I thought it would be fun to post some of my recent favourite pictures of the male lions that we are lucky enough to encounter at Londolozi. These, in my opinion, are the beasts that steal the show. They are immensely powerful, volatile and ever so handsome. Every day we venture into the vast wilderness to see if any chapters in the tale of lion warfare have developed overnight. Each picture gives a little snapshot into the brutal lives of a male lion. If ever there examples of how pictures can tell a thousand words, these would be them, or perhaps it should be a picture telling a thousand battles!
Close up of the Dark-Mane Majingilane Male
Scar-Nose Majingilane Male
Battle scarred close up of the Golden Mane Majingilane
The Hip-Scar Majingilane Male in full roar
Brotherly love and affection shown by three members of the Majingilane Coalition
Black and white image of the Majingilane males running through the winter grass
The massive paw of the Scar-Nose Majingilane
Which one is your favourite?
Written and Photographed by Adam Bannister
scar-nose face photo and the one with three brotherly love and affection …..
Adam whice one of majings is yonger? i think scar-nose becuase when i look at his nose still pink but the rest dark nose…but may be golden mane the next yonger, his nose half pink and half dark….anyway thanks for good photo….
scar-nose majinglane is my number one …..
Wonderful pictures. Thank you.
What stunning pictures of the new kings, i do hope they bring stability and a time of peace to the lioness’s so they can bring up the cubs without any worries , Adam i don’t know how you do it, every photograph gets better thanks . Keith
The golden one – he looks like Mufasa! 🙂
The black and white. You just feel that some drama’s about to unfold!
Very rugged and battle hardened lions…but beautiful in their own right…Wonderful photos!!!
Wow wonderful photos!! They have been thru it looking at all those scars… Thanks for sharing.
I really like the dark maned male, there is just something so regal about a black mane on a lion.
So hard to choose a favorite, but I think Hip Scar in Full Roar is it! Love these. All so beautiful. Thank you!
It seems the black maned lion is always on his own with the females and the other three seem to be together most of the time? But really beautiful photos. While these guys killed a lot of cubs, they don’t seem to be prolific lion killers like the Mapogos?
The photographs are all great – no favourites there 🙂
The lions in the coalition are all impressive. I saw them on a webcam at different times and they are impressive. I think more impressive than the Mapogos. There was division in the Mapogo coalition but I have the feeling the Mancingelane are closer and work together better.
No favourite lion as I love all the creatures of the wild, well with the exception of parktown prawns and mole crickets (shudder)!!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing the pictures 🙂
Their holding on strong, and those images speak volumes of their dominance. Yet, big coalitions have sprung up in the North and the Majingilanes are in for full combat in the coming months. A photo posted of the Skybeds shows the dangers of venturing up the SS, plus the possibility of a dead Matimba from an already formidable coalition. Remains to be seen………
For some reason every post from Wolfe seems to be an attempt to predict coming war. I know it’s imminent n it could come anytime but can we just enjoy the peace b tranquility?
Oh to be a lioness in Londolozi!!
Thanks Adam. Nice close ups of these boys.
Rich and Adam,
Do you see any change in the hierarchy of dominance? Who is the least dominant? I hope Goldmane is not at the bottom any more
Good question and one which I think the answer is too long to debate in a comment. Maybe Il try write a piece on this topic of dominance! As far as my favourite male…difficult but I think the Scar-Nose slides into first place, followed by Golden Mane, then Dark Mane and finally Hip-Scar…but Im allowed to change that 🙂
No Matimba is dead so far. All 6 Matimbas were seen just last week
What an absolutely stunning group of photos. Not sure if I can pick a favourite lion but the best photo would be the lion pad. There’s just something about a cat’s paw that makes my heart melt, especially when that cat is a lion. Thanks for these amazing photos.
Scar-nose Majingilane is my favorite… Magnificent pictures!
Awesome pics man!! I like Smudge (Scar-nose) for some reason. I guess its cuz of that unique feature.
Thanks a lot Adam! It is surprising how hierarchy of dominance change over time. I am happy that Goldmane move up to second, am kind of sympathizer for him. It was only on February 2, 2012 you posted footage where Darkmane was dominant over Goldmane in a fight. Any article in the changes in the order of dominance would be great. Thanks again!
Like I said before I am not so sure that it is easy to assign a hierarchy in this coalition. In my opinion people are too quick to rank them. When I have some time I will try put a piece together on my opinions.
All scars on the majingilane male’s no doubt left by one lion named Kinky Tail who had a choice to fight or flee, and sadly took the first option and died trying. He still lives on in our memory’s and the scars on all four majingilane males prove that not one on one but one on four! R.I.P Kinky Tail.
Yes, Kinky Tail is one true fighter to respect. Does he have surviving cubs?
Kinky Tail is the father to the 4 breakaway tsalala females!
jason,agree kinky tail was sure a warrior..for sure kinky tail must have gave them as good as he got,but sadly like you said,died trying..still miss him…rip kinky tail..
Thanks Ad.
The picture of 3 males together suggests that their manes have darkened significantly (unless its dew which has wet the manes making them appear darker).
I found a very interesting abstract from a paper written by Peyton M. West and
Craig Packer:
“The mane of the African lion (Panthera leo) is a highly variable trait that reflects male condition and ambient temperature. We examined the consequences of this variation in a long-term study of lions in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Mane darkness indicates nutrition and testosterone and influences both female choice and male-male competition. Mane length signals fighting success and only appears to influence male-male assessment. Dark-maned males enjoy longer reproductive life-spans and higher offspring survival, but they suffer higher surface temperatures, abnormal sperm, and lower food intake during hot months of the year. Maned males are hotter than females, and males have lighter and/or shorter manes in hotter seasons, years, and habitats. ”
Some really interesting observations.
Have you noticed mane growth/darkening in the South Pride males now that they seem to have set up a territory/are no longer nomadic?
Great comment James. Very interesting indeed. Im going to try take some time to dive into the topic of mane colour and dominance. Should make for interesting debate. Hope you well mate
I looked at a photo I took on the morning in June/July 2010 (I’ll have to confirm the date) when we saw the Majingalanes for the 1st time on Londolozi (MMM/Manyeleti East) and they look completely different. In fact, its hard to believe they are the same lions!!
James wont you send that picture to me and we will put it up for the others to see. Will be interesting to see the change in 2 years of ‘power’
Hi Adam
Great Pics
Just an observation
It seems that the 4 males seldomly spend time together as a coalition of 4 , it always seems that three of them are together while one is somewhere else.
Is this the case normally with this coalition as it would make sense to stick together at all times..?
The pic of the Dark maned lion is the best for me because it shows a majestic looking lion along with the battle-scared face which is evidence of a true King.
Any idea how big male coalitions can get number wise? And are they always blood relatives? One of the comments above mentions a coalition of 6 males? Wow. Seems huge and potentially problematic with regard to finding enough females for mating. But would a formidable site! The information from the paper James H mentions is really interesting. “Mane length signals fighting success and only appears to influence male-male assessment” cracked me up. Ah, men…
fanstastic pics!!
wooow wonder powerful males the majestic and the beauty woooow that’s hugs
I really liked dark mane which was my favourite lion of all time
dark mane looks really good