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Thanks for the reply. Yet again the S100 will sure to travel this road in December!

The Singinta area is very close to the area that the old Sweni pride dominated in the mid 80's, they were about 36 lions strong at their peak.
The Sweni wilderness trail camp of today is roughly in the middle of the old Sweni prides territory.

I saw this program too.The Singita area is near the Nwanetsi picnic site (where the Nwanetsi private camp was) and is now a private concession where you pay big bucks to stay.

The pride was 28 strong. If any of you can recall a book called "Night Stalk" by Bruce Aiken who did lion research in the Sweni Area which is close by there was a pride of 33 lions. there in the early 1980's.

That is quite correct, (couldn't remember in my earlier post if it was in fact 39 but thanks for confirming).

A very interesting book, describing how Bruce and his assistant followed the Sweni pride for about 8 months. Following them mainly at night, he gives a very detailed account of life with the pride, from eventually being accepted 'as part of the pride' and also including the amount of kills he witnessed.
Great book indeed!!

Watched the program aswell
i think that particular pride (mountain pride) was first spotted when Nat Geo screened the live show back in December 2008 hosted by Michaela Strachen. They were staying @ Singita Lebombo and showed the young males that were still quite young at the time.

Wonder if those males that were ousted from the pride in the program could be the same 7 males that were recently spotted along the S41 near the Gudzani area

I have heard about this coalition - sounds amazing - can you imagine seeing these guys.
Even adult rhino fear them I'm sure!
Just out of interest a coalition of 5 males that I have seen grow up (part of their life) all worked together and took over an absolutely huge territory.
In the last year they have split apart into a group of 2 and a group of 3 and each is in control of their section of territory.
Obviously this would increase mating chances so makes sense.
I wouldn't be surprised if these 7 male lions follow this strategy??

During and early morning drive on Saturday 7 November we saw a number of Lionesses and 3-4 sub adult youngsters next to the road at the first waterhole on the S100. ( I.E. The waterhole closest to Satara).
They seemed perfectly relaxed despite all the cars.
Suddenly one of the Lionesses jumped up, stared in the direction of the riverbed and then started running away at great speed with all the others following.
The next moment 2 male Lions appeared out of the river bed and ran after the females.
For the next few days there was no sign of lions in the area.
We are just curious if these sub-adults cubs have been spotted since then as we wondered whether the pride could have been taken over and the cubs killed by the new males.

Thanks for the info, Susan. I am sure forumites who have read this will now keep a lookout and keep us posted. If it is a takeover, we have to remember it's part of the cycle of a lion pride's life, however sad it may be for the younsters. . There is a similar rumble going on down at BergenDal with the pride there.

You can have a look here for help on posting photos.

We saw this pride in mid October in the same location on two days and there was two males with them then and all was calm. So not sure if this is the same two or new guys?

I agree with Maddie.
We were at Satara 6-9 October and met with a very relaxed pride.
There were 2 males, I think a bit young.
Maybe an easy take over for more experienced guys.
I think it as on the 7th we saw close to the pride an older male with a very bloody nose.
It seemed he had lost a mayor fight.
We are interested if this lion has anything to do with this pride.

Would love to hear more. This fellow looked like he had lost a fight on the s100 near the waterhole, right where an 11 strong pride was seen the day before. Great memories of October. Hope they are all fine, got lots of great shots of the cubs playing and fighting.

At just about the spot that Susan refers to, we saw a pride last week (morning of 19th Nov) of 1 male, 4 females and 3 playful cubs. They were definitely what I would describe as cubs ie. a few months old, rather than sub-adults as you described, so not sure if this is the same group.

After crossing the road, they became aware of another single lioness which was clearly not part of their group. After they gave her a cold stare, she assumed the submissive position and the pride lost interest and moved on.

for those who didn't believe me well...

If I am gonna see lions, THAT'S how I like them.

Forget the traffic jams to see en ear twitching 200 metres into the grass!

We have been lucky like this - well maybe not 9 every time - quite often.

In April 2010 we saw the big5 on the S100, including our first leopard and a pride of over 20 lions.
Last Wednesday we came back home after a 2 week trip and we didn't see a lot on the S100.
The old male from that pride died and the lionesses rebelled so the pride is divided in at least 2 smaller prides. Where the river parallel to the S100 was their home ground, they left that place.
Maybe the spirit from that old lion is still hanging out there and scared all animals...
Maybe withing a year of two the S100 will be a hotspot.
There is water close, so don't write off the S100...