Sightings from last night and this morning

30 March PM
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Elephants
Buffalo herd
Impala
Warthogs

Big Thunderstorm

31 March AM
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Buffalo herd
Giraffe
Zebra
Elephants
Impala

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Sightings from last night and this morning

29 March PM
Ximhungwe pride of lions
2 Mapogo male lions
Kudu
Elephant bull
Hippo
Impala
Warthog
Pearl-spotted owlet
Spotted eagle owl

30 March AM
Male leopard: Shangwa's Son
4 Selati male lions
Elephants
Buffalo
Hippo and baby
Crocodile
Impala
Warthog
Baboon
Nyala

***Tracks for the 2 Mapogo crossed east over the boundary this morning and 1 Othawa lioness and four cubs were reported on a kill at the end of drive***
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Sightings from last night and this morning:

28 March PM
4 Selati male lions finishing a small buffalo kill
Elephants
Buffalo bulls
Hippos
Warthog
Impala
Waterbuck
Crocodile
Pearl spotted owlet
Verreaux's eagle owl

29 March AM
Hippo
Elephants
Giraffe
Impala
Kudu
Waterbuck
Hyena
Tawny eagle

***Mapogo lions were reported, but not seen by Idube, they are still doing fine.***
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Sightings From Last Night and This Morning

27 March PM
Kashane male leopard
Tassleberry female leopard
Elephants
Kudu
Zebra
Impala
Waterbuck

28 March AM
Ximhungwe pride of lions with an impala kill
Elephants
Impala
Giraffe - big herd
Waterbuck

***Other lion updates***
Tracks for Othawa females seen, animals not located
Tracks for Mapogos seen, animals not located
Selati Males reported, but not seen by Idube stations
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Sightings From Last Night And This Morning

25 March 12
Dewane male and Dam 3 Female leopards, growling at one another
4 Selati male lions
Elephants
Hippo
Slender mongoose
Buffalo
Kudu
Impala
Warthogs
Nyala

26 March 12
Zebra
Giraffe
Dwarf Mongoose
Impala
Warthogs

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Sightings From Last Night And This Morning

24 March PM
Tlangisa female leopard
Elephants
Impala

25 March AM
Ximhungwe pride of lions
4 Selati Male lions
Hippo
Giraffe
Impala
Wildebeest
Waterbuck

***Mapogo tracks were found but they seem to be hiding in an area of tall thatching grass***
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Sightings from last night and this morning

23 March PM
2 Mapogo male lions
Elephants
Buffalo
Impala
Kudu
Hippo
Waterbuck

24 March AM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard
Zebra
Elephants
Impala
Waterbuck
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Sightings from last night and this morning

22 Mar PM
3 Selati male lions roaring
Buffalo bulls
Elephants
Kudu
Giraffe
Wildebeest
Waterbuck
Impala

23 Mar AM
Ravenscourt female leopard with impala kill
3 Selati male lions
Hyena stealing Ravenscourt female's kill
Kudu
Waterbuck
Zebra
Impala
Giraffe


***Mapogo Update: The two surviving Mapogo male lions were reported on the western boundary, Idube stations will try to get a view this afternoon!***
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Rise Of The Selati Males

The Selati Males are a coalition of four lions born into the Southern Pride in 2007 and 2008 and sired by the Golf Course males. When they first left their maternal pride there were five males but their wanderings brought them into the territory of the Majingalane males where a fight between the two coalitions resulted in one of the younger Selati males being fatally wounded. The four males needed to find a place to grow and avoid contact with the Majingalanes and that saw them pushing towards the western section of the reserve, a place that they had been previously as youngsters when the pride was spending time trailing the buffalo herd. It was a slow approach, the young males were accomplished buffalo hunters and following the big herd and building themselves up was the primary goal at the time. At this time the young Othawa pride had also taken a liking to the buffalo herd and inevitably the two groups met, this time it was the Selati males that emerged as the victors, killing the youngest male of the pride. The victory proved to be short lived as the Mapogo coalition somehow got wind of the new males on the edges of their territory and chased them back south.
It would be a while before we heard of the Selati males in the west again, but eventually they did return, again following the big buffalo herd. At the same tome two of the Mapogo males were in the same general area, also looking for the buffalo, speculation was rife as to what would happen if the four young males bumped into the two big old males - would numbers or experience win the day? In the end there was no confrontation, both sets of males making a kill a few kilometres apart. The two mapogos only took down a calf, whilst the Selati boys had an adult, this meant that the two older males finished first and began patrolling, straight towards the younger males. It seems that upon hearing the roars of the Mapogo getting closer, the Selati males left their buffalo kill and moved briskly in the opposite direction, the older males never even knew they were there and another conflict had been avoided.

