There is something particularly special about watching a litter of lion cubs grow up in the wild. Each time we see them, even if it has been weeks since the last time we saw them, there seems to be a noticeable change. The Kambula cubs are no exception.
Our last update on the two Kambula lionesses and their eight cubs came in May, when the little ones were only around a month or two old. At that stage, they were still spending much of their time tucked away in the safety of their den sites, venturing out only occasionally under the watchful eyes of their mothers.
Under the protection of two great mothers, the Kambula cubs are thriving. Two of the youngsters take a moment between meals on the warthog kill to pose through the thicket at the camera.
Now, a few months later, things are beginning to change. We have had a handful of wonderful sightings of the family recently in the south-eastern regions of Londolozi, relatively close to our boundary. Although we don’t see them on every drive, the sightings we have had have given us a glimpse into just how quickly these young lions are developing.
A feast follows. As the cubs approached the warthog kill, they knew there was food around the corner; the excitement was clearly shown when they pounced on the warthog at the first opportunity they got.
The two lionesses have been doing exactly what lionesses do best, keeping their growing family fed. On one occasion, the mothers managed to bring down a warthog and, shortly afterwards, the cubs were brought in to feed. More recently, they were successful in taking down a wildebeest, providing another valuable meal for the ever-growing litter.
These Kambula mothers have their hands full with the 8 little mouths to feed and keep an eye on.
The most encouraging part of our recent sightings of the cubs has been that all eight cubs are looking healthy and are thriving. All eight are still alive and doing well, which is always good news considering the many challenges we all know lionesses face when rearing cubs.
A glimpse at how healthy and well the cubs are doing. A full-bellied mom rests as two cubs look back at the camera as if to say, “don’t forget about me”
As the cubs grow, their world will slowly begin to expand. Their legs are getting longer, their curiosity is growing, and before long they will be spending more and more time following their mothers away from the den sites. And for us, this is perhaps the most exciting part. We may only see the Kambula family every now and again at the moment, but with each passing week the cubs become a little more independent and capable of travelling greater distances. We are hopeful that this will mean more regular visits to Londolozi and, with a little luck, more opportunities to spend time watching this remarkable family as they continue to grow.
For now, we will simply enjoy every sighting we are fortunate enough to have, eight healthy cubs, two devoted mothers, and the promise of many more chapters still to come.
Who are their fathers? Ndzhengas? Gijimas?
Hi LGR. It is so good to see, read and hear that all 8 of the brand new cubs born into the large Kambula pride are all alive and doing very well indeed, so thank you very much for putting that fascinating blog up for me to read. I know they’ve got 2 highly experienced, devoted and good mothers and 2 powerful and mighty fathers to protect them, but just out of interest, have you been able to sex all 8 of the cubs yet at all? I think they should be about 3 or 4 months old by now. Shouldn’t they? I’m just very interested to know, because with the bigger and older young sub adults, there were more boys then girls when they were tiny cubs themselves a good couple of years or so ago. Those big young sub adults should be about 3yrs old now.
If the other two mother lionesses with five older cubs that are now just over one year old were to join the rest of the main pride and soon after, the two newest mothers with the eight new cubs, then I’d think the entire pride would number at least thirty members or so. But the eight new tiny young cubs would have a even greater chance of survival if the other two mothers and the five older cubs of just over a year old joined them.
I’m not suggesting they will do, but it will be so fascinating and interesting to see if all four of those lionesses do join up altogether as a very powerful and formidable force to be reckoned with. But for the two mothers with the five older young cubs, exciting times will be lying ahead for them as if and when they get their five remaining cubs to independence and adulthood well, then I think there’s a possibility they’ll both come into heat.
And if they’re more than likely to do so, then I’m sure the 2 large and powerful Gajima males will be more than happy to oblige and get them both pregnant again as soon and as quickly as possible with another 2 new litters of cubs to feed and look after. I know they did suffer a sad blow a couple of months ago when they were in another part of the Sabi Sands section, and whilst they were away possibly hunting for food, the 2 large Plains Camp males stumbled upon them and sadly killed one of the 6 cubs. But unless you’re able to tell me, I don’t know which one of the cubs it was that they caught and killed before sauntering of. I know one lioness had a litter of 4 cubs, which turned out to be 3 boys and 1 girl. And though I don’t know, I hope it wasn’t one of them that was left dead after the nasty and unexpectedly brutal attack. But to get more room made in the pride, I think it’s time the Gajima males chased all of the oldest sub adult males out of the pride, so that they get access to the younger lionesses if they’re not far from 3 years old by now currently. However, I don’t know if the oldest sub adult lionesses will stay with their mothers at all, or set of to form their own pride together and separately. Interesting times are certainly lying ahead for the pride. I hope this will result in a reply, as I’m so interested to know how many boys and girls there in the cresh of 8 cubs in total.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 27.8.26
Aw, soooo cute!
Last November I saw the Kambula pride, 2 females and 6 cubs fathered by the Ndzhenga males. I’m guessing these are not the same females?
If you’d be so kind Bryce, could you ask them to be around when I come back this November?!
Great news, Bryce!
8 little cubs – what a marvellous sight to see and watch.
Young lions playing and fooling around together are such a nice and exciting spectacle to watch.
I hope that all of them, or at least most of them will have the chance to become beautiful adult lions.
Hi Bryce, up.to now, it’s fabulous to see all cubs alive and in excellent health, their mothers have done a great job! I have lost myself a bit into the dynamics of lionesses and lions, the ones that decided to stay far from the Gjima males and the others, and how many cubs there are…. thank you, nothing is as precious as cubs!
Adorable! Love their little tongue bleps. Thank you for sharing. <3
Hi Bryce, thank you for the update on the Kambula Cubs. They are getting bigger and stronger every day and will be a formidable force to rekon with. Eating meat and walking with Mom longer distances each day makes them aware of danger and being on the alert at all times.
Thanks Bryce for your update on the the 8 Kambula lion cubs. It is rather surprising how fast the cubs seem to grow, but since their mother’s milk is quite rich and they begin to eat meat at quite an early age, it makes sense. As they grow, their mothers will be under more pressure to kill large game in order to feed so many mouths- in a few months a warthog will not be enough for the moms and cubs……
How cute are those little guys! Great images, Bryce!
Wonderful news and fantastic photos. Looking forward to watching these gorgeous babies grow. Thank you for sharing.