November 2009
STYX PRIDE = 9
1 ADULT FEMALES 14 YEARS 2 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 8 YEARS 7 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 9 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALES 6 YEARS 3 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 6 YEARS 1 MONTH
1 MALE CUB 1 YEAR 8 MONTHS
3 FEMALE CUBS 1 YEAR 7 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(25 sightings)
The Styx pride had an exceptional month in terms of sightings but unfortunately it was not a good month for the pride, they lost another member to the Mlowathi males. This time it was one of the young sub adult females members, during the month two female sub adults got themselves separated from the pride and were found wondering eastern Flockfield for several days. Towards the end of the month they met up with the two separated lionesses but unfortunately they were with the one Mlowathi male. The Mohawk male known for is very aggressive behaviour especially towards other lions took exception to the youngsters and chased after them eventually catching up with one of them. She put up a fight but was simply overpowered by the male who killed her with some powerful blows to the face and neck. One wonders how much longer the rest of the cubs will last, as they seem to be getting picked off one by one.
On a lighter brighter note the pride was seen to two buffalo kills, a zebra kill and several smaller kills this month, the young sub adults were active in most of the hunts and helped out with the kills as much as possible, a good sign they are coming into adulthood and learning the ways of adult life.
The two separated females spent most their time under the watchful eye of the Mlowathi males who seem never to leave their side. The females mated on several occasions with the males but it all looked very staged as if they didn’t it only to keep the peace. One spectacular sighting had one of these females mating with the Mohawk male while the kinky tailed male was at a hippo kill with the Marthly pride, the two sightings came together and all hell broke lose as the males tried to defend their respective females while trying to feed while still trying to remain loyal to the other lions they were fighting off.
Lets hope the Christmas season bring some stability to the pride and lets hope they have a peacefully festive season.
October 2009
STYX PRIDE = 11
1 ADULT FEMALES 14 YEARS 1 MONTH
1 ADULT FEMALE 8 YEARS 6 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 8 MONTHS
2 ADULT FEMALES 6 YEARS 2 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 6 YEARS
1 MALE CUB 1 YEAR 7 MONTHS
4 FEMALE CUBS 1 YEAR 6 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(27 sightings)
A phenomenal month in terms of days sighted for this pride but alas most of the sightings were of the two separated females. The bulk of the pride was seen several times, they continue to move between our northern neighbours and us spending a few days on each property before moving again. They are still sticking to the eastern side of Mala Mala choosing to move along the Matshipiri river system. All five cubs are still alive and looking in great shape, the three females have all had time to heal and the scars from the last years fighting have all but disappeared. The two females that have separated from the pride have both been mating with the two Mlowathi males, first the young female who left the main part of the pride was found mating with the Mohawk male and then the kinky tailed male had his turn when his brother got tired. The older female who lost her cubs to the Marthly pride at the end of last month at the buffalo kill associated with the two males but wasn’t ready to mate so soon after losing her cubs. Toward the end of the month she was found mating with the Mohawk male but this is more likely to be a false oestrus more, to placate the males and to show acceptance than to fall pregnant. Lets see what happens in the next few months, hopefully the bulk of the pride continue to elude all the males and get to raise their cubs and the two females could possibly present us with the next generation.
September 2009
STYX PRIDE = 13
1 ADULT FEMALES 14 YEARS
1 ADULT FEMALE 8 YEARS 5 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 7 MONTHS
2 ADULT FEMALES 6 YEARS 1 MONTH
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 11 MONTHS
1 MALE CUB 1 YEAR 6 MONTHS
4 FEMALE CUBS 1 YEAR 5 MONTHS
2 CUBS 8 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(16 sightings)
The bulk of the pride were seen a lot more this month, they often stayed on the property for a week at a time something that has not happened this entire year. With the recent tragedy of the death of the older lioness rangers wondered how well the single female would fare with her two cubs. During the middle of the month the threesome was seen on four consecutive days in exactly the same place. The two cubs looked incredibly weak and malnourished and the smaller of the struggled to even walk over to its mother to suckle. There condition didn’t improve by the end of the report period and one wonders just how much longer they will live.
