| Mapogo Lions -vs- Matimba male Lions | June 2011

The mystery night at June the 19th 2011: The 3 remaining Mapogos fought the young and huge Matimbas (probably the oldest, Hairy Belly and Ginger Matimba). Even in old days the 3 old warriors pushed the Matimbas out of their area. The Mapogos succesfully defended their pride and held their ground. Notice the scratches on Mapogo faces and you know how intensive this night brawl was. This photo collage was made by Andre Van Der Spuy who visited Ululapa just after the battle. Another historical document for us. Many Thanks Andre Van Der Spuy

The End of Mr T Mapogo | Mapogo Lions -vs- Selati male Lions

March 16th 2012 ... The End of Mr T Mapogo posted by seasonsinafrica.com The defining moment had to come, speculation as to how and when has dominated conversation around dinner tables and campfires in recent weeks. Every epic tale must build up and deliver a scintillating finale and the story of arguably the most acclaimed and notorious coalition of male lions ever documented to prowl Africa certainly did! After their brief encounter with the 4 Selati(Southern) males a few weeks ago when the weakest Mapogo member was slightly injured, the dynamic changed and a follow up encounter involving the coalitions was imminent. Was it the Ximhungwe lioness mating with the Selati males a month ago and giving them a taste of the trophy at stake? Was it a sudden a weakness detected in the weaker Mapogo male? What is certain is that a number of factors led to the showdown and heart wrenching culmination on the morning of March 16th! Our guests have been privileged enough to witness both sides of the story evolve over the past week. Firstly the youngsters moving in, strengthening their coalition bond, scent marking all over the Mapogo’s northern territory. It was almost as if they were preparing themselves for the inevitable confrontation. Meanwhile the 3 Mapogo were occupied and content with a large buffalo kill in the south that kept them busy for days. On the morning of the 16th when we received the radio message “we have audio of lions fighting in the south”, we knew it was on! The initial message was relayed as 3 Mapogo’s have isolated a young male, this is what we expected…what we wished to be for the proud old men we had known for so long! On arrival on the scene to see the tables turned was unforeseen, shocking…it took us all some time to grasp what was unfolding in front of us. We expected all 3 Mapogo’s to stand their ground and rise to the challenge! The old boxing adage “You’re only as good as your last fight” certainly holds true! It was the veteran gladiator that stood up to be counted and fought admirably for his territory, his offspring, his lionesses and ultimately his livelihood as a male lion! Without a territory is he not a male lion? He would rather die defending his pride than live out his existence as a castigated nomad, whatever your thoughts are on the short maned Mapogo and there are many contrasting opinions! He will always be respected and remembered for his character and fearlessness. An afternoon thunderstorm rose eerily and saturated the bloodstained earth, washing away the Mapogo bloodline and unveiling an exciting new era. The fate of the remaining Mapogo cubs hangs precariously in the balance, they will most likely be killed! We are however excited about new beginnings and some stability for the Ximhungwe pride under the Selati males.

♛ The Royal Bloodline of Mapogo Lions - From 1969 To 2018

"This is Sparta !" Mala Mala was the birthplace of the mighty Mapogos. In the past this region was reigned by their grandfathers MalaMala males of 69 and their powerful fathers the West Street males. The legendary pride of this area are the Queens of the Sparta pride, who gave life and the title to them: the notorious Spartans. The heritage of Mapogo bloodline went from Mapogos to the sons the Sand River males and finally to grandsons the Mangheni males. A truly royal dynasty of Sabi Sands: Bloodline of 👑 Mapogo 👑 -Born in Mala Mala (Emperors of Sabi Sands 1998 / 2013) 1.Makhulu / 1998...March 2013 Fathers - West Street Males Mothers - 1. Tsalala pride? ________2. Sparta pride? 2. Rasta / March 2001...July 2010 Fathers - West Street Males Mothers - Sparta pride 3. Pretty Boy / March 2001...Nov 2012 Fathers - West Street Males Mothers - Sparta pride 4. Dreadlocks / May 2001...Dec 2010 Fathers - West Street Males Mothers - Sparta pride 5. Mr T / May 2002...March 16 2012 Fathers - 1. West Street Males? _________2. Rollercoaster Males? Mothers - Sparta pride 6. Kinky Tail / May 2002...8/9 June 2010 Fathers - 1. West Street Males? _______ - 2. Rollercoaster Males? Mothers - Sparta pride

