SANParks.org Forums

Thanks again, Jasond, for the insider information.

Great sighting. Keep us posted

That is a large coalition. I've heard of coalitions of 5 - 6 males but 9 (previously 11) is very large. Wow!!! Is this normal?

Most of them seem relatively immature. Will the coalition split up into smaller groups and challenge for new territories of their own as they get older? If so, at what age do they generally do this. Or are they likely to stay as a 9 lion coalition and take over a prize territory in this area?

I was in KNP in March 2012 and also saw the 9-male coalition on the H7. My friend and I were driving from Satara towards Orpen, when my friend suddenly said "There's a lion - no wait - there's another - and another". This went on until we counted the 9! They were walking East to West on the river bank opposite the road (Northern bank). They ranged from sub-adult to full-maned adults.

I was amazed to see such a large coalition. Someone on FB said they were often seen in the Timbavati Game Reserve and also mentioned the 2 which had been killed.

We felt really privileged to see them, especially as the only vehicle for most of the time.

We came across these gentlemen in January, on the H7 near Bobbejaanskraans.
Not sure if they are from the same coalition.

Interesting topic. We think we saw this coalition in 2010. It was a very wet morning and we were driving from Satara to Orpen along the H7. There was a guy in front of us who stopped, made a u-turn and raced away. He was gone in a flash, I had no chance to get his attention to turn around - he gave up on the H7 literally metres from where the lions were lying next to the road in long grass. Three we could get on a photo, and we stopped counting at 5. There were obviously more.

Mitch - looks like them. Mixture of sub-adult and fully-grown adult males. They seem to hang out in that area and further up into Timbavati Reserve.

Sounds like another coalition like the mapago boys who cause absolute havoc in mala mala, sabi sabi and sabi sands and perhaps even in kruger for a bit.

6 male lions who controlled 3 or 4 prides and could be more

i think this coalition will split up over time, even the mapogos split eventually in 3 seperate unites, 3 in one, 2 in another and 1 by himself. they were eventually killed off by nomadic male coalitions

Mitch was it in Jan 2013? We saw two guys taking pics of each other in the middle of the road at Bobbejaanskrans on 1 Jan 2013. Just wonder if they also got the lions in their pic.

Jason, if you look on the Tintswalo Safari Lodge's Rangers Blog (www.tintswaloguides.blogspot.com) - in their first few posts they mention these male's quite often. As I'm sure you know, Tintswalo is in the Manyeleti, so they do see these boys every now and again!

Hope this helps