We haven’t done a proper summary of the lion dynamics of Londolozi for a while, so we decided it was time to get everyone up to speed with which lions are doing what and where and how they are all faring. So here, pride by pride and coalition by coalition is the first in a series of updates.
Majingilane: 4 Male Lions
The mighty Majingilane don’t look like being dethroned anytime soon. Still maintaining their iron grip on the heart of the Sabi Sand Reserve, they have defeated all comers, expanding their territory further east and further west in recent months. Forays to the far south and north of the reserve have served as a reminder to neighbouring males and coalitions that the Majingilane are still a potent fighting unit. Have they stretched themselves too thin, though…? We will have to wait and see.
Sparta Pride: 4 Lionesses, 7 cubs
The Sparta pride are in great condition. The four adult lionesses and seven cubs are all thriving, and full bellies every couple of days are indicative of hunting success during the night. The pride successfully killed an impala, a female wildebeest and her calf in a matter of minutes a few nights ago and hardly moved for three days while they digested the meat.
The older lioness of the pride looked to be heavily pregnant for a couple of months, but she has since returned to normal size and bears no signs of lactating, so we can only assume that something went wrong with the pregnancy or birth.
The pride has been walking a similar beat since late last year, from the Maxabene River and the area around Dave’s Donga in the North East to Makhotini Dam and Rocky Tugwaan in the South west, their movements have become fairly predictable of late. Long overnight treks mean that the cubs are having to work hard to keep up, but all look fit and healthy, and the signs are good that a number of the youngsters (aged between abot 7-11 months) will bypass the vulnerable stage of infancy to form valuable members of the pride as a hunting unit, at least until the young males (6 out of 7 cubs) disperse.
Tsalala Pride: 3-5 lionesses. Unknown number of cubs
The trials and tribulations of the Tsalala pride continue, as one of the sub-adults from 2011 is missing, presumed dead. Last seen on our North-eastern boundary in very bad shape after a suspected mauling by other lions, she has not been seen since (over 10 days). Her sister has also not been seen with the pride of late.
The oldest tailless female is soldiering on and is often to be found in the company of her daughters. The good news for the pride is that the younger tailless female is heavily pregnant, and the tailed female has recently given birth on Ximpalapala koppie. We are unsure how many cubs are in the litter, but ranger Tom Imrie could hear the sounds of cubs mewing for milk from a dense thicket up the koppie’s slope as the lioness approached the den, so we presume at least two.
Tsalala Breakaway Pride: 4 Lionesses
Having split from the original Tsalala pride at the time the Majingilane arrived on Londolozi, the Breakaway Tsalala females have since returned and mated with the same males who originally drove them out. Spending a lot of time to the west of our property, we nevertheless encounter these females quite regularly around Ximpalapala koppie and the Gwarrie/Elmon’s Kraal area. Last night they killed an adult wildebeest near Warren’s Rd, much further east than I have encountered them before.
At least one of the females is known to have a single cub, but it has so far been kept in the Mobeni drainage to the west of our boundary. One of the other females is definitely lactating, and when Senior Tracker Renias Mhlongo followed tracks of the pride into a drainage line near Winnis’ Donga, he glimpsed what looked like at least two cubs scuttling away.
No confirmed sightings of the pride’s cubs have been had for awhile, so we will have to wait this one out..
Styx Pride: 5 Lionesses, 2 adolescent males, 3 cubs
This is a pride we rarely see and know little about
The Styx lions generally keep to our North and East and only occasionally stray onto Londolozi territory. Lately we have been seeing their tracks to-ing and fro-ing on the boundary more and more, and we think they may be pushing south and west to take advantage of what is a relatively weak Tsalala pride.
The Styx pride used to venture right down towards the Londolozi airstrip, so with winter approaching and the Sand river dropping, there is a chance they may begin crossing the water onto their old hunting grounds to the east of camp, around Plaque and Winnis’ clearings.
Sparta Males: 2 Male Lions
The Tsalala young male and his companion the Sparta young male have been spending time to our South. Sometimes drifting onto our property, the Tsalala young male has even been seen mating with one of the Tsalala breakaway lionesses.
Now maturing into much larger males, they may be eyeing out the territory of the Southern or Selati pride, which at the moment is only being ruled over by a single dominant male – the Kruger male – and is ripe for conquest.
Just a brief update, I know, but I hope that helps everyone get up to speed on what is happening out there. Lion dynamics are a fascinating part of life in the bush, and with both Tsalala groups giving birth recently, the next few months could make for some fantastic viewing.
Written and photographed by James Tyrrell
Amazing blog, thank you for the updates , also the eyrefield males [ Tsalala & eyrefield male] already mated with one of the southern pride this morning they were found with two of the southern prides females so is more likely that they have the eyes in the southern/selati pride we might see a take over soon.
