The intrepid khaki team spearheading the game drives at Chacma Bush Camp in the Maseke Game Reserve have certainly enjoyed their fair share of lion sightings of the past few weeks. There have definitely been leopard sightings breaking up the prolific lion sightings, but it’s a known fact that lions like to dominate turf and are innately designed to create a landscape of fear where they roam.
Their powerful presence makes the other more solitary felines retreat, and with coalitions and prides it’s best that the lone cats avoid confrontation. So, at the moment, the lions have decided to show our game rangers that they’re the dominant cats at the moment.
On Chacma’s traverse in the Maseke Game Reserve has 2 main prides/coalitions that have been spotted over recent months. It’s quite clear who the Maseke males are – they’re a group of 6 burly male lions easily identifiable due to their size, impressive manes and the fact that they always seen together.
Then there is a pride of 3 youngsters and one older female. The naming convention has begun, and we believe this pride is now called the Lamai Pride. A pride which is commonly spotted close to camp, and were recently spotted devouring a baby buffalo kill. The crew were a bit reluctant to be photographed, but our resident photographer Em managed to at least capture their journey from the natural meal table to the closest watering hole.
Michelle, one of Chacma’s rangers and camp managers, spotted the older lioness and her sub-adults attempting to take down a young wildebeest calf. Unfortunately, the pride left feeling rather defeated and the young wildebeest left with its life in tact. Michelle managed to photograph the whirlwind of dust and aggressive ambush tactic of the lioness attempting to smash a wildebeest.
The team at Chacma have been quite content with the numerous lion sightings that the Maseke have produced, but were rewarded with yet another lion sighting literally a stone’s throw away from the grounds. This time it was two lone lionesses chilling on the banks of the waterhole. Two lone lionesses and the virile Maseke males in the area – we can only hope what the next lion sighting will entail !
With so many neighbouring reserves, these two lionesses could have crosses boundaries from anywhere. Or are they locals that we just haven’t spotted or ID’d as of yet?
Stay tuned for our next instalment of the Chacma lion saga.
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