The much loved Tsalala Pride are looking great! The past year has been very difficult on this special group of lions. If one considers that not too long ago it consisted of three mature lionesses and 8 cubs. A series of catastrophic events whittled this down to the three lionesses and only 2 cubs. Well, the two cubs area quickly growing and must now be called sub-adults. They are large and as seen in the dramatic ‘buffalo and lion’ footage the other day they are starting to contribute to the pride. In time they will be a huge asset to this team.
In addition, the old Tailless Female has had a single female cub that is looking in superb shape. Being a single cub she has received all the attention form her mother and has had a never ending supply of fatty milk. The latest and most wonderful news, however, is that the ‘Tailed’ female has recently given birth . We are still unsure of numbers but initial reports suggest 2-3 youngsters. They are believed to be being denned in the Manyeleti Riverbed in central Marthly. At this young impressionable stage we are leaving them alone and allowing lots of mother-cub bonding time. We all eagerly await the moment she reveals them to us…
So a summary of the current Tsalala Pride is as follows:
Tailless Female (b. Jan 1998)
New Tailless Female (b. Dec 2002)
Tailed Female (b. Dec 2002)
Sub-adult female (b. Feb 2011) – daughter of the Tailed Female
Sub- adult female (b. Feb 2011) – daughter of the Tailed Female
Female cub (b. July 2012) – daughter to the old Tailless Female
unknown number of new cubs (b. Oct 2012)
The small lion cub runs forward to greet her mother, the legendary Tailless Female
With only the one cub to look after we are all very positive about the future of this little lioness!
The cub from the tailless female (born mid July 2012), approaches one of the two surviving females from the litter back in February 2011
100 % love
Being a single cub she loves having play companions around
A powerful bite to the throat
CUTE…playing with the one thing her mother does not have: a tail!
The other sub-adult lioness lies on the granite boulders, content and fat after gorging on the remains of a buffalo that her family so efficiently killed
The new tailless female walks across the rocks
And lastly, an update on the Breakaway Pride:
The four females (b. Dec 2008) are still being seen over vast tracts of land in the northern and central Sabi Sands. It was thought that the one lioness may have given birth in mid Sept, but sadly there has been no evidence to suggest the cubs are still alive. We eagerly await to see where they decide to settle and whether they will have any luck producing their first litter. On a personal note I’m still holding thumbs for a reunion of these two prides…imagine the sight!
The Scar-Nose Majingilane mating with one of the females from the Tsalala Breakaway Pride (Oct 2012)
Written and photographed by Adam Bannister
Interesting. If the tailed female gave birth in Feb 2011, she has already given birth again? That is rather quick? Is that the usual interval? is the new tailless female pregnant too?
Do the sub-adults come around when their fathers are around?
Yes it would be wonderful to see the breakaway unite with the tsalala. The old tailless female is almost of makulu’s age and still going strong and reproducing while makulu and pb are wandering around like nomads from one reserve to another. This is the difference between a lion and a lioness and lioness wins in the long run I guess.
I wish that they’d join up with the Breakaway Tsalala girls too, they are fearless those girls, BB brought them up well ! I don’t understand why they don’t join up now as they have been accepted by the Majingilanes and have mated with them, what’s stopping them from joining now ? BB still seems to go between both sets, so each must know the others exist ?
The old tailless female BB is Solos Mother?
Yes
WHERE CAN I FIND SOLO’S PICTURES OR INFORMATION PAUL? THANKS
the tsalala lionesses were born between March and June 2009. https://www.facebook.com/notes/tsalalamarthly-pride-of-lions/when-were-the-breakaway-tsalala-lionesses-born/10151111700284072
Cute kitties–can’t wait to see them
Thank you for the update; always great to hear from you; the people on the ground and who are closest to all the action and the prides, love the little cub ABSOLUTELY!!! She’s a great little lion…lol, the paradox…had my fingers crossed about the Break-away female, unfortunately she has lost her brood… I have many questions concerning this pride, which is relatively complex complex in my opinion…is it a sound statement to say that BB went ahead and stayed with her older daughters because she knew they had more experience in helping her raise the one cub??? Did BB also raise the Tailed Female and the New Tailless female all alone??? Also, if she spends alot of time with them, where might that leave her relationship with the Break-away females???…I’m really hoping for no rifts, and plenty of paws to feed a new generation of Tsalalas…glad to see the sub-adults are doing just fine, and that, as James Crook’s recent blog shows, the pride as a whole is warming up to the Majingilane despite the confusion and mayhem of the past when the pride’s very future seemed at stake…hope all at Londolozi are doing great, warm greetings from your fellow bush-lover in Zim…Verney.
Thank you so much for the updates on the Tsalala and Breakaway prides.. I am so happy to see BB and her girls doing so well. It will be interesting to see what the next year brings.
Hey Thelma, there’s a YouTube video in the Londolozi Stream called ‘Lions hunting and fighting buffalo at Shingalana dam’ the male with a light brown mane in there is Solo, there are also blogs on this website, recent ones, about him… Hope you will be able to find them in the search section, one I can remember off-hand is ‘The week in pictures #54’…you can also join the group ‘Lions of Sabi Sands’ on fb if you haven’t already, or visit Solo’s page on f.b too…hope this all helps, but I’m sure Paul can direct you to many more sites…
Thank you very much for the update about the prides. I hope the little one will make it to adulthood. She is very cute and I love to read about her and her mother. I hope the breakaway will reunited with the Tsalala. This will be amazing if it happens.
They are my favorites! Maybe because we saw the four cubs last July (3 of whom died), but still, they just speak to me! I love how resilient they are, how loving they are with each other and how protective they are of the cubs around the Majingilanes.
They are so gorgeous! Thank you for sharing!
Lovely news Adam! Thanks for the update!
Been anxiously awaiting this update Adam. Thank you.