Lions of nDzuti : Beauty and the Beast

The River pride was the dominant pride of lions who traversed the nDzuti Safari Camp territory. Lead by a fearless warrior who fought to keep his pride alive, this king spent his time fighting off youngsters from neighbouring prides attempting to to oust him.

The  lone warrior fathered 10 healthy cubs and the burgeoning River pride was 13 members strong, comprising sub-adults, lionesses and cubs. One fateful day the lone warrior was killed and sightings of the River pride dwindled.  Over the past few weeks we have seen a beast of a lion attempting to mate with one of the River pride females.  We speculate that this male is the one who killed the dominant male from the River pride. We have only seen these two a couple of times and have yet to establish what the future holds for them. Either way, the possibility of lion cubs is on the cards.

The lion antics were caught on camera, thanks to Kevin MacLaughlin. Apparantly the scene that unfolded was quite amusing. When the River pride female finished her part of the mating process, her suitor decided to continue. He kept biting her tail and continued to follow her around. It seems she was playing games with this beast of a boy ! She was walking in circles (we think to taunt him) and she eventually walked through the river.  He does not look amused.

We’ll bring you further updates about this mating pair in the next few weeks.

The beast of a lionLone male looking to mate with the River pride female Courting the River pride female Lion's mating ritual Chasing the lioness across the river Crossing the Klaserie River The chase is on ! This rogue male chases the River pride female The beast who took down the River pride leader Chasing the River pride female Lioness trying to run away The male who took down the River pride Waiting to mount the female Trying to impress the River pride female Chasing his prize - a scowl because he is not impressed with the river crossing ! Courting ritual with River pride female