A Males Pride & More at Savanna

The lion sightings have been phenomenal this month at Savanna. The excitement kicked off with the Ximungwe Pride and 4 of the Mpogo killing 3 buffalo just outside the camp. With full tummies, mating started with 3 of the Ximungwe again. For the past few months, the guides have been anticipating lion cubs from the Ximungwe Pride however this is obviously not the case as they are still mating on a regular basis. Hopefully the females will fall pregnant soon. With the mating in progress, there was quite a lot of interaction between the males and on one morning, a huge fight started between two of the males over a female who was trying to play the field, however, more damage was done to the males’ pride (excuse the pun!) than bodily harm.

These Sighting have been viewed at Savanna lodge

Elephant Plains Lion on the Rise

The lion sightings at Elephant Plains have been phenomenal this month. The Tsalala’s and the Stix pride were seen nearly every day and guests were privileged to witness a few spectacular kills. Sadly one of the Stix females got killed by the Mapogo’s in a feeding frenzy. They are very aggressive lions when feeding and she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She apparently had the back part of her spine snapped. But as for all the other lions it is going well. The Tsalala pride still has all eight of their cubs and one specific day they had two of the Mapogo’s resting with them. The cubs are very playful and the males seem to tolerate them rather well. It was an exceptional sighting to witness. The Stix pride lost one of their cubs for about a week, but luckily, they found each other again. So they still have five cubs. The Sandypatch female still comes in and out of the east and still has her one cub. The Windmill pride appeared for a few days and they have three males of about three years old and they are in good health. This new pride is welcomed with open arms as more lions mean better sightings!

These Sighting have been viewed at Elephant Plains

Lions at Kings Camp……..

After last month’s loss the Schobele pride was taking strain to re-gain their balance and hunt again as a unit after the loss of one of their adult Lionesses. The pride wondered around without focus to find food however with the experience of one adult gone all the attempts to hunt seemed without strategy. They covered vast distances in search for food and on one morning stumbled across a buffalo carcass close to the camp…Being so hungry they rushed in for the feed and got ambushed by the Timbavati boys, whose kill it was. The boys were patrolling in the area and on their return found some “unwanted” guests feeding on their kill! All hell broke loose and one of the large males got hold of the sub-adult Lioness and killed her. This was the second heavy blow for the Schobele pride as she was the one to replace the other Lioness. Click on the following link to see a video clip of the ambush:
Click to View Video Here.
The remaining 5 lions did have some luck on their side and managed to kill a Kudu on the other side of the camp 2 days later….The combination of the Timbavati Boys & the Machaton pride dominated sightings on the Lion front. Various Buffalo kills were made throughout the month and the cubs were seen eating meat for the first time!

Unfortunately one of the cubs was killed by one of the resident female Leopards.
Rockfig jr. found the little ones playing alone and found it wanting to take revenge on the babies of a much larger predator; an unfortunate incident, however the only way “Mother Nature” takes care of natural selection. The other 2 cubs are fine and the mother has moved them back to a previous, well known and more secure spot in the Nhlaralumi riverbed.

The Mahlatini (Mashlatini – “From the Thickets”) coalition of 3 males in the North is still trying to settle on the vacant terrain. They also managed 2 Buffalo kills during the month and produced some good sightings. They are slowly getting more relaxed with the vehicles now.


An interesting incident occurred in the Klaserie pride consisting of 6 Lionesses.
They killed a Buffalo close to the camp and finished the carcass in less than 24 hours! They were a little reserved with the vehicles around and moved across into the Klaserie Reserve as soon as the kill was finished.