The older cubs in contrast to the younger two looked very healthy and in great condition. The four females also looked fit and health, this largely due to the fact that they haven’t encountered the Mlowathi Males for several weeks. The pride was tracked to a zebra kill one morning which they finished in one day the next afternoon they were found again with extremely full bellies and so must have made another kill during the night. Then one night much roaring and commotion could be heard and the next day the Mlowathi Males were found in the area of the Styx pride, one female was found with three cubs and for several days subsequent to the fight the rest of the pride couldn’t be found. But at the end of the report period the pride with all five cubs were found lazing together in wild dog rocks open area. Lets hope that in the future the pride will continue to evade the Mlowathi males and keep their cubs safe, the five cubs are almost at the young adult threshold and it would be a shame to see them be killed after the females have done such a good job at keeping alive till now.
August 2009
STYX PRIDE = 14
2 ADULT FEMALES 13 YEARS 11 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 8 YEARS 4 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 6 MONTHS
2 ADULT FEMALES 6 YEARS
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 10 MONTHS
1 MALE CUB 1 YEAR 5 MONTHS
4 FEMALE CUBS 1 YEAR 4 MONTHS
2 CUBS 7 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(13 sightings)
The bulk of the pride was seen on a number of occasions during the month. The four females and their five cubs seemed to have eluded the Eyrefield males successfully enough to warrant them spending more time on Mala Mala. The pride were found one morning in the middle of the month close to west street bridge by that afternoon they had tracked down the buffalo herd and had successfully killed an old cow. They fed off the kill for two days before it looked as if the Eyrefield males chased them off. The next morning they were found on central Flockfield and their luck didn’t change when that night they ran into the Eyrefield pride. Both pride were found in close proximity and as the sun set the Eyrefield pride strolled toward the Styx pride. The Styx pride became aware of the advancing danger in the nick of time and was able to put up a running defence as they extracted themselves from the battlefield. Two days later and without many serious injuries the pride was found early one morning with a freshly killed young giraffe. After this the nine members of the pride moved back north. The two females who are separated had very different fortunes this month. Not seen all that often they kept the two cubs along the sand river and around the rocky outcrops of Stwise. The single female with the two cubs looked in great shape was followed a few times while hunting none of which were successful. Then tragedy struck on the 24th of the month when news of a lion fight came over the bush telephone. One of the Styx lionesses had been severely mauled and beaten by the two younger Eyrefield males and had died from her injuries during the night. The next morning she was found by the neighbours in one of their dams being fed on by the resident crocs. A sad and tragic end to the oldest Styx female with the comical floppy ear, she was one of the two who had broken away when they had accepted the two new males but looks as if that still wasn’t enough to satisfy the lion killers.
July 2009
STYX PRIDE = 14
2 ADULT FEMALES 13 YEARS 10 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 8 YEARS 3 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 5 MONTHS
2 ADULT FEMALES 5 YEARS 11 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 9 MONTHS
1 MALE CUB 1 YEAR 4 MONTHS
4 CUBS 1 YEAR 3 MONTHS
2 CUBS 6 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(17 sightings)
A vast improvement in the frequency of sightings for this pride for the month. The Mala Mala community can only hope that they consolidate their territory and become a stable pride for viewing pleasure once again.
The beginning of the report period saw three of the Styx lionesses being hunted by the two Eyrefield males in the area of the old airstrip close to camp. These lionesses may have served to form a diversion to take the attention of the males off the juveniles, one can only speculate at times. The next couple of days the three Styx lionesses were found up in the Mlowathi region close to the dam. The next sighting of them was on eastern Mala Mala close to the Kruger National Park, where just five of the lionesses were seen devouring the remains of a small baby giraffe.
The next exciting sighting of this pride was the five lionesses and five juveniles feeding off an adult male buffalo close to Tlebe Rocks. One afternoon up in the Matshapiri River close to Matshapiri Dam where Rangers and guests watched them hunt buffalo. The pride had been found in the late morning drinking from the dam, and by late afternoon while they were sleeping, close by a herd of buffalo came down to drink, which sparked off a three hour stalk, hunt, chase and attempted kill. At one time one old bull had half the pride on his back but true to their reputation he was able to shrug them off, with the rest of the herd stampeding and chasing the pride off.
