The Sand River Pride

Hi There,

I got an email from Leopard hills telling me that the surviving Sandriver younster is beeing seen from time to time and amazingly is surviving on his own, mainly on small animals he is catching.

Take care and be safe.

So happy to hear about the Sand River male and the survival of the injured Manyeleti brother (from your 10/3/09 post).  (That's March 10th to us North Americans.  )

I have some information on the young Sand River male. Apparently he was in a very bad state recently so was darted and taken to Skukuza for testing on a range of diseases. I don't know the results of these tests but the vet's opinion was that he was not in a bad enough state to be put down so was released back into the Sabi Sands.

I have no further information on his present condition.

thanks for the info i read on work done at skukuza

on other projects

Exeter Lodges Report for March 29th. Though he is not called the Sand River cub, I am pretty sure the youngster in this sighting is indeed him. Also, the Mapogo male is most likely the oldest male and sire of the Sand River youngster as well as the sire of the Ottawa pride cubs.

http://www.wildwatch.com/sightings/against-all-odds-2

"Against all odds

We had just set out from River Lodge to see if we could find the Ottawa Pride of lions that were left lying up near a dam approximately half a kilometer away from the lodge, called Shauna-Leigh dam. Within a few minutes Chris my tracker found fresh tracks leading to a nearby river, he suggested we check an area they had been visiting where there was a lot of shade; he thought they might have lay up there during the heat of the day. Chris was right; they were there, all 9 of them fast asleep. After about twenty minutes the two adult females decided it was time to move, with all 6 juveniles in tow and one of the six members of the coalition as a tag along, they set off down the road like a street gang. Every few hundred meters they would stop and listen, the male would scent mark and follow at a distance, amazingly they passed right by a huge buffalo bull fast asleep in a mud wallow that had no idea the lions were watching. We sat anxiously wondering if there would be a chase. Unfortunately the females decided it was probably too dangerous with the 6 one and half year olds around, the chances of an injury was way too high. After a few hundred meters the pride decided to rest until nightfall. Sitting under a star filled African sky we sat listening to the many beautiful sounds, Fiery-necked and Square-tailed nightjar calls dominated the night sounds. All of a sudden out of the peace and calm came the gut wrenching sound of lions fighting. A young male lion left over from a pride which recently perished in the area. He is approximately one and a half years old and is struggling to stay alive. He unfortunately wondered into the pride and now faced the challenge of his life. Both the adult females and some of the juveniles attacked him; amazingly the dominant male stepped in and chased the pride off him. We could not believe what we were seeing, Chris and I both thought he would be killed. Even more amazing was that he would not run away, instead he lay on his back in submission. The tactic worked, the pride with the adult male following close by left the area. The young male followed behind them and was periodically attacked by the pride that was again chased away by the male. We followed the pride for well over two hours and watched several more interactions. The two adult females then hunted and killed an adult male Impala. Unfortunately for them they were chased away by the dominant male who would not let any of the lions near him, except, the young sick male. We never saw if he had a chance to feed, but tracks the following morning indicate that he at least got the left overs. The pride later killed a Wildebeest where the young male was again seen nearby. Keep an eye out for updates."

Written by Craig Paulsen

Aquila, What an exciting sighting! Forgive me, but are you saying the male in this sighting is the Mapogo and possible sire of the Sand River cub? If not, still unbelievable that he protected the male.

Yes, the oldest Mapogo is reportedly the Sand River youngster's father.  I hope he will provide this poor boy with some much needed protection and maybe a free meal now and then.

Beautiful. It will be grand if he can survive...against all odds

What a great story to read.  I hope he becomes a member of their pride.  Thanks

I have a bit more information on the young male and copy below part of an email from Craig Paulson, the ranger who wrote the report on the lion.

leopard tortise

Females usually lays 6 - 15 large, hard-shelled eggs.

hope he decides to feed on something new (lol)

good write -up

thanks

A Big thank you to all that give us the great info. It takes much work so thanks much!! Keep it up,  you do a wonderful job.

News from Duncan Rogers from leopard hills ! Looks good!

www.leopardhills.com

Since the demise of the Sand River Pride at the beginning of the year, the one remaining young male seems to be hanging in there.

I have been holding off for a while on commenting on this situation until we had an understanding of which way this was going to go.
The one remaining Sand River Male has been surviving on a meager diet of tortoises, rodents and smaller game which he has been managing to catch. He has been spending most of his time in the old territory, but also venturing further east which is territory held by the Ottawa Pride. It was a matter of time before he was going to run into them, and this indeed happened not too long ago, the events that followed have not only amazed us, but have also once again showed proved that there are no rules written in stone.

