade the newcomers?Why do they always have to get caught by the incoming males?In fact by him roaring he will be making a big mistake.Also lion’s will smell other male lion’s from a distance and if wise disappear but they tend not to reason even they hear the enemy roaring from quite a distance and all the scent marks but still get caught napping and are killed.
Finally apart from Dark Mane and Hip Scar the other 2 males who i assume are Golden Mane and Scar Nose do not have a pride?They just seem to be always together and i should assume Golden Mane was the least dominant in the group!
It’s interesting how people like to provoke thought and anticipation. The Majingilane have been known to get together as four when things start heating up… We also know that the Majingine habe been known to come back with serious vengence. Kinky tail was an example of their wrath. The TRUTH is no one knows what is going to happen… The Matimbas are still around, Freddy (KNP male) has been hanging back with a couple of new lions, he might surprise us. And Solo? For all we know, he might rejoin the KNP male for another buffalo breakfast… And the remaining Selati might just jump out of the bush from hiding to tackle a lone River Male, while the River male is patrolling and scent marking his new territory–and then duplicate that strategy.
No one knows. And there’s NO way of telling what WILL happen…
We all know that you don’t live forever.
Hi James. It’s practically 2 years to the day that you proposed the above outcome….2 years later and the tactically shrewd Majingalanes still dominant. Can you fill us in on how the dynamics of the various prides ended up playing out over these 2 years?
Hi Adriano,
The Majingilane have moved into the western sector of the Sabi Sands, having pushed out the weaker Selati males. This part of the reserve, being bordered on three sides by the borders of the park itself, is necessarily much easier to defend as the coalition only really has to worry about their eastern territorial boundary. The last three coalitions to move into that area have done so for this exact reason. “Tactical” or inevitable movement from natural pressures? I guess we could debate this ad infinitum…
With Kinky Tails case, they never came back with vengeance. Infact, when the fist saw him, the 4 manginjis ran with this tails between their legs, they only turned on him because kinky was very arrogant and he left T behind which was his downfall. They might have wanted revenge but they were too scared of the molowathis to fight upfront.
But as you said, they are aggressive but have a history of backing down when things are not in their favor or if they are not in a 4 vs 1 situation.