We spend the morning intrigued for a number of reasons. Firstly we find one of the Northern Avoca Males feeding on a young giraffe kill with a few of the Ntsevu Sub-adults. The intrigue comes from the fact that the Northern Avoca Male we are with is known as the Dark-maned Male, who hardly ever comes onto Londolozi. To our knowledge, he is not the father of these young lions and so we would have expected a little more hostility between them. Yes, he dominates the carcass as a larger lion would, but this is fairly unusual behaviour unless he could have spent more time with the Ntsevu Females than we are aware of.
What then baffles us further is that the Tsalala Lioness was found very nearby, by the time we get to her she has moved away from the feeding lions. This gets us thinking that she most likely killed the giraffe and through the possible commotion, with hyenas the other lions could have heard this and moved in to steal the carcass. She had a full belly and looked in perfect condition.
We then enjoy yet another sighting of one of the Nkoveni Young Females as she waits at the top of the dead knobthorn for her mother to return. We have high hopes of capturing a great image as she stands up and stretches before descending the tree. We were successful!
Enjoy this Virtual Safari…
To view the YouTube link, click here.
So delighted to see the Tsalala lioness. My heart still aches to see her alone. I still remember the special sightings of her and her mother. But the young Tsalala is hanging on and is doing so well. That’s a real tribute to her mother: using the skills she was taught to survive and then – I pray – to thrive. I hope she is able to find a companion to help her on her journey.
It would also be good to see the Birmingham male again. Hopefully he will return from Singita one day with the Nkuhuma male.
Very strange to see Dark Mane on Londolozi, but it seems that there are a lot of unusual movements at the moment. I prefer the periods of stability – when life is a little more predictable and when lions have a greater chance of successfully raising their cubs. I hope those days will return.
It is amazing to see that the Tsalala Female is still doing so well. We are hoping to see the Birmingham Male again soon too.
Things will eventually settle down again but these periods of unrest are inevitable with the lion dynamics and are all part of the process.
Thanks you so much for catching up with Dark Mane! I haven’t seen that brute in ages! He is looking good and strong again!, except for a few minor scrapes! I’m surprised his offspring young male isn’t with him for back up though, they were often seen together on Djuma, like he had is dads back!
He is looking good, so we will have to see where he goes and what he gets up to in the coming few weeks, or if he even hangs around here any longer.
That was a good sighting of the Avoca male feeding and the sub adult male trying to feed as well. Shame I felt sorry for the younger male because he so much wanted to feed. Oh so wonderful to see the Tsalala female and she is so special. I really do hope she can team up with these lions so that she won’t be alone anymore. Much safer for her as well. Nkoveni female cub to beautiful and she has no problem at all up that knob thorn tree waiting for her mother and sister.
It was interesting to see them feeding on the same kill, that is not normal but we are constantly surprised in the wild.
Great to see the Tsalala female looking so well. And another viewing of 1 of the Nkoveni youngsters is always welcome! As you say, they certainly love that dead knobthorn – and it definitely makes for wonderful photography. How frequently do you think Nkoveni is having to make impala kills to feed all 3 of them
It was so great to see the Tsalala Female looking so well. It seems as though the Nkoveni Young Females are certainly fond of this knobthorn tree, which I am not complaining about. She will have to hunt at least two or three times a week, depending on how large of a kill she is able to make each time.
What an exciting sighting of the lions you had! It is really very interesting that the older male did not chase the younger ones away. Can lions somehow know who their offspring are? Do they kind of remember with which females they had sexual contact and then somehow establish two or more years later that a young male is their son or not?
This is really intriguing.
Good to know that the Tslala lioness is still fine. I like this lioness very much.
And the photos you took of the young female leopard are just fantastic! Indeed, patience pays off.
It was interesting that the larger male tolerated the young lions. I believe that they are able to tell who their offspring are, whether it by association that they know they mated with a female at a particular time and from that they know that the cubs are theirs. I think then as the youngsters grow up the males will spend time with them and get to know their scent and can tell that they are related from that.
