STYX PRIDE
| STYX PRIDE |
| December 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 12 YEARS 3 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD The Styx pride has had a really successful month. The young cubs were finally introduced to the world at the Pats Drift Koppies and then later along the Matshapiri River. These young cubs are relaxing down wonderfully and are quite at home with one vehicle. However, due to their age, we are not putting more than one vehicle at a time with the cubs.
During the early portion of the game report the lions were staying around the Mlowathi River and Campbell Koppies area. They were very active in this region, moving often down to the new airstrip and then back along the Sand River to the Mlowathi River. They were often seen to hunt in the area to the north of the Campbell Koppies. Although they were not seen to kill, they were found with full stomachs and lazy attitudes during the day, indicating that they were hunting successfully in the late hours of the night.
Towards the middle of the report period they moved to the Ostrich Koppies and then to the Pats Drift Koppies. They spent much of this time patrolling the Matshapiri River and east towards the Kruger National Park. It was here that the cubs were found for the first time down off the rocks. The lions went south from here back towards the Sand River and finally made their way back to the Mlowathi River system.
November 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 12 YEARS 2 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD The Styx pride has had a really successful month. They have been viewed on most days during this report period and seem to be settling down on MalaMala. The pride is still ranging over quite a large distance each day but it is often fragmented. There is a group of three of the lionesses that frequent the Campbell Koppies area and the reason for this was believed to be the presence of at least one cub, perhaps two, hidden atop the rocks. However on many occasions they come together and when this happens there is much excitement and joy at the reunion. The younger three lionesses still have sufficient energy to play and tackle each other and the rest of the pride, especially on cool afternoons and early evenings.
The pride has frequented the north-eastern section of MalaMala, an area known as eastern Eyrefield. This is slightly more east than their usual range around the Campbell Koppies and up the Mlowathi River, but it is understandable given the instability of the male lion dominance in the area. They were seen to hunt on quite a few occasions, especially for impala in the open area north of Campbell Koppies and Piccadilly Triangle. However one of the more memorable moments was when they chased a buffalo bull on the KNP boundary close to Clarendon dam. Early on in the report period two of the Styx lionesses, attracted by circling vultures, managed to steal an impala carcass from some gathered vultures. It is believed that the impala was killed in a fight with another male as it had two very deep penetrating wounds in the right hand side of the chest.
On another occasion the older female was seen to catch and kill a female impala and drag it up the Campbell Koppies. All told this pride is doing very well. The new additions will hopefully grow quickly and may yet escape the attentions of other predators to become fully-fledged members of the pride. October 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 12 YEARS 1 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD It was a very good month for the Styx pride which was first seen on the third day of the report period all resting on the northern break of MalaMala. They were seen to hunt a number of times, one incident involved them hunting giraffe near Stwise and rangers watched as they caught a young male giraffe and pulled it to the ground, the giraffe made it back to his feet and made off with the rest of the group.
One of the younger females was seen mating with the Rollercoaster male during the first half of the period, and although it was only for two days it shows that the pride has settled down and is returning to MalaMala. The pride did continue to move a lot through the month, rarely being in one place for long, going from the northern boundary to as far south as mid Charleston, an area not normally associated with the Styx pride. Two females were regularly seen on their own or with each other, one of these being quite obviously pregnant. She detached herself near the middle of the month and was seen wondering around the Campbell Koppies region, a known spot for the Styx pride to have their cubs. The heavily pregnant female was then seen ascending the Koppies near the end of the month and met up with another female atop the rocks, she was seen days later lactating. This hopefully means that there are some new additions to the Styx pride waiting for us on top of Campbell Koppies.
