Nomadic males roar at dawn - 03:26 pm
15 Jun 2009
We heard calling from two different positions north-west of camp in the early hours of this morning and so made our way up Mboma island. We decided to split up. Brad and Jason headed through the centre of the island and Penny and I worked our way further north. The calling to the north was persistent and it did not take us long to find two young nomadic males shouting the odds to all the world. These males, that we have never seen before, look to be about four years old and are big lions. Their manes are growing in and, once fully mature, will be impressive animals.
At sunrise, they began to move south-west, roaring constantly through the early morning, deep bellows resonating across the open plain across which they were moving. They were also scent marking as they went, looking to all as though they owned the place.
Young male lions get ejected from their natal pride when they reach adolescence at about two years of age. For a number of years they must survive by constantly dodging mature pride males. These two lions have managed to survive and are now coming into their own. They will soon be of an age and size where they will begin standing a real chance in challenges for a pride of their own.
Brad and Jason had by this time found the Xakanaxa pride resting up on the south-western edge of Mboma, right on the dubious border area of their territory. They did not respond to the roaring of the two young males and seemed content to ignore the obvious challenges being shouted.
The two young males began making their way towards the Xakanaxa pride and we left them to join Brad and Jason, expecting a confrontation. This did not happen in the end and the Xakanaxa pride did little else during the morning than move into the shade.
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