The stories and especially the videos from Londolozi are always the highlight of a day and/ or a week. So there is also some killing and fighting going on among the animals, it’s still so peaceful and positive and puts things in perspective.
Thank you so much, Christa.
How intriguing, the Avoca dark male eating with subadults! He seems to bear wounds old and new but looks in good condition. Has a peculiar mane. Lovely to see the Tsalala female again, the history repeating, perhaps she will have cubs on her own? Her mother miraculously and intelligently managed to bring her to adulthood… still deeply missed. The Nkoveni young female is a joy to see and I hope she s got a bright future ahead, as well as her sister. Good job mum, and compliments to you for catching even more interesting relationships among big cats.
The Dark-maned Male looks in great condition.
It will still be a little while before the Tsalala Female should have cubs, which is a good thing because by then she will be an even better and more successful hunter and providing for the cubs will be easier (not to say that it is going to be easy at all).
The Nkoveni youngsters are great to spend time with and watch them get up to their daily lives.
Fantastic virtual safari! We almost forgot that it was Sunday today. When we remembered, our first thought was— Virtual Safari time! Absolutely loved the Nkoveni cub in the knob thorn tree again! Your photos were fabulous! Thank you for entertaining us! 👍👍👍
Thank you so much, Darlene. I am so glad you remembered and were able to enjoy this one.
Fantastic sightings in this week’s video Sean! Your footage of the Avoca male holding the subadult in check was brilliant. His low octave snarls are spine chilling, and I felt really bad for the youngster! I’m so glad you found the Tsalala female looking well nourished and healthy. Wouldn’t it be amazing if she did become part of the Ntsevu subadult group, although being the only female could be an issue I would think.
Patience paid off for your Nkoveni sighting and I enjoyed seeing your b/w stills from your sighting. She looks about as large as her mother so obviously she’s eating well. That must be a strain for the Nkoveni female to catch enough food for the three of them to continue to thrive – tough job for a mum!
Thank you so much, Denise. It was such a great sighting of the lions feeding. I was so happy to find the Tsalala Female looking in great condition. It is quite unlikely that she will join the Ntseuv Breakaways but we can only live in hope.
The Nkoveni Female does have a tough task providing for her daughters but she is doing so well.
Lovely! Good to hear the Tsalala lady is doing well.
It is great to see that she is thriving.
Sean, Hooray! The Tsalala female is still going strong! We are hoping she stay near and develop a positive relationship with the pride. Wouldn’t it be great if she is able to have cubs!? The feeding shots of the Birmingham male are incredible and his territorial control of the kill is impressive. We love what you did with the young leopard in the dead tree. You must spend hours editing all these videos – how long does it take to put one of the Ultimate Game Drive videos together??
It was great to see the Tsalala Female again looking so well. She is still a little while away from having cubs but it will be amazing when she does give birth to some cubs.
It does take a while to put the videos together but it is a fun process. It takes a good few hours per sighting.
Sean, Isn’t it dangerous for the young leopard to stick out in that tree for so long? If a pride of lions, or even a single lion, would see her, would she not be in a jam?
Hi Patrick, In some senses yes, it is dangerous for her to be at the top of the tree like that because the likes of lions would be able to see her. But in the same breath, she was very alert and always had her head up looking around for any danger and she is so in tune with the sounds of the bush that she would notice any alarm calls of birds nearby that would be alarming at the danger.
I believe that there are four cubs left but they are being kept to the east of the Sand River in MalaMala.
Also, do any of the Ntsevu lionesses have young cubs anymore?
So so happy to see that the Tsalala lioness is still on Londolozi and managing to keep out of trouble and we’ll feed! Certainly an entertaining week Sean with the altercations over the giraffe kill and the Nkoveni cub. Thanks 🙏🏻❤️
It is always amazing to see the Tsalala Female and each time she is looking great. I am hopeful for her.
Fabulous sightings…wouldn’t it be amazing to have the Tsalala girl join up with the Kambula subs? They share a father(s) after all……but that may be a bit too much of a fairy tale ending…..regardless, Tsalala is looking fit and fine!