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James Tyrrell

Alumni

James had hardly touched a camera when he came to Londolozi, but his writing skills that complemented his Honours degree in Zoology meant that he was quickly snapped up by the Londolozi blog team. An environment rich in photographers helped him develop the ...

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14 Comments

on Lion Warfare: Sparta Pride Struggling

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Dan
Guest

Hello,
thanks for your update on the lion dynamics. How old was this cub?

James
Guest

Just under two years Dan

James

Dan
Guest

Thanks James. Too bad

Amy
Guest

So hard to see injuries like that on the cub! Since it sounds like recovering seems unlikely, hopefully he is out of his misery – poor little one! How old was he? We saw some Sparta cubs in summer of 2012 that were quite small – I assume this wasn’t part of that group?

Thanks,
Amy

Amy
Guest

One other question – where do the remaining Tsalala pride fit in this mix? And, how is the sub-adult female doing these days? They have the two sisters (one with tail and one without), the sub-adult and then a cub or two, correct?

Shirley
Guest

Very Sad. :0(, the Sparta Pride is for sure struggling. Thank you for the Blog.

Watching the changing dynamics in the bush is both heart warming and heart breaking. Nature rules!

mike
Guest

Thanks James, Which Sparta lioness is limping (Tailess, Tailed, or The Sub BiBi took care of) thanks again, and is the sub looking healthy?

James
Guest

Hi Mike,

It is the Tsalala pride you are referring to. The Sparta pride is a completely different pride, with three adult females; two of them sisters, the other one a cousin (their mothers were sisters).

James

aaach, I hate it when the little one’s suffer the sins of their fathers…poor babe. I know, I am anthropomorphizing….still, it would be better if the big guys would just battle it out, and leave the little ones to grow up. They are a lovely pride! Hope they can all find a space of their own.

Jill Grady
Guest

I’m so sorry to hear of the likely loss of one of the Sparta cubs James. We had a chance to watch them one morning in Sept. and they were all so beautiful. It’s really hard to see the day to day struggle to survive that these beautiful animals have to deal with, and I’m sure even more so for you there at Londolozi to not be able to step in to help them. Hopefully the adult lioness will recover and go on to live a long life.

James, this is extremely difficult to hear. Although I know it is not wise to become attached to the beautiful animals that roam your land, it is very difficult not to. Sparta pride holds a very special place in our hearts. Having spent three consecutive years watching them, and the Tsalala pride, I can’t help the concern and sadness I feel when I read about these hard times. Just this past October we were amazed by their ability to maintain such a large pride, and raise such beautiful males. We had hoped those males would mature quickly and one day become a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps they still will. We will be glued to the blog until we return in October. We hope Sparta can weather the storm.

Senior Digital Ranger

That is sad news indeed. I don’t think that he is going to recover from those wounds on his back, they look quite serious & his right foot is very swollen. Oh James I do believe that you guides feel the pain as much as we do just looking at them. I guess that you will keep us posted on the outcome or would you say that its tickets for him?

Jogie Javier
Guest

Which coalition sired the cubs from these 2 prides? Thank you!

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