[a video of male lions in the wild]
guy who only knows about the mapogo coalition: i’m getting a lot of mapogo coalition vibes from this
With heavy hearts, we share that the Tsalala Female has lost all three of her cubs.
The Tsalala Female has been dealt a difficult hand from the start, mirroring the challenges faced by her mother, who also raised her first litter alone after the other lionesses in the pride died. Despite this, in recent months, the Tsalala Female was spotted nurturing her cubs with care, despite the looming dangers in her territory. She had already suffered the loss of one cub during a fierce confrontation with nomadic males (covered by Sean Zederberg), a heartbreaking reminder of the relentless challenges she faces. But even as October gave way to November, hopes remained that her remaining cubs might survive to carry on the Tsalala legacy.
Unfortunately, territory dynamics have only grown more complex. With the Kambula Males (Ntsevu breakaway Males) gaining strength and expanding their reach, they are poised to challenge the Plains Camp Males for dominance in the north. This mounting tension has cast an unsettling shadow over the prides linked to the Plains Camp males, including the Tsalala Female. While the Plains Camp duo continues to thrive, patrolling a vast territory and spending time with their associated prides, the shift in power dynamics has created an uncertain environment.
Tragically, it was in this turmoil that the Tsalala Female lost her remaining cubs. First, only one cub was missing, and she was seen desperately searching with the two others at her side. But just a few days later, after an altercation with the Ximugwe Pride close to the area in which she has been keeping her cubs: she was spotted again, bloodied, and this time calling out alone—her remaining cubs nowhere to be found. Reports from our neighbours indicate that both Plains Camp Males have visited the Tsalala Female and her cubs in the past without aggression, ruling them out as the cause of this heartbreak.
As we struggle to piece together the mystery of what really happened, the reality settles in, her cubs are gone, and the Tsalala Female is left to face her solitary path once more.
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A mountain lion cub feasting on a mountain goat carcass. Photographed by Stay Wild Media.
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Lion brothers Snyggve and Tryggve (both died in 2023), then aged 4 years, accompanied by a lioness. Photographed by Giovanni Strobe, November 2014.
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Photographer Captures Photo of Rare Siberian Tiger
Wildlife photographer Sascha Fonseca has captured an incredible photo of the ultra-rare Siberian tiger in its snowy natural environment.
Source: petapixel.com
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- Camera-trapping data revealed in a new study show a steady recovery of tigers in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex over the past two decades.
- The tiger recovery has been mirrored by a simultaneous increase in the numbers of the tigers’ prey animals, such as sambar deer and types of wild cattle.
- The authors attribute the recovery of the tigers and their prey to long-term efforts to strengthen systematic ranger patrols to control poaching as well as efforts to restore key habitats and water sources.
- Experts say the lessons learnt can be applied to support tiger recovery in other parts of Thailand and underscore the importance of the core WEFCOM population as a vital source of tigers repopulating adjacent landscapes.
The tiger population density in a series of protected areas in western Thailand has more than doubled over the past two decades, according to new survey data.
Thailand is the final stronghold of the Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), the subspecies having been extirpated from neighboring Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam over the past decade due to poaching, habitat loss and indiscriminate snaring...
Fewer than 200 tigers are thought to remain in Thailand’s national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, only a handful of which are sufficiently undisturbed and well-protected to preserve breeding tigers.
The most important of these protected areas for tigers is the Huai Kha Khaeng Thung Yai (HKK-TY) UNESCO World Heritage Site, which comprises three distinct reserves out of the 17 that make up Thailand’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM). Together, these three reserves — Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thungyai Naresuan West and Thungyai Naresuan East — account for more than a third of the entire WEFCOM landscape.
Now, a new study published in Global Ecology and Conservation documents a steady recovery of tigers within the HKK-TY reserves since camera trap surveys began in 2007. The most recent year of surveys, which concluded in November 2023, photographed 94 individual tigers, up from 75 individuals in the previous year, and from fewer than 40 in 2007.
Healthy tiger families
The study findings reveal that the tiger population grew on average 4% per year in Hua Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest and longest-protected of the reserves, corresponding to an increase in tiger density from 1.3 tigers per 100 square kilometers, to 2.9 tigers/100 km2.
“Tiger recoveries in Southeast Asia are few, and examples such as these highlight that recoveries can be supported outside of South Asia, where most of the good news [about tigers] appears to come from,” said Abishek Harihar, tiger program director for Panthera, the global wildcat conservation organization, who was not involved in the study.
Among the camera trap footage gathered in HKK-TY over the years were encouraging scenes of healthy tiger families, including one instance of a mother tiger and her three grownup cubs lapping water and lounging in a jacuzzi-sized watering hole. The tiger family stayed by the water source for five days during the height of the dry season.