Again it would be a couple of months before the Selati males were heard of in the west, but the next time they were close things were beginning to change. One of the lionesses from the Ximhungwe pride had come into oestrus and was looking for a mate. The three Mapogo were a long distance from the pride with a buffalo kill and she did not know where they were. The Selati males were roaring to her east and following her urge to find a mate she went towards the position where she would be sure to find a male. Mating occurred with one or more of the Selati males and she returned to the pride a few days later, just as the Mapogo had finished their kill. The Mapogo would have had no idea she had mated with rival males so there would be no problems with any eventual cubs.

The Selati males had now received a confidence boost, the lure of females brought them further west once more, again at a time when the ruling Mapogo coalition were indisposed, this time with two buffalo kills between the three of them. The Selati males were patrolling and marking late one evening and were seen heading in the general direction of where the older males were feeding.

The next morning the four young males were found looking very pleased with themselves only a short distance away from where the Mapogo coalition had been feeding, the three Mapogo were found shortly after, heading away from the area, one of the males was badly beaten. It seemed that the Selati males had begun a serious attempt to takeover the Mapogo territory.

Whilst the Mapogo males stayed quiet in the southern reaches of their territory, the Selati males began to explore the northern areas and made themselves a buffalo kill, the takeover was on pause whilst they fed.

At around this time the Ximhungwe lioness came back into oestrus, and again the Mapogos were quiet whilst the Selati males were roaring, having finished feeding. Again the lionesses hormones took her to the younger males as her pride males were inactive. A day or two later the Mapogos did begin to advertise their presence and the lioness hurriedly left the young males to continue mating with the males she was more familiar with.

The 4 Selati males, knowing the position of the older males, began to further explore the northern areas before becoming hungry and returning south to look for the buffalo herd. The mapogos again took down a pair of buffalo, close to the spot where the previous double kill occurred. The Selati males were at this time only a maximum of two kilometres away and it seemed another fight was on the cards.

To begin with, nothing happened, the two coalitions missed each other. Then on the morning of the 16th of March they met...

The ensuing battle resulted in two of the Mapogo heading east to the far edge of their territory and one of them lying dead on the side of the road, tattered torn and broken. The four Selati males had some superficial scratches and seemingly a new territory.

In the days since the fight the Selati males have been up and down the western section, making, calling and generally establishing themselves as the new owners of the area. they still have to take over the two resident prides (Othawa and Ximhungwe) and there is till the possibility that the remaining two Mapogo males may try to fight back.

The coming months will be an interesting time for the local lion population as well as for those that follow the developments, already the tracks of the remaining two Mapogo males have been seen in the area again, and the one of the Selati males got a bit of a hiding from the lionesses of the Ximhungwe pride when he came too close this morning

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Sightings From Last Night and This Morning

21 March PM
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Bull elephant
Crocodile
Impala
Kudu
Waterbuck
Giraffe

22 March AM
3 Selati Male lions
Buffalo herd
Kudu
Impala
Warthogs
Baboons
Vervet monkey
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The End Of An Era

 

Today saw the end of the reign of the Mapogo coalition as the dominant lions in our area. The four males of the Southern or Selati coalition have reduced the once mighty coalition to a partnership of two old men. This morning a fierce battle took place between the two coalitions, the four young males emerging victorious, fatally wounding the Mapogo Male known variously as Mohawk, Mr.T or SaTan. The two remaining Mapogo fled east all but giving up their territory to the new males. It seems that Mr.T stood his ground as the four younger males approached, giving the two older males a chance to escape, whether this was the intention is debatable but many would like to see it that way, a noble end to perhaps the most notorious anti-hero of the coalition.

It was Mr.T that was known for his aggression towards other lions, and he had a reputation for killing cubs too. Some of his reputation was deserved but mostly he was misunderstood. It is true that he was a killer, but all lions are. The coalition as a whole was responsible for the deaths of many lions in the early years of their takeover but Mr.T seemed to be singled out due to his appearance, his short Mohawk mane and a seemingly broken nose made him look more of a fighter than the others. Over the years his face became a mass of battle scars, but many of those scars were from fighting with other members of the coalition over food and mating rights. For a couple of years the six males split into two groups, one of four and one of two, meeting irregularly in the middle of the territory. Mr.T and his brother Kinky Tail were the two that stayed in the eastern part of the territory and were the first to come across a challenge from new males – the Majingalane coalition. Brutal images of the two Mapogo attacking  and fatally wounding an isolated member of the new coalition further enhanced Mr.T’s brutal reputation. Later the same day when the four remaining Majingalanes fought back it was Mr.T that fled leaving his brother to be killed and eaten.

Returning to the west and joining with the four remaining coalition members Mr.T managed to take the coalition into another battle with the Majingalane males, with a disastrous outcome – only four of the five males returned, one with serious injuries and the eastern territory was lost.

During Mr.T’s absence from the west, the other Mapogo males had taken over a new pride – the Ximhungwe pride. A number of cubs had been born into the pride since the takeover but as Mr.T had not been with the other coalition members at the time he did not recognise the cubs as family and instinctively began to wipe them out. This again enhanced his brutal reputation, yet he was only following his instincts in order to ensure that the next generation of the Ximhungwe pride would have the blood of the Mapogo coalition running through their veins, there was no way for him to be sure that the cubs at the time already were of the Mapogo bloodline.