One other interesting incident worth mentioning was when the Eyrefield pride was moving their cubs on eastern MalaMala they ran into one of the Styx lionesses. The Eyrefield pride gave chase and although nothing was seen in the dark, fighting was heard with the Styx lioness being chased away. The pride in turn also chased one of the new young male leopards frequenting MalaMala up a tree. The leopard was hunting an impala and the lions in turn hunting him - the lions gave chase and treed the young leopard and while making their exit form the scene one of the females killed a scrub hare providing guests with and amazing nights viewing.
September 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 12 YEARS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD The Styx pride enjoyed a successful month with the month starting with rangers finding all seven lions in the lower reaches of the Mlowathi river system. The pride was found with relative consistency in comparison to previous report periods, thus very encouraging.
The lions were seen to roar in what seemed to be response to the distant roars of the Rollercoaster male. This resulted in one of the Styx lionesses mating with the Rollercoaster male. Whilst mating with the Rollercoaster male, the lions became aware of a leopard dispute nearby and burst on to the scene to assert their dominance. Mating activity was reported twice during the report period, once in the beginning and once in the middle part of the report period. The pride provided much excitement, with three kills being witnessed by guests; an impala kill, a zebra kill and a warthog kill on the last day of the report period. Very good feeding activity on fresh kills was also witnessed on several other occasions. Interestingly, the impala kill involved a leopard also stalking the herd of impala. The resultant confusion saw the lions being successful, with a herd of elephant finally ending the over zealous feeding by stampeding the area, causing lions to go scattering in all directions.
Encouragingly, the pride members were found on a number of occasions in the lower reaches of the Mlowathi, the Piccadilly region, as well as Campbell Koppies, all old haunts of theirs. One hopes that this is will be the trend in the coming months.
August 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 11 YEARS 11 MONTHS Location:MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD (11 sightings) The Styx pride has had a much more eventful month. Two of the females were seen in the Piccadilly Triangle area at the beginning of the month. Three were found the following day in the northern section of the Matshapiri River and two more were found further south, but also in the Matshapiri River. During the course of the day all seven lioness regrouped in the Matshapiri River close to the Buffalo Bush Dam. This was highly exciting, as the pride had not been seen together for a couple of weeks. After this they headed south and by the next day were found a long way south, towards the Windmill area. That night they were observed moving west and hunting. The hunts were unsuccessful and they went into the KNP. They were not seen again till the middle of the month, when four members of the Styx pride were found in the Sand River close to Elephant Rock. Close to the end of the month the Styx pride were found all together just south of the northeast corner of Mala Mala, a place known as Clarendon dam. That evening they came across an old buffalo bull, and without a moments hesitation lunged into action. The battle raged for half an hour, but a buffalo is no easy opponent and the lionesses were not up to this task. The buffalo finally broke free but will carry the scars as a reminder of its encounter. July 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES 11 YEARS 10 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD June 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 11 YEARS 9 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD The start of the report period was very promising for the Styx pride, with seven of the lionesses being seen together in southeastern Flockfield. They were found again the following day, interestingly, whilst a rangers was following a leopard off road. Once having bumped into the lions the leopard was soon lost moving through some dense combretum woodland. The lions were seen to hunt as they made their way towards the Kapen River. They encountered a small herd of kudu in the bush-line, close to the prominent rock off Baby Elephant Walk. Audio of animals running and kudu barking added to the excitement, as rangers followed up through the bush. The lions caught a female kudu and wasted no time in feeding. The feeding was vicious, as could be expected from the pride, as all the lionesses were very lean. The sub adult female kudu was devoured in less than twenty minutes and the lions were left grooming themselves in the area. Interestingly, a number of lionesses of the Styx pride were seen to mate with the Rollercoaster male on three separate occasions during the report period, with both periods lasting the expected three or so days. Obviously, owing to the fact that the Rollercoaster males are not affiliated closely to the pride, hostilities between the two parties were witnessed. May 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 11 YEARS 8 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD On the first day of May, rangers found a single lioness about mid way along the Euphorbia Drive. The lioness was suspected to be part of the Styx Pride, however, she was soon lost moving rapidly south. Eventually after working the area