Although we no longer see the Mhangeni Pride frequently, as they have shifted their territory westwards following the death of their then dominant male, the Othawa Male and the arrival of the Plains Camp Males back in 2021. Today, every now and then, they venture eastwards and offer us a glimpse into their lives once more.
In recent years, the pride has struggled to successfully raise cubs due to continually changing dynamics between neighbouring prides and male coalitions. The Mhangeni Pride currently consists of three adult lionesses: two sired by the mighty Majingalane Males and born in 2016, and one adult female born in 2018, sired by the Birmingham Males. In addition, there are three subadults—two females and a young male—sired by the Plains Camp Males.
Over the past few months, there appears to have been another shift. The Plains Camp Males have moved further north and no longer patrol the southern reaches of our western neighbours. With the presence of the neighbouring Othawa and Ximungwe Prides (Bataleur Pride), the Mhangeni Pride has been unable to follow these dominant males, and so once again leaving them without a resident coalition to mate with.
The Nkuhuma Male on the right and the Talamati Male on the left
That is, until the arrival of the newly named Nkumati Males (the Nkuhuma and Talamati males). Together since mid-2024, they have taken up residency in the southern parts of the western sector. Initially, they pursued the Kambula Pride but were chased back west by the then-dominant Ndhzenga males. Since then, they have found themselves, for the first time, with a pride where there is real hope of cubs. Fast forward to today, and one Mhangeni female (born in 2018) has given birth to four cubs, born in November 2025.
They emerged from behind u,s navigating the round-leaved teak bushes before appearing on the road.
The cubs were seen only once in December, and due to the inaccessibility of the den site and the young age of the cubs, they were not seen again until the end of January 2026—alive and healthy. The pride had made a wildebeest kill, and during the night or early morning hours, the lioness fetched her cubs and brought them to the carcass for the first time. We were fortunate enough to witness this special moment. She led them down the road to a nearby wallow for a drink before they returned towards the kill.
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Due to their age and where they were denned, there have been very few viewings of these little cubs. Although we were parked quite a way from them, these 2 stopped briefly before following their mother down the road
The first look at the newest cubs of this lioness. Unbelievably, they walked in the open road towards us!
After leading the cubs to a nearby wallow, they got their paws covered in mud before making their way back to the road and towards the kill
The cubs stayed close to their mother. This was their first time that we know of that they have been taken to a kill.
Muddy paws.
There is still a long road ahead for these young cubs, and one can only hope there will be more additions soon, as the other two lionesses were also mating with the Nkumati males. Times have certainly been turbulent with the recent shifting of coalitions. Will these lionesses manage to avoid the Plains Camp Males, the newly arrived Gijima Males lingering further east, or the unpredictable movements of the Kambula Males? Only time will tell. For now, it is an exciting chapter for the Mhangeni Pride, and a joy to see them with cubs once more—hopefully with more new arrivals in the near future.
Great shots of these darling little cubs! I hope they get the chance to thrive and prosper!
Always nice to see new cubs. Let’s hope. It all works out . Exciting times!!
Are the Nkumati males accepting of the sub adults sired by the PC males?
Hi LGR. That was such a interesting blog for me to see and read on the Mhangeni lion pride. Although it’s good to see that the younger of the 3 senior large adult lionesses has given birth to 4 brand new and exceptionally sweet and healthy cubs in her new and much needed litter, but just out of interest, were you able to get a really good look at the rear ends of the cubs to see what gender they are at all? They might well be the first ever cubs of the oddly matched and unrelated Nkumati males, but as long as they both continue to stick around with the pride, I do hope they’ll survive and live all the way to hard independence and adulthood very successfully. That is the very same lion pride where some of the older adult lionesses of the Kambula pride all originated from when they first arrived there and on MalaMala in about 2018, when they were a group of 6 young and cubless lionesses of about 4 or 5 yrs old.
There are a few options of what the cubs are, they’re either four boys, four girls, three boys and one girl, three girls and one boy or two of each. But until they’re looked at properly and clearly, it still remains to be established. It’ll be so very interesting to know what they are, so that we will know for the distant future.
Their two mighty fathers might not be related as they would be normally, if the younger pride male hadn’t lost his two litter mate brothers to other lions a good couple of years ago when they were still young males coming into their prime. But at least he’s found himself a partner to team up with and to get their pride.
But with three adult lionesses, including their mother, 2 powerful fathers and 3 big sub adults around, the future should look pretty bright for the cubs together. I’m sure the cubs will all be babysitted and protected when the adult lionesses are out hunting altogether to get food. I hope regular updates on them will keep on filtering through to keep me and all other fans well and truly updated.
Even if they weren’t in the blog, but have the cubs of the Tsalala lioness and the Ximungwe female leopard been found and seen yet at all, and if so, how many cubs have they got each individually? I hope they’ll both have better luck.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 12.2.26
Fantastic story and photos of this longstanding pride. The Mhagenis have been through many changes over the last 10 years since I first saw them. At that time 16 members comprised the Pride, at least half of them were cubs. Then two years later we came upon two of the females with four cubs – two, three months old and the other two several months older. Perhaps this mother is one of those little cubs. Let’s hope that the Nkamatis will be able to protect these adorable cubs so they have the opportunity to grow to adulthood.
These cubs are so super cute! And their mother seems to be quite relaxed around your car.
It’s such a pleasure to see these little ones.Beautiful photos!
For me the Talamati & Nkuhuma male carry the weight of expectation upon them .. A lot of people want them to be as successful as their fathers were.. the lioness with the cubs is Tinya sired by Tinyo and the subadult who loved the Ottwa male … amazing Article Kirst
Wonderful to see these little cubs, hopefully everything goes well for them and the pride. Thank you for this post. I love following the lion dynamics.
Fingers crossed for new arrivals. I have some wonderful images of the Mhangeni Pride from previous visits.
Wow Kirst! Lionesses fathered by the Magingjlane males and Birmingham! Fantastic! And now the cubs? Who’s more adorabile than them? They must win, they have a superb blood line and beauty was selected to function perfecly in the environment… no particular comes by chance. I remember only the stunning Othawa male who was killed by the Birmingham. I’ve never seen such q handsome and bold male. What a lion Adventure!
Hi Kirst, thanks for the update on the Mhangeni pride. Those little cubs are so gorgeous and love their muddy paws. Really do hope they will make it to adulthood. If the Plains Camp males or Gijima males see them, it’s not going to be a pretty sight.