SANParks.org Forums

Hi,

Has anyone seen lions in mapungubwe and when?

Hi dewlade. We’ve never seen lion but we’ve found tracks. Plenty. I’m bad with directions but it was on the other side of the den Staat road when one exits from the LFTC camp road. I’m not sure where we ended up but we saw lion tracks, then all of a sudden two gorgeous gems buck running helter skelter through the mopani and heard & saw plenty of jackal. It was in the late afternoon. Then once when our car developed two slow punctures, the wonderful guys at ZZ2 helped and chatted and they’ve seen lion. On the den Staat road. Early morning. And the game ranger have seen lion on the tar road near Pondrift, at day break.

This time of year we always hear them at night from LFTC, when the Limpopo is dry. Could be from across the river at Mashatu or it could be on our side. Who knows? Who cares? It’s the best sound on earth.

By the way, does anybody know what the state of the river is? Is it possible to cross at Pondrift or Platjan?

While staying at Vhembe trails camp I heard lions roaring one night , the camp attendant assured me they were regularly seen in the area .

It seems that for some reason the lion prefer the Botswana side of the river. Probably better prey selection available.

But yes, I have heard them as well, and they do occur in Mapungubwe.

ndloti,

Now I do not feel so stupid. I also thought I heard lions when we stayed at Vhembe last month, but my family just laughed it off.

We stayed at Vhembe camp this Easter weekend. We heard, and saw, lions from our tents. The attendend said that the lions are now more or less permanent residents of the park, with lots of cows to feed on!!

Skopsie,

Glad I got some confirmation now and agree with you on the available food source. During our visit we found cattle drinking at Zebra pan about 1 km from the camp and at the turn-off towards the camp.

Maybe the lions are not used to the dinner bells

Skopsie it’s absolutely brilliant to know there are lion still around.
Couple of years ago we met researchers near Vhembe, tracking a collared lioness who had then recently given birth and the pride seemed to have settled in Mapungubwe. They were tracking their movement and there was concern that they would perish as soon as they moved out of MNP.
Almost sure Rox Brummer was part of the research team as she was part of the Tuli Predator Project. Haven’t heard for a long time from Rox and her special tracker dogs or how the MNP lions are doing.
Lots of interesting Lion research and Mapungubwe lions in the thesis of Andrei Snyman on www. notugre.com, under Projects. But also not fresh news.
( “Children of the Wilderness – Limpopo Valley Project” also is a brilliant investment in the future.)
In my opinion the Mapungubwe Lions are under threat not only from the cattle owners but also from Tuli hunters as well as the big 5 hunting farm directly across from Mapungubwe in Zimbabwe. If you look at their website they stand around dead leopards and offer more leopards and even elephant.

giraffee,

It is interesting what you say about the thread on the lions and leopards. And they are even luring a leopard with a dead impala so that it can be shot when investigating whats in the tree.

For interest I've added a Map of the area indicating the areas that should be part of the peace park but might be hunting farms. GreatPeace park indeed .

Hi Son Godin. I did not read a lot into their site.

giraffee,

The only evidence I have is a leopard spoor I've seen at the look-out decks to know that leopards are still around. The fact that one do not see any cattle killed can be for a reason. Some-one is watching the cattle and driving them back at night time to Zim. The leopard spoor I've seen was only a few 100 meter from where I found cattle, which makes one wonder why they do not get killed.



I can also not understand why you want to a kill a leopard traveling thousands of km if its not in your back yard threatening your family. Even then some farmers will make plans to safe the animal. Its really sad to know that the elephant or kudu you saw crossing the river can be killed on the other side by a hunter.

At least Mashatu is there to protect animals walking over to Botswana.

Here some more evidence on leopard from Cherries:

Vhembe, May 2011 early morning. Sitting on my 'stoepie' I heard approaching hooves. A big herd of Eland came charging and then stopped in the valley in front of our cabin. Then they darted off again but one stayed behind - or so we thought!
Closer inspection revealed that it was indeed a full grown lion cub trying out his luck but didn't quite know how to handle the situation. Great experience in the best place on the continent!!!

Lions seen in May 2012 on the Western side on the Mopani Loop Drive with Eland Kill, large males.

My husband has see lion on a few occasions. There was a lion kill the week before Chrismas of a zebra and a donkey on the private land next to the park. So the lions are around but seems to be the through outs from Botswana that move through.

Possibly not such a good idea then. Taken from the canopy walk in 2007.