After a very hot day, the berg winds turned and brought in cooler overcast weather for two days. The windy night offers good hunting opportunities for predators as their scent is often carried off by the wind and the sound of the wind masks their advances towards potential prey. With this in mind, we couldn’t help but hope that the Ntsevu Pride had been on the move that night.
Always a fantastic way to start off a game drive, finding fresh tracks of lions.
The Ntsevu Pride has been going through an interesting time of late as Matt Rochford recently tried to break down in this lion dynamics blog. Essentially the core of the Ntsevu Pride has five adult females and ten cubs born between December 2022 and February 2023, we believe that another female has given birth to four more cubs that have only recently been introduced to the rest of the older cubs. Hopefully, we will get to see these cubs soon. There is another group of between two and three females that had split off with three cubs born around March/April 2023. Over the last little while it has been difficult to keep track of which lions are where and what the current status of this smaller group is. It seems that the Ndzhenga Males have been spending most of their time with the five lionesses and their ten cubs. We set off on a recent morning game drive in search of any lions hoping to see some of the cubs.
Early on into the drive, we were excited to come across some fresh tracks of at least three females crossing the road. Our strategy was to drive along the road in the direction of where the lions were heading hoping to find more tracks, if we did we would continue with this plan until there were no tracks coming out of the block. We would then loop back to where the last set of tracks were and would then follow them into the block hoping to find the lions somewhere there. So after looping up ahead on one of the roads, we were thrilled when we came around a corner to find two Ndhzenga Males, two females and eight cubs. Out in the open resting.
When we arrived all of the cubs were lying in a huddle to avoid the chill of the wind. Soon one cub got up to greet one of the females which triggered a knock-on reaction with all the youngsters following suit. Before we knew it they were all up and about.
The first cub greets one of the adult females before heading off to play with one of the Ndhzenga males.
As this youngster brushed up against one of the females you can see the some of the others starting to stir in the background.
One cub decided that one of the males looked like a good jungle gym to go play on. It is always fascinating to watch the dynamics of young cubs with the dominant males as they can be less patient with the playful cubs. After arriving alongside the male, the cub gently pawed the male to test his mood and reaction and then proceeded to jump on him before running away. Thankfully the Ndzhenga Male seemed unphased with this curious little cub.
Testing the reaction of the resting male lion before jumping on and over him.
Leaning back onto his back legs this cub launched itself onto the hind of the Ndhzenga male.
Finally committing to the jump and leaping over the male.
Lucky for the youngster that the male hardly even lifted his head.
Soon the rest of the cubs decided it was play time and began chasing and stalking each other through the long grass. This is an important part of their social bonding and skill development needed for hunting and survival as adults one day.
The cubs all ended up running around and playing in the long grass which was such a site.
It all comes down to how well these two males can hold on to and defend their territory.
It is great to see these cubs growing in stature and character and watching them interact with each other is hugely entertaining. We can only hope that the Ndzhenga Males are able to hold on to their territory and fend off any rivals moving in to attempt to claim the territory and the Ntsevu Pride. If they hold strong then hopefully we will see the mothers raise these cubs successfully and we will see the Ntsevu Pride grow once again.
It would really be great for all the cubs if the Ndzhenga Males can hold their territory at least till this bunch is grown up. As always, Kirst, the fate of Londolozi’s lions is so exciting. I love watching these playful cubs.
Thank you Christa. Time will tell as always. The lion dynamics for sure keep us on our toes.
Kirst, thank you for the pictures and information on the different prides. Great pictures of the cub jumping over the resting male lion.
I was pleased to see the male lion was not too phased as the little cub jumped over him.
What a exciting time with the whole family and cuteness overload with cubs! Their fathers look in their prime, excellent conditions, very strong and healthy. Their manes are an indicator of their power and no hesitation or wrong move in their actions so far. Hopefully they will be the fortress along the brave mothers to keep them growing
We certainly hope so too.
Awesome!!
Wonderful photos, Kirst! This group of cubs is getting so big – and bold! The Ndhzengas seem to be both tolerant and protective fathers which bodes well for all those offspring!
It is so wonderful to watch the cubs playing with each other. Very glad the Ndhzenga male was not in a bad mood when the cub was playing with hin and jumping over him, they can be quite cantankerous at times. Looks like a perfect family together, let’s hope they can keep it together and hold on to their territory.
These two Nhdzenga males certainly seem to have little pressure of late from any neighboring coalitions. We can only hope these cubs continue to thrive.
What wonderful pictures of cubs interacting and playing.
Thank you Sandra.
Terrific reporting on your sighting of the Ndhzenga males with part of their pride. It was entertaining to see your photos of the cubs testing the mood of one of the males by tapping him with his paw, and then there was minuscule reaction, leapfrogging over him to continue playing elsewhere. Priceless! I’m curious as to where the Ntsevu female and her two small cubs we viewed fit into the family. I’m hoping the Ndhzenga males can continue to protect their Ntsevu family so the cubs will have an opportunity to become independent and play an active role in their pride. Looking forward to the next sightings.
Thank you, Denise. It would seem that one of the other lionesses must have mated later on with the Nhdzenga coalition. Time will certainly tell if she is able to introduce them to this portion of the pride or if she will join the other two Ntsevu lionesses with their younger cubs.
What an adorable sight. I’m sure that was the highlight of the day for all humans involved.
Thank you, Chelsea. It was wonderful to see them together, especially on a cooler morning where the cubs played continuously.
Kirst, Well done on a fantastic sighting and great photos! We loved seeing the cubs on the male – very special!
I keep returning to this article. The lion cub photos are outstanding.