Wilderness Shumba guide and ambassador, Isaac Kalio reports on the latest lion situation from a phenomenally productive early-season Busanga Plains…
It’s some six weeks or so into the season, and the Busanga Plains are just getting more and more exciting, with tension between the members of the resident Papyrus Pride and the new nomadic males still high.
These new males (Scarface and Nervous), whom we thought were just passers-by, have come to stay, and seem to have hooked up with Princess and Maggie (the young females of the pride). Queen, the alpha female of the pride, is not on the favourites list of these new males however, and they have been seen fighting with her several times. Not only that, Machine’s twins, the newly-named Castor and Pollux, were also recently seen being chased by the nomads and losing their buffalo kill.
The Machine has attempted to stay away from this trouble as she has two cubs plus an adopted cub (a sister) from her mother, Queen. Having been away for a long time, Queen recently reunited with Machine, but has abandoned her own cub as she is nursing a lot of wounds, and age seems to be catching up with her.
The good news is that our lions have turned into buffalo killers, preying on four within a month, while both lechwe and puku adults and calves have been hunted in broad daylight.
