Selati Males and Ottawa Pride Update - by Brett Thomson

Paddy and the team at Savanna have sent us their latest news about the Selati Males and the Ottawa Pride.

“The Selati Males have continued their success with buffalo hunts, and took down another big bull in the Sand River near New Causeway. For the next three days we were treated to fantastic views of these magnificent males relaxing in the Sand and feeding on the carcass.

The Ottawa pride moved back north and they too bumped into the males with the kill and got pretty amorous as well! All three females ended up mating with the Selati males and we were spoilt with incredible views of the lions mating, lying on the rocks and lazing in the cooler sand.

We also had some very interesting behaviour within the groups over these days. On one occasion, one female was with two of the Selati males and, as we all know, this is usually the one time that brotherly love goes flying out the window! This time, however, the female mated with the one brother right next to the second male, after which she wandered straight past the second brother in a very provocative manner. We all held our breath, expecting the worst, but instead the two brothers gave each other an affectionate head rub and lay down!

The next day, however, things were not so friendly, and the other two males did get into a massive fight over a female. Unfortunately, it was in pretty thick bush so we were unable to get any photos or video of it, but for a look at a similar incident involving the legendary Mapogo brothers.” (scroll to the bottom for video clip of the Mapoga fighting)