The king is dead….

Masinyo at buffalo kill near our waterhole, November 2009,
with Big Boy in the background

Our local lion pride, often known simply as “The Big Pride” in view of its numbers (19 at one stage a couple of years ago), recently suffered a setback.  One of the two pride males, called ‘Masinyo’, was found dead near the Olifants River.  He had not been in good health for a while and had been seen some two weeks previously with quills stuck in his mouth, having presumably come off worst in an encounter with a porcupine.

We had not seen Masinyo since March 2011 when both he and his brother, ‘Big Boy’, were feeding together on a giraffe killed in a collision with an electricity power line.  Only Big Boy was present at the giraffe kill near our waterhole in late November 2011 and was very thin and limping badly (but has recovered since.)  

Big Boy at our waterhole, November 2011

While theoretically Masinyo’s death leaves Big Boy and the pride more exposed, to date the surviving brother has been holding his own as the lone pride male, on several occasions roaring loudly very close to the Lodge.  The two of them had controlled the pride for over ten years, a far longer time period than is normal in lion society.