Another interesting sighting of the pride regarding their dynamics was seeing the whole pride together again. A giraffe had been found dead east of Ostrich Koppies, with tell tale signs as to what killed it, but by the following day their were the four lionesses with the five juveniles as well as the two lionesses and the two young cubs feeding off of the carcass. This is the first time that these two young cubs have being seen with the rest of the pride. By the following day though the lioness with the two young cubs were back in the Mlowathi region in the area of the Eyrefield males.
By the end of the report period the last sighting of the Styx Pride there were only three of the juveniles seen with the lioness, whether or not the other two have been killed by the Eyrefield males we do not know. The following weeks and months will be interesting for this pride as they will rely more and more on the Sand River, bringing them in close contact with the Eyrefield males.
June 2009
STYX PRIDE = 17
2 ADULT FEMALES 13 YEARS 9 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 8 YEARS 2 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 4 MONTHS
2 ADULT FEMALES 5 YEARS 10 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 8 MONTHS
2 CUBS 1 YEAR 3 MONTHS
6 CUBS 14 MONTHS
1 CUB 5 MONTHS
1 CUB 4 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(12 sightings)
The Styx pride is still split and the majority of the sightings were of the two females with the two youngest cubs. This group of four are doing very well and continue to use the Mlowathi River as a den site. The younger of the two females was seen to bring down a young zebra during the month, she fed on the carcass herself and by the next morning the hyaenas had moved in. The two Eyrefield males having firmly established themselves in the area have spent less time with the group which will allow the females to concentrate on raising the cubs without the added pressure of the males stealing the food. The bulk of the pride was seen on a number of days late in the month. On the 18th four females and five cubs were found in the Matshipiri river, the next morning rangers found them with a freshly killed kudu bull and the following morning they were still around. Fear that the missing adult had been killed or had died was alleviated when she was found with the pride a few days later as they came back into Mala Mala from the north. Sadly the same cant be said for the four missing cubs, with the amount of time the pride spent on the property the cubs would have died of starvation and so sadly it looks like the older cubs are now down to five. Interestingly at least two of these cubs are male.
May 2009
STYX PRIDE = 17
2 ADULT FEMALES 13 YEARS 8 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 8 YEARS 1 MONTH
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 3 MONTH
2 ADULT FEMALES 5 YEARS 9 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 7 MONTHS
2 CUBS 1 YEAR 2 MONTH
6 CUBS 13 MONTHS
1 CUB 4 MONTHS
1 CUB 3 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(15 sightings)
The majority of the pride had not being seen for over a month when they were found at Fourways Open Area. It still was not all of them as the composition was two lionesses and eight cubs. It seems that one of the cubs has perished during their wanderings to our north; they were either killed by other lions or by desertion. They were found one afternoon asleep on Styx rocks, but only a few hundred metres away lay the two of the Eyrefield males, as the sun set the female and her eight charges got active and headed briskly moved northwards away from the males. It seems they had picked up on their scent and followed them but fortunately for the cubs the males slept while they snuck away. It seems the pride may want to come back into their territory but are certainly still afraid of the two Eyrefield males. One opinion being said by rangers is that it could not be an all-bad situation if the Eyrefield males kill the older Styx cubs, not a nice scenario but one that might be necessary in order to bring stability back to the pride and for them to safely return to Mala Mala. The Eyrefield males are in full control of the northern parts of Mala Mala and the two Styx lionesses have accepted them but the rest wont until either the cubs are dead or old enough to escape persecution. The two females with the two young cubs are doing well and the cubs are healthy and curious, another interesting turn with these two females is that the oldest one was seen mating with the two Eyrefield males, now knowing that she has cubs she might be trying to draw attention away from the cubs in the case of males that haven’t fathered the cubs but we have seen both Eyrefield males interacting with the two cubs. So the reason for the mating must either be for acceptance, in that she accepts the two males as the new dominant males or secondly she might have rejected the cub and is now looking to have more leaving the other lioness with both cubs. An interesting winter awaits this pride.
