The Merging Prides
on Sep 01, 2023The recent events with the four Talamati Pride females were enough to suggest that they might be looking for new territories to extend their reign or otherwise looking to explore other territories where they might find potential mates. We have been lucky to find them hunting all over the reserve and seen in different locations every day all while contact calling during the night.
We followed them all of Wednesday afternoon and into the night as they moved slowly across the plains, keeping an eye out for something to hunt. They did attempt a hunt on some unsuspecting zebra but were not successful. While resting after their attempt, we were all startled by the roar of male lions not far away.
Suddenly the females moved and changed direction from the previous direction they intended to go. Our minds were all locked up in anticipation. We thought they were making a run from the calling males but soon realised there was a surprise package not far from us…
When lions realise they have an advantage over their prey, you can easily see their excitement in their movement. Their pace increased from a walk to a run. The females were onto something, but we could not see what it was due to the long grass. One of the lionesses dived down into the grass. As we approached, she pulled something round out from a small hole. At first, it looked like a baby warthog but there was no squealing whatsoever coming from it.
As we tried to make sense of this all, we caught a glimpse of the shiny little detail from the saliva of the lions on the scales of a pangolin!! One of the rarest creatures on our reserve was in the jaws of the biggest predator in our area.
Pangolins are very secretive and shy animals and usually only active at night. Their scales are made of keratin, which is the same protein found in rhino horn and human fingernails and are extremely strong. When attacked, the pangolin will roll up into a ball and cover its head with its tail to protect itself; a defence not even a lion can break.
Each of the lionesses took a turn to try their luck but we could see them losing interest quickly - a sign that it could not have been their first time to encounter such. The pangolin never moved and stayed in its defence mode until the lions left it alone, lying on the ground not too far away.
This was a very rare sighting for us and our guests to not only see a pangolin but also lions trying to devour it.
While this was all happening, the calls of the male lions in the distance continued. We could tell the calls were getting closer. The females could not help but show their distress from the calls but kept silent and non-responsive.
The following morning, we were treated to another surprise as the Gijima males had found the females and selected only one of them, the youngest Talamati female, to try and get close to.
We spent a long time with them as the female would run away and the two males would follow her, but between the two males, one showed his dominance as he kept pushing the other male away.
She eventually accepted and they started mating – something our guests had never witnessed before despite being on numerous safaris over the years.
By mating with the Talamati female, the Gijima males are extending their dynasty and increasing their territory as they spread their genes. Is this a new pride that will now reign in this territory? Time will tell as we will all wait to see if the new pride will join the ranks and stay closer to these males in a new territory.
Blog by Ronald Mutero (Selati Camp Ranger)
Images by Jason Street, JP van Rooyen and Ronald Mutero
Video by Jason Street
