The Northern Avoca male lions

 Five male lions were born into the Avoca pride of Timbavati in early and late 2013. The two older brothers left their pride in early 2016, conclusively breaking the coalition of five, these two would later be known as the Southern Avocas. The three younger males started their nomadic journey in late 2016. Their search for territory and prides brought them south to Sabi Sands, there they clashed with a few of the dominant coalitions, including the legendary Matimbas, the fathers of the Mbiri coalition of Ngala (the Northern Avocas would win this fight). In mid-2018 they found the area abandoned by the Birmingham coalition, the Northern Sabi Sands, the Northern Avocas kept a low profile before announcing themselves as the new rulers of the area. The previously dominant Birmingham coalition tried to push the Northern Avocas out, but the Avocas persisted, it was a combination of the Birmingham coalition finding new prides and the Avocas being unwilling to leave, that lead to the Birmingham coalition to fully vacate the northern Sabi Sands, leaving it to the Northern Avocas. The Northern Avocas quickly took over the resident prides in the area, the Talamati and Nkuhuma prides. In early 2019 the lionesses from both the Nkuhuma and Talamati prides gave birth to the Northern Avoca’s cubs. Everything went well for the Avocas and their prides until late 2019, the Dark Maned Northern Avoca completely stopped seeing his two brothers, Blondie and Mohawk. He stayed further north with the Talamati pride. His brothers, Blondie and Mohawk, showed no interest in visiting Dark Mane and the Talamati pride and stayed with the Nkuhuma pride slightly south. They were staying out of each other’s reach like they had two different territories, Mohawk and Blondie stayed in northern Sabi Sands, while Darkmane stayed in the extreme north of Sabi Sands and southern Manyeleti. In early 2020 the Nkuhuma pride, along with Blondie and Mohawk, started to stretch their territory a little south, this area was under the control of the previously mentioned Birmingham males and their Kambula pride. This was dangerous for the cubs of the Nkuhuma pride and the pride knew it, but the presence of two big dominant Northern Avocas gave them the confidence to go south with their dominant males. In early 2021, Dark mane paid a surprise visit to Blondie and Mohawk in the south, but hopes of reunion were quickly shattered when Mohawk made it clear he was not going to tolerate him by growling at him and roaring. Dark Mane was rejected by his own brothers and sent back north. This encounter played a crucial role in Dark Mane’s demise later on. After the failed reunion, Blondie and Mohawk once again set their sights on Birmingham male territory. In April 2021, Mohawk sneaked up on a Birmingham male, who was in the company of a Kambula pride lioness. The Birmingham male finally realized this and sprinted away, Mohawk quickly chased after the fleeing king and just as he was getting closer, a herd of elephants interrupted, this gave the Birmingham male time to run away. Mohawk then started to roar, which was a symbol of dominance and a challenge to the Birminghams. This was just the beginning though, Blondie and Mohawk started frequently jabbing into the Birmingham controlled area and both parties had a few back and forth chases. On one of these occasions, one of the Birmingham males was caught by Blondie and Mohawk, he luckily managed to escape with a few scratches and Blondie sustained a front paw injury. Blondie also killed at least one cub from the Kambula pride. The takeover seemed inevitable. The Avoca’s future seemed bright, but problems were around the corner. When Blondie and Mohawk were busy taking over central Sabi Sand (Birmingham territory), four Ndzhenga males from far south also sensed cracks in the Birmingham males’ armour and decided to investigate. When arriving the Ndzhengas herd the roars of the Avocas, which lead to a fight, where the Avocas were forced to go back north. Blondie, who already had a front paw injury, had gotten a few gashes on his back and to make matters worse, when they were in Birmingham territory, the Plains Camp males split off a couple of lionesses from the Nkuhuma pride. A while later Blondie was seen with a hole in his skull, Sabi Sands officials thought it was a gunshot and helped him, luckily it wasn’t a bullet, but instead an injury endured in a fight. Dark Mane was also struggling due to being left alone by his brothers, he wasn’t as fit as a lion should be, because of a front paw injury he sustained in 2019. The Imbali male who was dominant east of Dark Mane sensed his weakness and came after him and his Talamati pride, the Imbali male’s tours into Dark Mane’s territory stopped when he managed to break off a couple of Talamati lionesses. The remaining Talamati pride lionesses and sub-adults ventured far west for unknown reasons and Dark Mane was not seen with them. In the following weeks he was seen in poor condition searching for his pride, a search that brought him to central Sabi Sands, where he was seen on a kill with the Kambula pride sub-adults, he went further south deep into the territory of the Ndzhenga males. In October 2022, Blondie was seen in terrible condition, due to tuberculosis and his injuries, he unfortunately passed away that same month. Just a few weeks after his brother, Dark Mane was gored and tossed around by buffalo after trying to hunt with the Nkuhuma pride sub-adults, he unfortunately died days later, most likely due to internal bleeding and starvation. Now Moahawk was the “last man standing” of the Avocas and still controlled the Nkuhuma pride, he held on until late 2023, when pressure from the Black Dam males became too much and he decided to leave with his 4 sub-adult nkuhuma sons, unfortunately one of the sub-adults was killed, he was most likely killed by other lions, Mohawk and his sons then went into Kruger, where they took over a territory and a few lionesses, Mohawk, then for some reason, left his sons and returned to Sabi Sands, he then reunited with the Nkuhuma pride, which had no dominant male, because the Black Dam males split up and lost control of the pride. Mohawk then became the dominant male of the Nkuhuma pride and built a bond with the smaller Black Dam male, who was trailing the pride and they formed a mini coalition. This unfortunately didn’t last long as Mohawk left the Black Dam male and the Nkuhumas and roamed around on his own, he was seen very recently with his 2 sons in Kruger. Let’s hope that whether he stays with his sons, goes back to the Nkuhuma pride or goes on his own, that he will continue to amaze us with his majestic presence.

Mohawk Avoca at Silvan 2021