April 30, 2012
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War and Territory -- Edit
Makulu the lion (real name -- one of the two last lions from the Mapogo Coalition) is spreading his seed for what is probably the last time he can do so. Makulu is 14 years of age. He's gotten lucky with a Ximhungwe pride lioness...
A bit of history: The Mapogo's had a serious war with another coalition, the Majingilane Coalition (Majingi's)... The Mapogo's were once six strong, and the Majingi's were five strong at one point, but the fifth brother was killed, by the now deceased Mapogo's on June 10th 2010. Mr. T/Mohawk/Satan (one lion, those were his names in different areas) and Shaka/Kinky Tail were the Mapogo's that killed the fifth Majingilane. That night the remaining four Majingi's caught up to Kinky Tail and beat him unmercifully -- breaking his back, biting him into a bloody mess, Kinky tail, now paralyzed, was defenseless in the end against these four strong young adult lions. At the end of the fight, the Majingi's showed their dominance by eating him. I saw this fight on youtube; it was GRUESOME (http://youtu.be/ZH6s31VAfjI). Despite Mr. T's surprise attack to defend his dying brother, he did very well under the circumstances (4 against 1) but, failed to chase the Majingi's away and ran for his life...
After the death of Kinky Tail, all five of the Mapogo came together and went in search of the Majingilane. The mapogo's being considerably older, varying from senior to even more senior, the majingi's obviously knew how to fight and were, once again, much younger. They were ready to fight and when the Mapogo's caught up to the Majingilane coalition of brothers, they fought and the Mapogo's (5 remaining at the time) were concluded to have been defeated. The fight was heard for miles but there were no witnesses or film showing this fight, just audio. Three Mapogo's came back from that fight -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k1_AAUz9iQ (the caption under this audio said that four lions came out of that particular fight but, remember it was a war, and when the Mapogo's were seen shortly after there were two missing -- one killed, the other presumed to be killed). The Majingi's did not suffer any serious injuries that night.
March 16th, 2012: Mr. T got into a fight with a different coalition of lions -- these past couple of years hasn't been the Mopogo's best for allies -- the Selati's and Mr. T came to blows on a hot day, and despite Mr. T's strong defense he was defeated by these 4 strong lions. He gave them a good fight though, his lower back was broken from the fighting but he was still dangerous. Fighting to the end. Unlike the Majingi's, the Selati's didn't eat him; instead they fought him until he was hurt enough for them to know he had enough -- Mr. T had some deep lacerations and his back was broken. Remember the bush isn't a very clean place for open wounds, and broke backs don't mend -- so Mr. T was doomed in more than one way. Mr. T died in his sleep.
Kinky Tail's fight was at night and Mr. T's fight was during the day. I have two theories to why the Majingi's might have been more brutal than the selati's -- this is the fight between the Selati's and Mr. T. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Sq-SJmd5Y&feature=related.
1. This is my first choice in both theories: It is extremely hot during the day in Africa; this is the main reason why lions rather hunt at night and sleep/eat the other 16-20 hours in the day. Kinky Tail was unfortunately made an example of because it was night time.
2. This is the second: Lions are very intelligent when it comes to picking up who is in charge and who isn't. Their sense of smell is their lively hood, not only can they smell food over a mile away, they have a special organ in their mouths that works as a tracker (Jacobson Organ). It's also good for telling whether or not the lionesses are ready to mate (oestrus levels). When this organ is used, the lions sniff and take the smell into their mouth. During this process the lion will grimace (A very funny face), this process is also called, "Fleming". The Jacobson Organ can sniff out other lions territories, get the scent of other lions not just for mating but, intruders -- they get to know their surrounding and the living things (lions) that intrude or coexist in their territory(s). So when a lion registers a scent into his/her memory banks, it is never forgotten. Kinky Tail was a ruthless king and his scent was well known, I would assume that his urine was the more potent than Mr. T's or the others in that particular area because he did most of the territory claiming out of the six ( when he was around Makulu, it was a bit of a different story, that old boy was a warrior before the other Mapogo's knew how to hunt). Also identity is found through the particular roar a lion has as well. How was Kinky Tail found? My second theory is that the four remaining Majingi's caught Kinky Tails scent, recognized his roar, and when they caught up to him, they decided to make an example of him (this might be a too much of a logical way of thinking for lions but, you never know, lions surprise researchers and the people that are interested in them every day). The Selati's ended their bout with Mr. T when the job was deemed to be done so they didn't over exert themselves, causing possible injury or dehydration (in lions terms -- they got tired). Plus the Selati's didn't have the incentive to go to that much of an extreme with Mr. T because their bout was a matter of them clashing, and with the fight for territory. Mr. T didn't help to kill one of their brothers. However, the majingi's did in fact kill one of the Selati's siblings. So their is a lion war all over the African land of Londolozi.
I get to the point: Now that there are two more Mapogo's and no Mapogo's are to be in their old territories -- they will be killed and now their territories belong to the Majingi's -- the coalitions pride members and cubs are very important. And even though Makulu isn't related, he IS a Mapogo (the Mapogo's were named after this security company -- http://www.mapogoafrica.co.za/in-the-press.html -- this security business is known for their unorthodox and rough way of maintaining security). Makulu mated again and this could mean that a litter of cubs, hopefully both boys and girls, will be a strong possibility. This will carry on the name of the Mapogo Coalition.
This is a victory...
LOOK AT HIM GO!
(Prettyboy/Bent spine)
Now it's Pretty Boy's/Bent Spine's time to get it on with a lioness... I hope he does, that would be great!
Captions for the pics are below the picture source link...
Picture Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/imaanudit/4799377115/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Young Mapogo's resting...
Picture Source: http://animalsversesanimals.yuku.com/topic/489/Impressive-lion-pics-only?page=17#.T52NUquXSSo
Taking a stroll...
Brothers working it out...
Picture Source: http://safaritalk.net/gallery/image/3363-mr-t-mapogo-lionjpg/
Mr. T
AND
Picture Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22204867@N08/3768777157/
Kinky Tail
The Mapogo's will never be forgotten... Their names are written in the sands of Africa -- making the fallen legends and the remaining still loved regardless of what change will bring...
Comments (3)
@locomotiv -
Thank you for the lion's video. I find it very touching...
Animals reporter enh!
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