These Sightings have been viewed at Kings Camp

Lion’s on The Rise @ Elephant Plains

The Lion sightings during the month of July were simply incredible and the guides have rated this month’s sightings as the best they have seen in four years. From the heartache of seeing so many lions being killed over the past few years they are relieved to report that the lion population is returning to the numbers it once was. Seeing the proud lionesses looking after their young cubs is an incredible feeling and it is a privilege to be part of their lives on a day-to-day basis. All the prides have cubs, including the lonely Sandy Patch female. She has got four cubs that are looking fat and healthy. One of these days, she will at least have a few more lions to help her hunt and slowly, but surely, build her pride to a strong and powerful one. The Tsalala’s has six cubs of approximately four months and when they returned from the south there were eight cubs. BB has two of her own cubs and it is great to see that after all this time she has added two more. The guides feel confident that all the cubs will survive because they have six fathers to protect them. BB now permanently stays with her two daughters. Because all the cubs are nearly the same age they can feed from any of the mothers which are a great help. The Stix females are doing very well and they still have their five cubs with them. The two females that have been missing resurfaced the other day with four cubs so as you can see there are plenty of cubs around! The two Stix females will wait another few weeks before taking their cubs back to the main pride. They are waiting for the cubs to get a bit bigger as the main pride’s cubs are now a year old. They might be just a bit too rough when playing with the smaller cubs.

These Sightings have been viewed at: Elephant Plains

The Up’s & Down’s @ Elephant Plains

Elephant Plains Game Lodge has had fantastic month as far as lions are concerned and the lion activity was phenomenal with lions on the move; fighting, protecting and killing. It offered incredible sights. The Stix pride moved the furthest west they have ever been and ended up on the lodge airstrip. The guides couldn’t believe their luck when they left the lodge in the morning and found them chasing a clan of hyenas. Just as they thought things could not get any more interesting, the Tsalala pride showed up and let out an incredible roar that sent the Stix pride running in a northerly direction! A few days later the two Mapogo males arrived at the Serengeti Pan and remained for a couple of days. They would call out for the other males, but with no reply. The last few months the Mapogo’s have not been seen together. The two of them are seen regularly and the big male stays in the west. The other three are believed to be more south. The Tsalala’s still have all six of their cubs and they are all looking great. Unfortunately, the Stix pride lost four of their cubs. The cause of death is uncertain.

These Sightings Have been viewed at Elephants Plains Lodge

Kings Camp Sightings on the rise

The Kings Camp lion sightings were very great this month. One of the most important prides in the area is the Shobele pride and it is with great sadness that the guides advised that they have lost an adult lioness from the Shobele pride. She was sadly killed in combat as she tried bravely to defend her pride.
The particulars regarding her death is very out of the ordinary. The new 3 young nomadic male lions that have been frequenting the area for the last 6 months attacked her. The guides are uncertain what the reason for the attack was but they believe that it might have been unintentional. Often lions do not realize the power that they exert and have been know to kill a member of their own pride unintentionally. One reason for the attack could be that the 3 male lions merely wanted to make a statement and in the process killed her. It is therefore assumed that it was more than likely dominance related.

The guides watched in horror and disbelief when she lay injured and helpless. She appeared to have difficult in breathing and tried on a few occasion to stand up but failed to get on her feet again. It felt terrible not being able to help her but as hard as it seems this is Mother Nature’s way.

The guides have watched her from a cub and it is a sad loss to have watched her grow up and then to lose her. It is uncertain how this will affect the dynamics of her pride in the future as the young sub-adults of 5 are still seen in the area. As it has been proven countless number of times that when an adult member is removed from a pride that it has an effect on the stability of the pride in the long term.

The young mother of three cubs from the Machattan pride is doing well and her litter is fit and healthy. The three Timbavati male lions are entering their prime of their life. It is believed that they will be the next most important attraction for the lodge and guests in the future. They have already replaced the infamous Shobele male lion collation, which has, came to an end. The guides believe that these male lions are going to produce incredible sightings in the future. They are now starting to expand their range and have been seen moving further north where the Shobele pride operates. The guides hope that they will put pressure on the nomadic three male lions that killed one of the Shobele lionesses this month. Dominant male lions don’t tolerate nomadic males in their area especially if they are posing as a threat to their reproductive possibilities. Watch this space for more exciting lion news from Kings Camp.