for some time, rangers managed to locate the rest of the pride. All seven lioness were present and in good condition. The Split rock male was also present, however this was the only time that he was seen with the pride during the report period. The following day, six lionesses of the pride were found but the male was not in attendance. Interestingly the pride had moved very far east during the night, moving through the area where the Split Rock male had been seen several days before. The pride was well fed, and although there was no sign of a kill in the immediate area, rangers believed that they had killed something of reasonable size during the night. The pride appeared restless, and moved several times during the day, and were seen moving east into the Kruger National Park in the early part of the evening. The following day, they were found just south of the Split Rock donga, but again, they moved into the Kruger National Park at dusk. The pride was not seen together for the rest of the report period, however the oldest lioness of the pride was seen in the lower reaches of the Mlowathi and Manyelethi rivers on several occasions. Rangers noted that she was clearly pregnant, and possibly searching for a den site. Importantly it is likely that the Rollercoaster males impregnated her, and thus it will mean that she will have to avoid the Split Rock male at all costs to prevent infanticide. One of the Styx lionesses was seen to mate with one of the Rollercoaster males in the Campbell Koppies region during the report period. Towards the end of the report period, all seven lionesses were seen hunting in the open area of Mlowathi dam, however they were not found again the following day. Several times during the report period, rangers found tracks, which were very possibly from the Styx Pride, however these tracks always appeared to indicate that the lions travelled large distances and moved off the property. These will be trying times for the Styx pride, which are not benefiting from a devoted male coalition. April 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 11 YEARS 7 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD During the month of April, the Styx Pride was seen on a number of occasions and provided for some excellent viewing. A couple days into the report period the pride and the Split Rock Male were found lying down close to Mlowathi dam. The pride did not look well fed. Later in the evening the pride got active and began hunting with intent. It was not long before one of the lionesses successfully brought down a male impala, not far from were they were found lying down. The Split Rock Male dominated the feeding with the seven hungry lionesses getting only a small share. The pride remained in the area for a couple of days.
The Styx pride moved around the property a lot during the report period. The Rollercoaster males now threaten their territory and thus they are moving around trying to avoid them. They have been seen as far south as the Tjellahanga River and often move east into the Kruger. Still under domination of the Split Rock Male they will try and avoid the Rollercoaster males for as long as possible. From being in the south, the pride moved north over a couple of days where they were found lying down in the Manyelethi River. The pride moved further south and east towards the Matshapiri River. A large herd of buffalo was found not far off from the pride in the morning. In the evening the pride headed straight towards the herd. All of the seven lionesses and the Split Rock Male made a number of attempts at the herd but the buffalo proved to be too resilient at this time of the year. Not having fed, one of the lionesses made a meal of a steenbok
Towards the end the report period, the pride was seen in the eastern parts of Flockfield and moving between the Kruger Park boundary and Mala Mala. It appears the Eyrefield Pride is still pushing them out of their previously established territory. Despite them being on the continuous move the Styx pride had a solid month. March 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 11 YEARS 6 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD The Styx Pride of lions had yet again another solid month on MalaMala and the first sighting of them was quite early on in the report period. On the 28 th of February rangers located four lionesses of the Styx Pride and the Split rock Male in the mid eastern parts of the reserve. The lions were all looking quite healthy with the exception of the Split Rock Male. From here they were seen to move straight north and were located the very next morning to the east of the Matshapiri River and south of the Emsagwen Fire break. They had been joined by another two lionesses of their pride. From there they were seen to move north again. Rangers followed up the next morning and once again located the lions, this time all seven females and the Split Rock Male were present.
After spending a few days around the Matshapiri River the lions moved west by quite some distance and were found a day later in the Senegal Bush Region along the Mlowathi River. They provided some excellent viewing as they hunted Impala, yet were not seen to be successful after many attempts. The next day they were found to the north and west in the Marthly region. For the next six days there was no sign of these lions, until on the 11 th of March when they popped up a long way east of their last position in Marthly and were now back on the Matshapiri River. From here they hunted east and were left, as it got dark, yet it is presumed that they crossed into the Kruger National Park later that night.
