Othawa Male - 2019
2019 SIGHTINGS/REPORTS
DECEMBER 2019This month has seen a lot of movement from our prides of lions. The Mhangene pride and Othawa male are still moving far distances throughout the property and roaming into the southern areas of the Sabi Sand from time to time. [Singita]
The Ottawa male made a brief appearance on the property along with the rest of the Mhangene pride. He is looking fantastic and it will be interesting to follow his path when the Matimba male is no longer around. It was also rewarding to see the pride again after so long. The recent shifting dynamics have seen the Mhangene pride move further south from the historical core of their territory, but hopefully they will return regularly again.
[Savanna Private Game Reserve] SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2019
The Mhangene pride (and Othawa male) have spent the majority of October in the south-eastern part of the Sabi Sand, opening up opportunities for other lion prides to exploit our reserve.
September
The Mhangene Pride continues to amaze us with the amount that this pride moves through the Sabi Sand area. The movements are not consistent with a pride that is stable in a territorial area. The Othawa male lion has continued to separate himself from the Mhangene Pride and move on his own. This could be due to brief interactions that have occurred with other male lions that are resident to the north and east of his current range. [Singita]
JULY - AUGUST 2019
JUNE 2019
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| Photo by Johan de la Rey - June 4, 2019 |
The Mhangeni Pride have unfortunately lost another litter of cubs. There has only been one surviving cub in the past three litters born this year. The young female cub continues to keep up with the pride through their movements and has capitalized on carcasses with the pride. The Othawa male has also remained with the Mhangeni lionesses. The pride movement has been sporadic, moving from far east to the furthest western area of Sabi Sand. [Singita]
We have been privileged to have the Mhangene pride make a number of visits to our concession. They have three young cubs that are now just over four months old and seem to be doing very well! Although they have shown some infestation of mange, they are recovering well! Mange usually surfaces during periods of malnutrition and weak immunity, but with a few good meals, this seldom lasts very long.
The Ottawa male, who is now four and a half years old, sticks with the Mhangene pride like glue! This too must have been for food initially and some sense of protection, but over the past year he has grown in confidence and is becoming more and more dominant. Interestingly, he too is very good with the young, particularly with the older sub-adult who is not his son. Perhaps this is due to the fact that when he joined the pride, he was not acting dominantly at all! [Savanna Private Game Reserve]
MAY 2019
The Mhangeni Pride continues to dominate the sightings as the pride continues to move around the central areas of Singita Sabi Sand. The pride consists of three adult lionesses, two sub-adult lionesses from their previous litter that have been accepted to be able to return to the natal pride. Two of the lionesses have a litter. One lioness has a single cub that is approximately seven months old. The second lioness has three cubs approximately four months old. The Othawa male lion has associated with the lionesses and the only cubs believed to be his are the last three cubs. He has not shown any interest to mate with any of the lionesses, even though they do not have litters. What was interesting this month was that the Othawa male disappeared for a few weeks. It was reported that he was seen far north, far out of his normal range. [Singita]
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| Othawa male, April 2019 credit: @laurenhydrick |
APRIL 2019
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019
The Mhangeni females, along with the Ottawa male, made a quick visit into our concession at the beginning of February. It has been interesting to see how well the Ottawa male has fitted into the pride. He seems to be incredibly respectful of the females, giving them their space, but at the same time being the only dominant male of the pride. [Savanna Private Game Reserve]
February 2019
The last month saw an unfortunate decline in the number of cubs in the Mhangeni Pride, with the loss of six of the existing youngsters, leaving only one older cub in the pride. The presence of the Othawa male although helpful when taking down prey, is also becoming a burden on the pride as he keeps all meals to himself and is supporting the malnutrition of both the females and cubs. However, through the loss of the six older cubs, new life comes with three newborn cubs adding to the pride and we can only hope that they survive. [Singita]
Two young Talamati males drifted in Singita around the third week of January. About a week later, the two young males and Othawa male were seen down south not too far from each other. Did the Othawa male chase off the younger boys out of the western sector all the way to Umkumbe property?
JANUARY 2019
New cubs welcomed a great start to the year, and we have been waiting patiently to see them more frequently. At the time that they were viewed it was reported that their estimated age was approximately two to three weeks old. The mother of the cubs was seen in close proximity of the Othawa male lion. The cubs with limited movement or sight were difficult to see, however they all looked healthy. With new additions to the pride, the return of the mighty Mhangeni Pride will be reigning supreme with the hope that no new males venture further west from Kruger National Park as this will certainly upset the current situation, not to mention that the Othawa male will be in hot water being outnumbered, if a new male coalition decided to venture into unknown territory. [Singita]
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