Dark Mane- the undisputed boss, the most dominant of the Majingilane brothers. He was last* seen on April 9, 2018 resting at Big dam in the Elephant Plains area of Sabi Sands.
"This male is one of the most beautiful lions we have ever seen. The gene that gives him his dark coloring is not very common, thus seeing a dark-maned lion in his prime is on most safari-goers' bucket list of sightings. Research teams have actually studied these dark lions and have demonstrated that females will consistently prefer dark-maned males over potential mates with lighter manes. The proposed reason for this is that dark lions have a harder time in the bush and are thus mature males are "strong survivors", implying that their hearty genes are valuable to a female!
For example, versus tawny lions that blend in well with the dry grassland, dark males are more visible to prey, which makes it harder to hunt! As well, dark lions get hotter in the sun, like wearing a black sweater, so must expend a lot of precious energy vs. an equivalent-sized lighter lion dissipating heat. This "toughness" that is eventually so attractive to females unfortunately also attracts the attention of rival males: young, dark-maned lions often fall victim to older, more dominant males before they get strong enough to take over a territory of their own." - Dylan @ Brandt Safaris
How the Majingilane reign came to an end:
With no coalition actively having forced these male out, it seems like age has finally caught up with them. After 8 years of dominion over much of the Sabi Sands, and having ousted and then warded off numerous other coalitions, the only adversary for which they (Majingilane) had no defence, was time.
~ James Tyrrell, Londolozi
blog.londolozi....
Photo & Video credits:
Londolozi Game Reserve
Wild Earth/Safari Live
Inyati Game Lodge
MalaMala Game Reserve
Alistair Smith
Quinton Paul Josop
Daniel Bailey
Rob Vamphew
Daniella Kueck
Jen Martin
Brandt Safaris
Matthew Brennan
Michael Moss
Linda Nichols
#Boss #Legend #Krugerlion #SabiSands
5 июн 2018