These lions were found three days later after some fine work by Trackers and Rangers to the north of the MalaMala Flockfield Boundary in the more eastern parts of the reserve. They all looked to be pretty well fed and spent the rest of the morning and that evening sleeping. The Styx Pride still seem to be living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle similar to that of the Eyrefield Pride before the Rollercoaster Males claimed residence in the north. It is possible that these two prides may swap territorial ranges as it has happened before.February 2007 STYX PRIDE = 7 2 ADULT FEMALES * 11 YEARS 5 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD A solid start to the report period for the Styx pride of lions. Following the last two months where these lions were seen to be quite scarce on the reserve, due to the ousting of the Split Rock male from their once very secure and large territory on the northern parts of Mala Mala, they have made a very welcome return.
The first sighting of these lions was on the 27th of January. They were found after some well co-ordinated tracking on eastern parts of Flockfield not far from the Kruger National Park feeding on the remains of an adult zebra. The Split Rock Male was also present and looking very healthy for that of a now very old male lion. The very next morning these lions were found not too far north of their previous position in the Hogvaal Donga once again feeding on a kill. It was an adult female kudu and looked to have been killed early that morning. After providing some excellent viewing they continued to move north until a day later tracks indicated that they had headed off the reserve. Many days later towards the middle of the month of February the Styx Pride were located on the very south eastern parts of the reserve around the Chellahanga River which is thought to be very far out of their usual territory in the north. The lions were once again feeding on the remains of a kill, this time an adult female waterbuck.
Interestingly, a second lioness of the Styx pride was seen to mate with one of the Rollercoaster males. The lack of confidence in the Split Rock male seems to be increasing, and it appears only a matter of time before more lionesses seek the Rollercoaster males as their suitors. Importantly all animals have a strong desire to reproduce, and in lion society it is no different, except the fact that male lions practice infanticide, and hence it is very important to have a dominant male lion that will provide protection to the cubs whilst they are still at a venerable age. Looking back, no less than five cubs of the Styx pride were killed by marauding male lions as a result of poor protection provided by the Split Rock male this past season. The Rollercoaster males were not witnessed to have killed the cubs, however they are definitely the coalition proclaiming a large piece of Mala Mala, and are hence an obvious choice.
January 2007 STYX PRIDE = 8 2 ADULT FEMALES * 11 YEARS 4 MONTHS Location: MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD The start of the report period has been a slow one for the Styx pride of lions. Since they were last seen moving off the north-eastern parts of the reserve into the Kruger National Park, they failed to show face for almost two and a half weeks. Rangers and Trackers were delighted after some very difficult tracking to find all seven of the Styx lionesses sleeping and looking healthy in the Jakkalsdraai open area.
There was no sign of any of the Styx cubs, which would lead us to believe that they are dead. This could be the reason for their return into the reserve as they may now submit to the Rollercoaster males. The Styx pride was then followed as they hunted northwards, yet were not seen to make any kills. The Styx pride was seen again accompanied by the Split rock male at the Emsagwen water hole. All the lions were looking slightly under-nourished. They continued to move south and west from there as they were actively hunting. They tried their luck on many different prey, but were unsuccessful.
Towards the end of the game report period the Styx pride were seen more frequently on the reserve. On the 23rd of the month the elder lioness with the floppy ear was even seen to be mating with one of the Rollercoaster male lions. A marathon-mating period of close on four days ensued, a direct indication of the lack of confidence the pride is now showing in the Split Rock Male. These are trying times, only time will tell the future of the Styx pride MalaMala
Game Reserve, PO Box 55514, Northlands, 2116, South Africa. Copyright © Rattray Reserves |
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