Makhulu Mapogo chasing Ravenscourt male Lion (2007) | Territorial encounter

"On our last evening at Londolozi, our guide followed a lion that was looking for his pride. We followed him into the bush, at one point in time. I left that footage in, even though it's jerky, so you can get a sense of what it's like to be on safari.The safari drive was spent following two lions (Makhulu Mapogo & Ravenscourt male) who were having a territorial encounter. Ravenscourt /Castleton Male was chased off by Makhulu Mapogo." - Ravenscourt/Castleton male grew up in the castleton pride before joining up with 4 Ravenscourt Males for a while (Shaws males). Ravenscourt male was also known as the castleton male, he was the brother of Kokwana. He eventually joined the Ravenscourt pride and seemed to accept the Sand River males cubs as his own. The Ravenscourt pride succumbed to the pressure of the Mapogos and disease with both the Castleton male and one of the youngsters being absorbed into the Ximhungwe pride in 2008. When the Ravenscourt pride disintegrated the Castleton/Ravenscourt male rejoined the Ximhungwe pride, he teamed up with the young Ximhungwe male. The Castleton male and young Ximhungwe male formed a bond and moved away from Mapogo controlled territory in late 2008/eary 2009 but both had to be put down after killing and eating a Rabies infected domestic dog. ((It was not long after this that the 2 males were put down after being found eating a dog which tested positive for Rabies, a week or two later and they would have been inoculated against the disease as the authorities were busy with all the large predators at the time) late 2008/early 2009 was when the Ravenscourt & young Ximhungwe male died.

The Mapogo Lion´s ROOOAAR that shook Africa

The six legendary Mapogo Lions roar and tell the World that they are the Emperors of Africa!
In order:
Makhulu
Dreadlocks
Rasta
Pretty Boy
Kinky Tail
Mr T

Mapogo Lions - Battle Kings Of Lion World

"Mapogos...the true Spartans"
Coalitions and Males the Mapogos fought and defeated in at least one encounter as well as Males that were KIA against the Mapogos. Keep in mind there are multiple Nomadic Males that were pushed out or killed by the Mapogos that were never documented. 3 coalitions of Nomads that were documented. So we may never know the true extent of the massive Mapogo reign which is already incredibly illustrious as it is. Furthermore it took 9 Males and two different younger Coalitions to contribute in the downfall of the past their prime Mapogos. Truly amazing:
1. Split Rock Coalition (2 Males),
2. Nhlanguleni Male (1 Male) 3. Northern Coalition (4 Males),
4. Gwarri Bush Male (1 Male) 5. Dzunani Male (1 Male),
6. Rocky Serengeti Male (1 Male) 7. Nkuhuma Coalition (2 Males),
8. Ravenscourt Male (1 Male) 9. Skukuza Coalition (4 Males),
10. One eye and Stompie Coalition(2 Males),
11. Rollercoaster Male (1 Male),
12. Tsalala Male Solo (1 Male),
13. Nomadic Coalition (4 Males),
14. Nomadic Coalition (2 Males),
15. Nomadic Coalition (2 Males),
16. Manyeleti Coalition (2 Males),
17. Golf Course Coalition (2 Males),
18. Gijima Coalition (2 Males),
19. Toulon Coalition (3 Males),
20. Majingilane Coalition (5 Males),
21. Matimba Coalition (3 Males),
22. Othawa Coalition (2 Males),
23. Selati Coalition (4 Males),
24. Limper KNP Male (1 Male) Casulties: Casulties include at least 13 fully grown Males killed by the Mapogos. It is not known exactly how many of the Skukuza Males were killed but all disappeared and at least 1 killed from the Mapogo conflict. The Western Mapogos also killed 2 Nomadic Males in 2009. The Mapogos simply were doing nature's calling and they excelled as Lions like no others have. 1 Nhlanguleni Male 1 Northern Male 1 Gwarri Bush Male 1 Dzunani Male 1 Rocky Serengeti Male 1 Skukuza Male 1 Nkuhuma Male 1 Golf Course Male 2 Nomadic Males 1 Manyeleti Male 1 Majingilane Male 1 KNP Male An impressive list of the greatest coalition of all time, aren't it? This is Sparta! - Mapogos 4ever - R.I.P. Mapogos and R.I.P. to all great Lions they fought!