Seemingly content in a smaller portion of their territory the four remaining Mapogo started to build on their dominance of the Ximhungwe pride until one day one of them decided to go for a walk in a north-easterly direction towards their old territory, and never returned.

Down to three, the Mapogo coalition seldom left the western sector of the reserve and Mr.T seemed to settle down in his old age. There was no reason for the Majingalanes to head west, as they were content with their takeover in the east. The three old males seemed to be heading for an easy retirement until the arrival of the four young Southern Males.

At first the new males were wary of the old warriors and were even chased out of the area by them on one occasion. As they became bolder they pushed further west, but still left an unfinished buffalo kill to the vultures and hyenas when they heard the roars of the Mapogos getting closer.

It took a lioness of the Ximhungwe pride to build their confidence, she came into oestrus at a time that the Mapogos were far from the pride on a buffalo kill, hearing the roars of the new males she headed towards them to mate. Finding a female to mate with brought the younger males closer to Mapogo controlled territory and it was not long before there was a confrontation between the two coalitions.

The first confrontation ended with all seven males walking away, but the Mapogo looked like a beaten trio, one had narrowly avoided serious injury and the three took some time to recuperate. The Southern males used the time that the Mapogo were inactive to explore the territory and heal from the minor cuts and scratches they had sustained themselves. Gradually the distance between the two coalitions was reduced and in the early hours of this morning the Southern males laid claim to the west.

The two remaining Mapogo will probably now become nomadic, avoiding the larger coalitions, it is unlikely we will see much of them now.

So it is a sad day as we mourn the passing of a well known lion, yet an exciting day as a new area has begun – The King Is Dead, Long Live The New Kings!

Sightings for the last couple of days:

13 March PM
4 Southern/Selati male lions
Elephant bull
Impala
Nyala
Kudu

Rain and hail 18mm.

14 March AM
Tassleberry female leopard with baby buff kill
Buffalo bulls
Impala
Kudos and baby

14 March PM
3 Mapogo male lions with remains of a buffalo kill
4 Southern/Selati male lions following the big herd of buffalo
Buffalo herd
Buffalo bulls
Elephant herd
Impala
Bushbuck
Hippo
15 March AM
3 Mapogo male lions at buff kill
4 Southern/Selati male lions hunting buff herd
2 hyena
Giraffe
Buffalo bull
Zebra
Impala
Warthog
Nyala,.
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Sightings from last night and this morning

4 Mar PM
Tlangisa female leopard, stalking impala
Dewane male leopard, disappearing into thick bush
Buffalo bulls
Huge elephant bull
Elephant herd
Banded mongoose
Kudu
Impala
Scrub-hare

5 Mar AM
Dewane male leopard, patrolling
4 Southern/Selati male lions, relaxing in the river bed
Elephant bulls
Elephant herd
Nyala
Impala
Waterbuck

Sightings from last night and this morning

3 Mar PM
Othawa lions 2 females 4 cubs, resting in a donga
Giraffe
Buffalo
Kudu
Crocodile
Impala
Scrub hare
Boomslang

Dinner Time
Southern/Selati male lions roaring east of the lodge and Mapogo male lions roaring much further south (no sighting, just the sound).

4 Mar AM
4 Southern/Selati male lions lying just east of the boundary
Makulu Mapogo mating with a Ximhungwe lioness (the roaring from the previous night must have attracted her away from the younger males)
Buffalo herd
Elephant herd
Impala
Wildebeest

Sightings from last night and this morning

2 March PM
3 Mapogo male lions, sleeping
Big Buffalo herd
Elephant herd
Zebra
Impala
Waterbuck
Wildebeest

3 March AM
Kashane male leopard walking
Dewane male leopard on a rock
3 Mapogo male lions, sleeping
Huge buffalo herd
Elephant herd
Impala
All the above were within 1 Km of each other!
Waterbuck
Wildebeest
Nyala

Sightings from last night and this morning

1 March PM
3 Mapogo male lions, sleeping in some thickets
2x Big buffalo herds
Elephant bull
Elephant herds
Hippo
Kudu
Zebra
Duiker
Impala
Scrub-hare

2 March AM
Xikavi female leopard with an impala kill
Ximhungwe pride of lions 3 females + 4 cubs, sleeping on the runway
Elephant herd
Kudu
Waterbuck
Giraffe
Wildebeest
Impala

AM Drive Sightings 1 March 2012

No drive last night...
Dewane male and Metsi female leopards mating
Othawa pride of lions, 2 females 4 cubs
Herd of elephants with tiny calf
Hippo
Crocodile
Kudu
Impala
Nyala
Bushbuck
Waterbuck
Slender mongoose
Banded mongoose
Baboons
Vervet Monkeys
Spotted bush snake