Sun Destinations

Whether it’s powerful matriarchs governing intelligent herds of elephant, protective lionesses hovering over their birth pride or motherly leopardesses teaching cubs the artful skill of conducting kills; one thing is undeniable in the bushveld – the feminine energy is powerful and often a force to be reckoned with. Lionesses are a powerhouse of maternal instinct, stealth like prowess and emotional aggression. They are not to be underestimated and they’re survivors – the Ross Pride Breakaway lionesses are testament to this.

For quite sometime, our traverse has been dominated by the force of the Ross girls, but now we’re welcoming a fresh, new feminine energy in the area. While the Ross Pride lionesses do their thing, seemingly only enjoying each other’s company and the occasional mating session with wandering males, the other lions continue to filter into their home turf. New females are flirting with Ross territory!

The two newcomers seem to be hanging around with the Mbiri males and they even conducted a kill together.

While we’re loving the presence of new females (because that means the possibility of bundles of lion cub fluff) there could be drama on the horizon…

The two Ross Pride Breakaway females share an inexplicable bond, one that has never faltered through the years. They’ve given birth to plenty of cubs, but their mothering skills leave a lot to be desired. Their cubs, due to the turbulent world of the bushveld, never see maturity. For us, the new females in the area might breathe new life into the traverse, with our hopes being pinned on the possibility of cubs.

Lionesses are exceptionally powerful, ruthless and remarkable hunters. If the two old school queens come face-to-face with the new queens of the jungle, there could be a violent scuffle and dirty drama.

So, who are the new females – the ones daring to patrol the periphery of Ross territory? They are two unknown lionesses often spotted with the beautiful Mbiri males.

We’ve not seen any of them mating, but they were caught devouring a giraffe kill over the weekend. Perhaps the Mbiri’s are wining and dining the females first before making their move!? We speculate that the Mbiri’s are actually the sons of the Northern Matimbas in the Mbiri Pride.

So, that’s the one side of the fence. The other side of the fence is firm old-school favourites, the Ross Pride Breakaway lionesses. They were also spotted over the weekend, but avoided the area where the Mbiris and their ladies were hanging out. Over the past couple of weeks we spotted the Sumatra male mating with the Ross girls, but we’ve not seen him since. Nomadic males and unknown males often come to mate with the Ross Pride Breakaway sisters! They tend to keep to themselves and sightings of them are always exclusive from other lion sightings.

While all of this has unfolded during the course of the week, we have also enjoyed some other strange behaviour in the world of lions. One of the Trilogy males emerged from the depths of ‘veld after hiding out for months and brought with him a powerhouse of a lion with youth and stamina on his side. We’ve not seen them since we’ve spotted the Mbiri males.

We’re not asking you to pick favourites – the good news is that we have, once again, an interesting mix of lion behaviour and a heavy presence of female newcomers. Lions – we’re not short of sightings!

Portraits of the Mbiri Male’s Lionesses

The Ross Pride Breakaway Lionesses