What impact are these lions having on the other predators like leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, etc?
Ramesh we ran a blog a few weeks ago on how we think the hyena population has taken a dive as a result of the Majingilane’s presence.
leopards seem not to be too affected, but cheetahs tend to be outcompeted in an area like the Sabi Sand, where hyenas, lions and leopards are generally plentiful, and as a result there are not many cheetahs in the reserve.
James
Thank you for the update.
Is the Tsalala sub-adult, which is presumed dead, the same sub that was injured and separated in February? She was mauled a second time?
Hi Erwin,
This is the same female.
We do not know if she was mauled a second time or has simply deteriorated since the first incident…
James
Thanks for replying.
Thanks for the update James !
Hope we will see the Tsalala-subadults again.
One question comes to my mind, when you say “Styx-pride 5 females”. Did that include the very old Styx-matriarch (around 14-15 years old). She was said to struggle with following the pride recently, so I wonder whether she was there. Were there also 2 adolescent females ?
Hi Patrick,
to be honest, I am completely unfamiliar with the Styx pride and the numbers in the pride.
I do know that one of the other rangers viewed these same lions not far from our north-east corner a few weeks ago and saw the same individuals that we counted above, but i will double check that for you.. The ones we saw moved off relatively soon into long grass to sleep and we could not get a good look at the females to tell their ages…
James
Thanks James, just wondering about you saying there were two sub adult males in the Styx pride as I thought there was only one. There used to be another sub adult male older than this one but he died last year. Gogi and his sister, who is now back with the rest of the pride managed to keep him alive until they both moved back into the Styx pride when she was old enough to mate. Young Mr Styx did ok by himself for a while, but then he got beaten up once too often and died because he could no longer hunt because of his wounds last year. Can you please clarify if there are in fact two sub adult males in the Styx pride now ?
Hi Rosie,
it certainly looked that way, but it is a pride so rarely seen by us that we aren’t 100% sure of its exact make-up.
James
Hi James,
Glad to hear our cubs are now well fed, though I do think you could have slipped them a steak or two! Briana and I are home and missing you and “Mikey”. Thanks for making our trip so special.
Thank you for the updates.. It is always a pleasure to read about the resident lions.
I was wondering the same thing as Patrick. The Styx pride should have 4 adults, 4 subs (2 male and 2 femal around the same age) and 3 cubs.
Great update, thank you for taking the time to keep us informed on the Lion families and dynamics at Londolozi
Fantastic, marvelous and very impressed
thanks alot
That is very sad about the Tsalala sub-adult. I guess with just one sub-adult and Bibi being so old, I wonder if the pride will reunite with the 4 breakaways?
I guess the Styx is the 4 females, 4 sub-adults(two males and two females) and three smaller cubs. Though two of the adult females seem to have a limp of some sort.
It’s quite a coincidence that the two Tsalala sub-adults have gone missing around the same time Adam left. Are you sure he didn’t take them with him?
thats funny 🙂
James, I finally had a chance to read your blog and I am in awe of how much information you put into your “brief” update! Being so far away, and wishing I could be there watching these lions more often, I so appreciate any update at all! Thank you James!
Hey James, thank you for your amazing work. I am missing one thing. What about the matimbas and the selatis? I would like to know the interaction between these coalitions and what they are up to. Thank you in advance
Hi Musti,
The Matimba prides territory does not fall onto Londolozi so we do not see them so not too sure of their make up, they are North of us. The Selati pride is to the South of us and I stand to be corrected but we call them the Southern pride and we see them very rarely!
Kindest regards,
Kate
Hi James , saw on facebook that the Majingilane males we involved in a scrap with 4 other males in the area around 20 / 21 March . Do you know of this and would you know who the other 4 boys are . Are the Majingilane’s being tested and could the 4 other boys be testing the water before trying a territorial bid ?
Look forward to your reply .
Regards
Paul . G
Hi Paul,
I think this may have been a clash with the Selati males in the west. The Selati males used to hang around Londolozi before their takeover of Mapogo territory, but we don’t see them too much anymore as their territory is predominantly far west of our boundary.
From what I heard there was a lot of roaring and moving around in this scrap, but no actual fighting.
I’ll look into it.
James
Hello james so are all of the Mapogo males gone cause i was doing a little wondering because i k ow they clashed with the big 4 Males
I think solo and the eyrefield male wont be able to be the dominant male’s in the KNP male territory as the lone KNP male had no problems confronting the 3 sand river male’s and mouling 2 of the male’s with the help of the southern female’s the 3 sand river male’s were chase off. Any update’s on this confrontion would be great as I have been a keen follower of the KNP male, since he lost he’s brother awhile ago?
cheers