March 2009
STYX PRIDE = 16
2 ADULT FEMALES 13 YEARS 6 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 11 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 1 MONTH
2 ADULT FEMALES 5 YEARS 7 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 5 MONTHS
2 CUBS 12 MONTHS
6 CUBS 11 MONTHS
1 CUB 9 1/2 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(21 sightings)
Although this pride was seen nearly every day many of the sightings were of fractions of the pride with the bulk members going missing for many days at a time. For many days the two females without cubs were the only lions seen on the property, during the middle of the months rangers watched as they made a kill in Piccadilly triangle. The single female with young cubs was found a few times and she also joined the two on occasion. She was also found with the two Eyrefield males close to the northern border once; all three lions were well fed. These two brothers are more than likely the fathers of her young cubs and could be the reason why she is hesitant to introduce them to the rest of the pride, especially while the Rollercoaster male is still around. The bulk of the pride and their nine surviving cubs moved around the eastern parts of Mala Mala for most of the month in areas not usually associated with them, this again will be from the pressure being applied by the Eyrefield males who this month spent a record number of days on Mala Mala. The four females led their cubs north with the Rollercoaster male and reports from the north are that they ran into the two younger Eyrefield males, no one was killed but the Rollercoaster male took a beating whilst apparently the females handed the two males a severe beating as they tried to attack their cubs. After this incident the females returned and during the night managed to catch a buffalo bull, by the next morning the entire carcass was finished. After their good luck with the buffalo the pride remained around the Matshipiri and south there of.
February 2009
STYX PRIDE = 16
2 ADULT FEMALES 13 YEARS 5 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 10 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS
2 ADULT FEMALES 5 YEARS 6 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 4 MONTHS
2 CUBS 11 MONTHS
6 CUBS 10 MONTHS
1 CUB 8 1/2 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(26 sightings)
Styx Lioness
The Styx pride had a solid month of sightings but not a very successful month for the pride. Pressure from the Eyrefield males is starting to hit home and the pride spent the month on the move ending up close to Jakkalsdraai open area in the middle of the month. The cubs are all still alive and well and the single female that broke off from the pride was seen several times but her cubs are still kept hidden. The two females without cubs also broke off from the pride several times with them making a spectacular kill in Piccadilly one evening. The rollercoaster male was present with the pride for half of the month before he went back to the Eyrefield pride for a short while, he seems to have left the Eyrefield pride in favour of the Styx pride which is not necessarily good for him or the Styx pride as this will surely attract the attentions of the Eyrefield males. No kills were seen and with the heavy rains over the month the bulk of the pride were hard to follow but several times they were found the next morning with full bellies and fast asleep.
January 2009
STYX PRIDE = 16
2 ADULT FEMALES 13 YEARS 3 MONTH
1 ADULT FEMALE 7 YEARS 9 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 6 YEARS 11 MONTHS
2 ADULT FEMALES 5 YEARS 5 MONTHS
1 ADULT FEMALE 5 YEARS 3 MONTH
2 CUBS 10 MONTHS
6 CUBS 9 MONTHS
1 CUB 7 1/2 MONTHS
MARTHLY, MALA MALA, EYREFIELD, FLOCKFIELD
(27 sightings)
The Styx pride have been mostly confined to the Northern Parts of Mala Mala for the duration of January. They have mostly moved between Piccadilly Triangle area and East of that using there favourite hunting grounds at regular intervals. Unusually this month has been without much incident for the pride. They have eaten well, the long grass helping their hunting style of hunting smaller game such as impala.
Styx Cubs - Image By Andrew Bachelor
Towards the beginning of the month they killed an adult zebra in the Tlebe Rocks area but headed straight back to Campbell Koppies after that. Other than that large kill and the elephant which they found at the end of the month, they have only been seen eating impala, which at this time of year, having all the young impala around is the easier option. Bigger prey tend to be very healthy during this time of the year and thus are harder to catch.
The cubs are still very healthy, at the writing of this report they are busy eating a large male elephant so are very happy. The Eyrefield males who have been threatening the pride over the last few months did not make many excursions down south and thus have not, as far as knowledge goes, bumped into the pride this month. With any luck the Rollercoaster male will maintain his dominance for the coming months and the cubs will remain safe.