The team of researchers from Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Kasetsart University, and India’s Center for Wildlife Studies deployed camera traps at more than 270 separate locations throughout the HKK-TY reserves, amassing 98,305 days’ worth of camera-trap data over the 19-year study period.
Using software that identifies individual tigers by their unique stripe patterns, they built a reference database of all known tigers frequenting the three reserves. A total of 291 individual tigers older than 1 year were recorded, as well as 67 cubs younger than 1 year [over the course of the study].
Ten of the tigers were photographed in more than one of the reserves, indicating their territories straddled the reserve boundaries. The authors conclude that each of the three reserves has a solid breeding tiger population and that, taken together, the HKK-TY landscape is a vital source of tigers that could potentially repopulate surrounding areas where they’ve been lost. This is supported by cases of known HKK-TY tigers dispersing into neighboring parts of WEFCOM and even across the border into Myanmar.
Conservation efforts pay off
Anak Pattanavibool, study co-author and Thailand country director at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told Mongabay that population models that take into account the full extent of suitable habitat available to tigers within the reserves and the likelihood that some tigers inevitably go undetected by camera surveys indicate there could be up to 140 tigers within the HKK-YT landscape.
Anak told Mongabay the tiger recovery is a clear indication that conservation efforts are starting to pay off. In particular, long-term action to strengthen systematic ranger patrols to control poaching as well as efforts to boost the tigers’ prey populations seem to be working, he said.
“Conservation success takes time. At the beginning we didn’t have much confidence that it would be possible [to recover tiger numbers], but we’ve been patient,” Anak said. For him, the turning point came in 2012, when authorities arrested and — with the aid of tiger stripe recognition software — prosecuted several tiger-poaching gangs operating in Huai Kha Khaeng. “These cases sent a strong message to poaching gangs and they stopped coming to these forests,” he said."
...ranger teams have detected no tiger poaching in the HKK-TY part of WEFCOM since 2013.
-via Mongabay News, July 17, 2024
catching up on the saba bora coalition and one of the boys is seriously limping. vets think someone might have drove over him whilst he was sleeping in the tall grasses! 😭
Throughout October, a coalition of two ageing nomads—the Kruger Male and the Southern Avoca Male—has been wandering through the area. These two males from different backgrounds have banded together to live out their twilight years. A union for survival rather than dominance. Their presence brought an unsettling air to the territory, especially when they ventured westward, closer to where the Tsalala Female had been keeping her cubs safe among the rocky outcrops.
The details of what happened remain unclear, but reports from our neighbouring reserve suggest that a tragic encounter unfolded. It appears the nomads may have stumbled upon the cubs, prompting the Tsalala Female to defend them fiercely. This altercation attracted the attention of the Plains Camp Males, who rushed in to protect what they believe to be their progeny. Despite the bravery displayed, the aftermath revealed that only two cubs had been accounted for, leaving one little life lost in the chaos.
After days passed we could accept the confirmation that one of the female cubs did not survive, weighing heavily on our hearts. For a small pride like the Tsalala Pride, every cub holds the promise of a stronger future, especially the females, who remain with the pride to bolster its ranks. The young male will eventually face his own journey of independence, but the female cubs represent the continuity of the Tsalala Legacy. Losing one is not just a personal tragedy for the mother-it is a setback for the pride's chance to rebuild.
The Tsalala Female herself was seen bearing a few wounds, though thankfully, none appeared serious. Meanwhile, the Kruger Male was spotted alone wandering far from the scene, his solitary figure suggesting the conflict had scattered the parties involved. Days passed without any trace of the missing cub, and though the hope lingered, the reality settled in: the little lioness was gone.
Londolozi Private Game Reserve, South Africa Words by Sean Zeederberg, 5 November 2024
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Her story has been well documented over the decades but few know that without her – Londolozi would not be what it is today. She was the first leopard that allowed us into her world. She was an emissary from nature showing that trust could be rebuilt between animals and humans. She had many litters of cubs that grew up modelling their mother’s trust of the Land Rovers. As she raised these cubs the allure of ‘The Leopards of Londolozi’ was born.
We called her the Mother, not only because of her cubs but also in some magical and symbolic way – she was the mother of Londolozi. She helped make it a successful business. As word got out that there was a place you could go in the wilderness of South Africa to see wild leopards – people began to visit us from all over the world and still do to this day.
She birthed a kinship between people and wild leopards. A guardian of sentient wild creatures – she made the choice to partner in trust and love with humans.
— On Mother (b. 1975 - d. 1991), words by Londolozi Private Game Reserve
Indian Leopard (Melanistic) | Maxim Korenyugin
South American Cougar | Paulo Mascaretti