You read right… The Ross Pride is back in old territory, deep in the Klaserie! It is with bated breath that we post this announcement, because we all know this is the wild and anything can happen. The 3 Trilogy lions that chased this pride away over a year ago are a formidable trio, but they could also be the males that will now attempt to mate with the 3 Ross Pride lionesses that have returned with their 4 ‘teenagers’.
We have waited for something more than a fleeting sighting, just to make sure that they are truly back and not just passing through. After one or 2 brief moments with the 7-strong Ross Pride last week, there was something that truly made us think they might be here to stay… Our guides and Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp found the Ross Pride on a nearby property hunting a family of warthogs! Full confidence, the 3 adult lionesses and 4 sub-adults managed to kill 2 warthogs and feasted on their prizes in full view of our cameras.
Courteney Blunden gave us some insight into lion pride dynamics, and it seems that the Ross Pride has returned to their old territory with the intention of having cubs. Lionesses often return to an area where they have previously given birth or where they themselves were born. Chuck and Larry – the adult sons of the lionesses – have been kicked out of the Ross Pride and are now on their own to find a new pride to dominate, leaving the 3 lionesses and 4 youngsters without a pride protector. This, according to Courteney, is why the Ross Pride is back; coming into oestrus in their old territory and making themselves available to mate with the dominant lions in this area… and those lions are The Trilogy.
Is the Ross Pride back for good? Will they continue to hunt in their old Klaserie territory and bring back their legendary name? Will the Trilogy lions find these lionesses and mate with them in order to sire their cubs and expand their gene pool? Courteney reckons this is almost a certainty. The danger is that the sub-adult males in the Ross Pride that are too young to head out on their own are at risk of being killed off by the Trilogy. It is in male lion DNA to want to dominate the bloodline, and any male lions that are not their own sons stand a chance of being killed.
Lastly, one can’t help but wonder if the breakaway Ross lionesses who have also been mating with the Trilogy will join up with the rest of their pride at long last. Will this be the start of the Ross Pride-Trilogy family we have all been dreaming of? Watch this space for the lion updates of the Century!
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