The Ross Pride has done it again! One of the females has given birth to two lion cubs and one of them is a white lion. Rein Kock, a ranger from Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp found the cubs with their Mother deep in a thicket on game drive last night.
About 10 months ago, the Ross Pride lost another white lion cub and the mortality rate of lion cubs is extremely high especially in an area like the Klaserie that has such a high density of big and dangerous game like leopard, hyena, buffalo and elephants. The mother will often have to leave her litter of cubs unattended as she joins the pride on hunts, and it is during times like this that they are often killed by other predators that discover them.
The father of the white lion cub is without doubt one of the dominant Ross Pride males. The 3 Giraffe Pride males recently took over the Ross Pride and since then, one of them tends to spend all his time with the Giraffe Pride, while the two others have been spending most of their time with the Ross Pride – hence they have been renamed the Ross Pride Males.
These are very special prides, as within the past year, four wild white lions have been born to the Ross and Giraffe Prides!
The best camps to visit to hopefully see the Ross Pride are Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp. Both camps are easily accessible via a scheduled flights from Cape Town or Johannesburg to Hoedspruit Airport (also called Eastgate). From there road transfers to camp are provided free of charge by both camps. Alternatively there are affordable daily shuttles buses that run between Johannesburg and Bones Bush Pub. Again both camps collect guests free of charge from Bones Bush Pub and transfer them to camp. Contact one of expert consultants (who have all visited the camps) for assistance.
All images below courtesy of Rein Kock, a Game Ranger at Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp
