If there’s one animal we can count on seeing almost every day, it’s lions. Although one can never predict what happens in the bush, and we count ourselves lucky for each and every moment we spend with the wildlife in the Balule Nature Reserve, we are really spoilt with the biggest African cat.
The complicated dynamics of a lion pride mean that male cubs grow up and have to move out of the pride as ‘teenagers’ in search of their own turf. There can only be one male or coalition of males in charge of one pride, so when equally matched males come head to head, there is bound to be a fight, and at times the pride can split. This was the case with the Olifants West Pride, which is a known pride at Ezulwini. The two dominant males fought and one left taking half of the pride with him.
Now each pride has 13 lions, one of which we saw over the weekend! Also referred to as the Mohlabetsi Pride, this parade of cats with very full bellies moving through the area was a fantastic sight to behold. It looked as if they had killed something large like a giraffe and were now on the move for water. The natural behaviour of lions can be quite predictable if you get to know them. After a big meal and a lot of lying around, the next destination for these cats is most likely, water.
This pride was seen again after this occasion, while 2 of the original Olifants West pride lionesses were also seen, and the complete OW pride was moving around our area last week!
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