On the morning in question, the young Sand River Male inadvertently wondered quite deep into Ottawa Territory and literally head first into the Ottawa Pride themselves. The two adult females of the Ottawa Pride, and some of their juveniles immediately set upon him, and we were convinced he was going to be killed. Amazingly he didn’t back down, instead he lay on his back in a posture of submission and took the onslaught. Then the incredible happened, one of the Large Male Lions from the Mapogo Coalition arrived on the scene and drove the Ottawa females off and lay down next to the Sand River Male, as if to protect him. Every time the Ottawa Females tried to approach the young Male and attack him they were driven off by the Large Male. This continued for a while until the Ottawa Pride moved off, followed by the Large Male, and yes you guessed it, the young Sand River Male tagged along behind at a respectful distance.

A short time later, the Ottawa females managed to bring down an Impala, and once they had made the kill, were immediately driven off by the Mapogo Male who would not allow any of them close to the kill, except the young Sand River Male. Although he did not feed on the kill while this amazing situation was been observed, there was evidence later that he had managed to get some scraps off it. The Ottawa females later went on to kill a Wildebeest during the night and again there was evidence that the young make was still in the vicinity, and again has managed to gain some sustenance from the kill.

The question needs to be asked, why the Sand River Male is putting himself in danger by trying to gain entry into a Pride that he is not related to, and why is he being protected by one of the Mapogo Males. Firstly, he is the son of one of the Mapogo’s and this relationship will be realized, but history tells us that this is not justification of the Large Males behavior, as the Mapogo’s also fathered the Othawa juveniles as well. There could well be an element of desperation, and the survival instinct that is ever present has kicked in, overshadowing feelings for his own personal safety. I am not pretending to be an expert on these matters; I can only report behavior as we encounter it, and I am also sure everyone has their own personal theory as to what is going on here. I guess time will tell and we will keep you posted on the Sand River Males progress. I for one am routing for him, and hope he surprises us all by living a long and fruitful life, thereby in time, passing the Sand River genes on to future Prides within the Reserve.

The last time he was seen was a couple of nights ago, and although looking thinner that he should do, and once again, for the time being, on his own, he is still maintaining. There are very few people who would have given this particular Lion any odds on surviving on his own after the demise of his Pride, myself included. And although he is not out of the woods yet, there is a long hard road ahead for him, who are we to say that he won’t make it, after all, he has surprised us all thus far, and best we not forget, it is Sand River Blood that is flowing through his veins!!

He is still out there!

Message from Duncan  Leopardhills.com  wrote:

Good news indeed! Thank you all for the appreciated info!

Hello Iceage! Great to have you here again!

Latest news.

From LeopardHills .

Just a quick update from our side, the Sand River Young Male was seen again on drive this morning, looking thin, but definitely holding his own at this stage, we will try and get some more pictures for for you shortly to up load on the blog.

Thank you for the great stories and updates on lions, and our Sand River male in particular. 

What a great story.  I am pulling for the "survivor."

It´s always a relief to hear good news of Sandriver male! Like a fairy tale, thouhg there is question of totally else. Iceage, I told you, that the yougster has some excellent character traits!   

The young Sand River Male has lost his fight to survive. 

Posted by Ulusaba:   "Other great sightings included the Othawa pride and one Mapogo having killed an adult giraffe, which they fed on for more than a week. The young Sand River male also joined them at the kill, but as those of you who saw him would remember, he was in a really poor state, and could hardly muster the energy to feed, and unfortunately was found lying dead next to the carcass."

http://vlog.virginlimitededition.com/?p=810

A very sad ending for such a brave youngster.

This is very sad news. Thank you for letting us know.

Sad indeed, but thank you for letting us know Aquila. I was thinking of him this week.

Sad news indeed, ( but i have a sparkle off hope) It still seems that it is not confirmed 100% .

although all the sighns look as if it is sadly true it is still not confirmed yet.

so lets keep our fingers crossed.

I was not able to sent any comments a week ( didnt work from my work account)

Sadly the death of the last Sandriver has been confirmed now.

http://www.leopardhills.com/blog/index.php?itemid=254

( has a picture also )

I was hoping and hoping and wishing and wishing, he would be accepted by the Ottawa pride ( which seemed to work)  under the protection of one of the older Mapogo's.

This Lion deserved to live a long and happy life after what humans did to his pride. He seemed to do well a long time taking care of himself. ( he was about 1,5 years old) It really makes me very sad  to have heard he didnt survive.

As Duncan wrote in his blog.

We salute this brave young lion.

there is a comment on this blog from Drew who said->

I am sure that he is in that big animal Kingdom in the sky & has joined up with the rest of his Pride who have welcomed him home!

This comment made me very silent.