These Sightings have been viewed at Kings Camp

Lions Sightings on Camp at Savanna

The lion kills that occurred this month were extraordinary. All the prides have been on a variety of large kills.  The Ottawa pride, which seems to have made the northern part of the camps’ traversing area their new territory, killed a giraffe about seven days ago and is still feeding on it as this newsletter is being written.

The Shimungwe pride have been indulging on a number of wildebeest throughout the month and moved straight from one wildebeest kill to a zebra kill almost overnight. It is also interesting to have the lions drinking from a nearby pond during the middle of the day. The Mapogo (the six dominant males) have been continuously in the camps’ traversing area this month.  This is partly due to them still mating with some of the Shimungwe pride.  The guides and guests have had incredible sightings of four of these males on the Savanna property.  As mentioned, the mating with some of the Shimungwe pride continues, including the mother who had the cubs, and it is believed that she has deserted her last cub as predicted and will now produce her new litter round about the same time as the other four Shimungwe lionesses produce.  If one takes an average of three cubs per lioness, in a few months’ time there should be approximately fifteen cubs with five lionesses, which make a very impressive pride.

There has been a very exciting invasion of another pride of lions that came in from the east.  It is believed that this pride is known as the Sparta pride and they moved onto Savanna’s property for just 24 hours before moving east.  This is the second time that they have been on the property and it will be interesting to see if they make these visits on a regular basis.  This pride is made up of two adult females, one sub-adult male, one large old male and five two-year old cubs.  It is a very impressive pride; however they will have to be careful that they do not cross paths with the Mapogo, as the guides believe that they are probably not the father of these cubs.

These Brillant Sightings have been viewed at Savanna

Djuma Bush News

Bush Lodge

Lion highlights at Bush Lodge have mainly included the Styx pride of lions, which are still seen in and around the lodge. The complete pride and nine cubs were seen almost every week; however the Nkahuma lion pride has not been seen for almost a month. Hopefully they will be back soon.

Vuyatela

General game viewing has been great this month at Vuyatela; especially with the presence of different pride of lions. The other factor attracting these prides of lions is the presence of breeding herds of buffaloes. Two male lions, new to Djuma property were seen feeding on a buffalo kill. The Mapogo pride of lions is back as well; however this time it was only two of them, their faces covered in blood. By the looks of it, they had been in a fight. The Styx pride is trying to settle on the Djuma property even though the competition is strong from the Kuhuma pride that always come and go. The lone Manyeleti boy, male lion, has been seen along the Northern boundary, after a long absence, perhaps he is looking for some company as he has been on his own for some time. Sandy Patch, lone lioness, is still hanging in there with her three cubs that are growing each and every day. She has been successful in killing. The Windmill pride of lions is also pushing deeper to our reserve from Mala Mala.

These Sightings have been Viewed at Djuma Bush & Vuyatela

Lion Cub Surviving……

The young lion cub from the Ximungwe pride is still surviving, however what has been out of the ordinary is that the cub’s mother seems to have stopped lactating and this is way too early for this young cub, as it still requires a good amount of milk in its diet. Cubs are usually weaned from 6 – 7 months. They start eating meat at 6 – 8 weeks; however they require milk supplement until this age. The other uncommon event that is occurring is that this female is now mating again with the Mapogo. This is probably an indication that she may desert this cub, as committing herself for three years to raise one cub may not be an option for her.

These Sightings have been viewed at:  Savanna Lodge

News at Elephant Plains

Here is to a very exciting report from the guides at Elephant Plains Game Lodge, what a month they have had! They finally got to see their favourite lions, the Tsalala’s and their six cubs. The cubs are approximately seven weeks old and simply adorable. They are extremely active and playful. It has taken the Tsalala’s three years to produce cubs again and this time all is going well for them as they have the six Mapogo males to look after them. The guides and guests have seen a lot of the Stix pride and the Kuhma’s as well. Apparently two males have moved into part of the Kuhuma’s territory in the east, which might be why they haven’t left again, knowing that they are safe here where the Mapogo’s can protect them.

Sightings have been viewed Elephant Plains