Out of the shadows of the Balule emerges a majestic lion called Duma. With his trademark mohawk golden mane, deliberate jungle swagger and blue steel poses; he’s hard to miss.
Duma is the self-appointed King of the Balule, slightly over confident but a natural born leader nonetheless. At the moment he leads the Olifants West Pride of lions, a pride 10 members strong who was once a mega-pride of lions divided by a Shakespearian style tragedy. We normally only see Duma’s harem of lionesses and sub-adult males; so spotting the king a few days ago while out on game drive with Ezulwini required our attention.
So just how did dashing Duma become the most revered lion leader in the Balule? Let’s disseminate a bit of information here. The Olifants West Pride of lions was a mega-pride of lions in the Balule. After the death of their two prominent leaders, Big Boy and Mazinyo, the pride splintered. It was actually Duma and his brother who fought them to the death. Young, confident male lions have a habit of doing this if they want to take over the pride. Lions live in a warrior world where only the ultimate fighters survive. It’s a cruel and tumultuous world of testosterone where lions strive to reign over a pride.
Duma stayed and emerged as the leader of the original Olifants West pride. Duma in Shangaan means “sound”. He has a loud roar which can be heard reverberating through the land. Currently, the Olifants West Pride comprises 10 members, of which there are 3 lionesses and 6 cubs.
Hear Duma Roaring:
So what happened to Duma’s brother? He is the original leader of the York Pride of lions, which is currently 13 members strong. There are roughly 8 males who have been seen without their female counterparts, of which there are 5. Unfortunately, Duma’s brother has not been seen in quite sometime. Where could he be? We often see the York Pride of lions on the move and they seem to enjoy patrolling the main Olifants road. But Duma’s brother is nowhere to be seen !
Meet Duma’s Brother, leader of the York Pride of Lions:
Split offs from the original mega-pride include the River Pride and the Balule Pride. The Balule Pride is a small pride of lions made up of females and two sub-adult males. At this stage we speculate they are 6/7 members strong. Let’s see what happens with this rather youthful pride !
The River Pride of lions is also 13 members strong and just recently, they had a rather interesting encounter with a porcupine! They’re a young and fearless pride. A burgeoning force to be reckoned with.
The Balule is home to a number of strong, successful lion prides and a safari at either Ezulwini River Lodge or Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge will ensure you bump into these king cats! When you stay at Ezulwini you could be lucky enough to enjoy incredible lion sightings of majestic males, a beautiful lionesses and sub-adults with attitude.
But, in the meantime, let’s focus on our favourite king – Duma. Here is a collection of images take by Jochen, purely for your enjoyment!
Brenda Quatember