With the arrival of the Matimba males to Londolozi, the Tsalala pride has found itself in a state of turmoil. As is true of all cats, a male will attempt to kill cubs that are not his own, forcing the female back into oestrus, giving him the opportunity to sire his own young. The Tsalala youngsters are of a vulnerable age and if the males were to get hold of them, they would in all likelihood kill these youngsters who were fathered by the Majingilane. This would be a huge loss to the pride that has invested so much time and energy into raising these cubs. So what is it that the lionesses do to try and protect them?
The Tsalala lioness and Matimba male mate. The affair is quite a noisy and apparently aggressive one and the female will typically lash out at the male as he retracts.
One of the tactics used by lionesses is distraction and she will mate with the males to keep them occupied for a few days, giving the pride a chance to get away. This is something we have been seeing the Tsalala lionesses doing on several occasions with either the older tailed or younger tailed lioness mating with the males while the tailless lioness takes the youngsters to safety. What is amazing however, is that it is believed that lionesses are actually able to go into a state of false oestrus during this time period. This means that she can mate but will not conceive. This is hugely important, as females need a four to six month time frame, in which to suss out the new males and ensure that they are in fact strong enough to hold the territory. Only once she is sure of this stability will she conceive.
A close up of the darker-maned Matimba male. He seems to be the more dominant of the brothers and tends to get mating rights first.
The male tests the scent of the female by using the flehmen grimace. In this way he puts the scent onto the Jacobson’s organ in the soft palate of his mouth, where he will be able to ascertain if the female is ready to mate.
During the mating period, both the male and female can initiate but in the clip below, you will see how the female quite frantically attempts to entice the male. The reason for this was that the males had found the whole pride together and she was trying to distract them as the youngsters headed north. She would run backwards and forwards in front of the male, loudly throw herself on the ground, scratching at debris around her before bounding in front of the male again, encouraging him to follow her.
The mating happened quite regularly and at high intensity for the duration of the morning and only slowed as the temperatures began to rise. For the rest of the day, the pair rested in the shade giving the rest of the pride ample time to get away.
Although this is proving to be a very difficult time for the pride, these sociable cats continue to use teamwork to their advantage and as the males focus their time in the immediate surrounds of the camp, the Tsalalas move further afield. We watch with baited breath to see what will come of the pride in the coming months and look forward to keeping you posted.
Written, photographed and filmed by Amy Attenborough
Great video Amy. The Matimba male is magnificent.
Who do you suppose is the Dominant Male between Hairy Belly and Ginger?!Now how does the Male Lion detect that the Lioness is ready to Mate during the by using the flehmen grimace and yet she is faking to be on heat at this immediate time for the safety of the cubs!Does the Male not realize that she is not ready for Mating?!
Hi Tim. We think that the darker-maned male is the more dominant of the two as he always seems to get mating rights first. In terms of flehmen, it seems the male is unable to detect if the female is in false oestrus or not. Ovulation is typically induced by the act of mating in cats but despite her behaviour suggesting that she is ready to mate, she is most likely not in the correct part of her oestrus cycle to actually conceive. Lionesses, like most other mammals, are not ovulating the entire time they are in oestrus so any single breeding act might not result in pregnancy if there are no eggs ready when the mating occurs. Also mating needs to be a long and continuous affair in order for ovulation to be stimulated and conception to be achieved. Research shows that the pair will mate about 160 times in a 55 hour period and mating normally lasts for about four days in order for conception to occur. If the female leaves the male after just a day or two, giving the pride a small window period to escape, chances are that she will not have been able to conceive during this time.
Hi Amy,is the tsalala female big,she seems above avarage in size
Scar, she is an average size lioness. Nothing too large.
Thank you for the time,i was just curious because she didnt seem completely dwarfed by hairy belly. Anyway how much would you have estimated hairy belly to weigh around that time? Thanks
I sadly never saw Hairy belly in his prime so it would be a guess, but he was a fairly large male and probably weighed around 220kg.
Thanks,did you ever get to see his paw tracks and how long they were,and when you saw him was it recent like 2020? Again thanks for taking the time.
clever lionesses . and thank God for them
Very smart Tsalala lionesses! Let’s hope they can keep their cubs safe. Thanks for the update Amy.
Great photos. Let’s wait and hope for healthy cubs.
Wonderful video-