Mapogo Male Lion Coalition

MAPOGO COALITION (1998 - 2013) 6 Male Lions also known as the Eyrefield Males, the Sparta Males and in some regions the "Cannibals" They were named Mapogo after a security company that utilizes rather harsh methods in dealing with offenders. We've found several different meanings for Mapogo. Ulusaba refers to it as meaning "Vigilantes" and Savanna Lodge refers to the Mapogo name being a Zulu word meaning "Rogues". What ever the meaning, they are Bad News!
Pride they Originated From: Eyrefield Pride aka Sparta Pride This pride still exists and consists of 3 adult females and 9 cubs. Two of the remaining Eyrefield pride lionesses are siblings of the Mapogos and the third and oldest lioness may very well be the Mother to some of them. The dominant male of this Pride today is the one remaining Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton Male.
Sired by: A Coalition of 5 Male Lions known as The West Street Males aka The Sparta Males. (Note: There is a twist to this story that we will share a little later.) These males took over the Eyrefield/Sparta pride from the Manyeleti males in 1998. They were approximately 8 yrs of age at the time and successfully raised many cubs to adulthood during their reign. The last of this coalition died in 2004 at the approximate age of 14 years or even older (some reports indicated the last two were plus/minus 16 yrs in 2003 when two of the original four Marthly/Split Rock/Robson males moved in).
The Oldest Mapogo Male is said to be unrelated to the other 5. The story is that the original pride (Eyrefield/Sparta) lost a male sub adult of 20 to 21 months of age in May/June 2000 and in July 2000 this male of about the same age latched on to the original pride. Though not readily accepted by the lionesses, the West Street Males barely tolerated him though they did not kill him as he was no threat to their dominance due to his age. His life was not an easy one as he was considered an outcast, yet this young lion became one of the boldest and most valued hunters by helping to keep the pride fed when the West Street males became too old. Londolozi refers to the oldest Mapogo male as "Ngalalalekha". Ngala means lion so does lalekha mean "old, older, oldest"? Good question for Rexon. Another name for this male is "Ngalagalega" said to mean "The Lonely Lion". This oldest Male is elusive. He is said to be bigger, bolder and darker than the other five. He is believed to be the sire of most of the Mapogo cubs that have been born so far but with more recent reports of matings it seems some of the other males will become fathers too if not already. (Note: See section on Cubs Sired by Mapogos Below) One story about this older Mapogo male that sticks out in our minds is when Londolozi reported a sighting of two hyena clans on a buffalo carcass. A group of approximately 25 adult elephants standing shoulder to shoulder with little ones behind them were staring the hyenas down. A noise was heard behind the vehicle and when the spotlight was shown in that direction an "enormous" male lion burst into their sight roaring louder than any roar they had ever heard before which sent 30 hyenas scattering. It was the leader of the six Mapogos. He started down the wall of elephants which after about 5 minutes of standing their ground finally gave way to the lone male and moved off. The Older and currently the Dominant Male of the Coalition is easily identified by his broken right canine tooth.
The Other 5 Mapogo Males are said to be sired by the West Street Males but here is where the twist comes in...... the two youngest might have been sired by the Roller Coaster Males aka Shaw Males aka Castleton Males. The Roller Coaster males were believed to have started out as a Coalition of 6. Four of which enticed some of the Eyrefield/Sparta females into mating with them while the aging West Street males were away from the pride. Thus it is unclear who actually fathered the two youngest. And to add another little twist, it is said that the West Street Males who sired the Mapogos also fathered the Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton males.
Estimated ages of the Mapogo Coaliton as of Dec 2010:
Older Unrelated Male 12 yrs 2 mos (Makhulu/Big Mak/Bob Marley/Ngalagalega the Oldest)
Two Older Related Males 9 yrs 11 mos (Some call the Twins - T2/Pretty Boy/Skorro/Bent Spine and brother Red/Rasta/Leonides)
One a Little Younger Male 9 yrs 9 mos (Dreadlocks/Snip Tail/Scar - missing end of tail tuft, scar through nose)
Two youngest males (Kinky Tail/Shaka and Mr T/Mohawk/Satan - possibly sired by the Roller Coaster Males) 9 yrs 1 mo (The two youngest are distinguished from the others by their immature manes sporting mohawk style look to them. Sometimes referred to Mr T and T2 on some reserves with Mr T being known as Satan due to his aggression towards other lions/lionesses/cubs and his willingness to initiate a fight.

As you can see, the Mapogo Coalition is not the first nor will it be the last large coalition. Being the first large coalition the WE viewers have encountered, it is hard to comprehend that the current lion population can survive with all these killings but they will. The survivors of this onslaught will be the “new” beginning, the “next” generation just as the survivors of past large coalitions were. We don’t like it and we don’t have to like it but sadly it is the nature of things.
How have they impacted the lion population in just the couple of years they have been independent? Here are a few reports:
Londolozi reports five prides that have been adversely affected by the Mapogos. They cited these three: Castleton Pride originally 22 and down to 6; Tsalala Pride originally 10 and down to 5; Ximunvanyane Pride originally 10 down to ZERO. We can say fairly confidently, the number of prides adversely affected has risen since the Londolozi report.
Elephant Plains reported recently of receiving a report from Sabi Sands stating almost 40% of the lion population has been killed by the Mapogo Coalition in just the past year. That relates to approximately 50 lions.
(Our thoughts: Do these numbers also include deaths that occurred from the pressure that the Mapogo coalition has put on other prides and coalitions in the Sabi Sands area?)
Quote from Elephant Plains referencing the Mapogos “Killing buffalo, adult giraffes, even young rhinos and hippos. And lions. And they were not just killing the lions..they were eating them”
More on their cannibalistic ways. On February 7th 2007, the Mapogos not only brutally killed “Rocky” aka the Serengeti/Kruger male but they ate him. “Rocky” was the dominant male that sired the 6 cubs of the two younger Tsalala pride lionesses. All those cubs have been killed except for one sub adult female. Currently the Tsalala pride falls under the dominance of the Mapogos. In the same report where Singita tells of “Rocky’s” death, they mention the Mapogos being seen eating a dead lioness the previous year.
Hyenas better watch out too! We haven’t seen any reports of them eating Hyenas but they do kill them as shown in this sighting from Singita.
http://www.singita.com/site/Wildlife/rangerdetails.asp…
Recently, the Elephant Plains Newsletter had a graphic photo of a Mapogo Male with a Hyena in it’s mouth. Though the Hyena was not killed on the spot, it died from the injuries sustained.
Knowing how much we all love the Nkuhuma pride, we will only post the link to the killing of Blondie by the Mapogo Males. Reported by Arathusa, Dec 14, 2007. (Note: This is a PDF file)
http://www.arathusa.co.za/pdf/diaries/Dec0701.pdf
The Mapogo Males not only kill other males’ cubs but cubs of their own.
Ulusaba reported in June 2007 that a split in the coalition had occurred (though this split seems to have only been temporary). During this report period the 5 related Mapogos killed the oldest unrelated Mapogo’s cubs belonging to the Othawa lionesses.
The Mapogos seem to have banded back together as a coalition after the short term split in 2007, Ulusaba reported in March 2008 that the coalition had joined the Sand River pride on one of their occasional visits to see their offspring. They all shared in two wildebeest kills including the FIVE male cubs (beginning of another large coalition?). One of the cubs thought it would be fun to slap his sleeping Father on the nose. Boy oh boy did he find out that was a mistake. His Father exploded to his feet bearing down on the defenseless cub! Luckily, all the little one got was a good swat to his backside. LOL After some Motherly reassurance, the cub decided his siblings were a better target for that type of play.
To give you an idea of their strength, here is an awesome video posted by Youtube member mattwood22. Taking down a Buffalo Bull – January 2006. The dark mane one is the “oldest” Mapogo and there is one lioness with them also on this kill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RKBllKd590
It is only fair to show a softer side of the Mapogos. This article from Exeter/Wildwatch is about a sighting of one of the Mapogo Males (probably the oldest) interacting with his cubs. It includes some great pictures.
http://www.wildwatch.com/sightings/ottawa-pride-cubs-found
We hope this information has been helpful and may shed a new light on these bad boys. Are they BAD? Yes! Are they any worse than other large coalitions? Probably not, with the possible exception of their cannibalistic ways.. they tend to take that to an Extreme!
Please remember, this information is not set in stone as it is an evolving story and there are conflicting accounts.

Written by Aquila and Karen in VA
By WildEarth| May 17th, 2008