New male lion spotted at Selati Camp

Massi, a freelance instructor at our Selati Camp told us a bit more about the new lion they suspect being around camp.

“A while back a lion was calling early in the morning, very close to camp. A little bit later I got a phone call from Selati’s assistant warden, asking me if I could please gather around as many people as possible and place them on a few look out points along the river, because they suspected the rogue lion to be walking either in the riverbed or across from us on the riverbank. In the meantime they would also look for him in a helicopter and with a microlight. The Reserve management has been suspicious of a new male lion on the reserve for a couple of months already, because they have been finding kills and tracks in places where the known male on the reserve wasn’t anywhere close (that guy has a collar on). That morning they were determined to find the new male, but unfortunately with no luck. Later that day we decided to have a look around and we found his tracks a merely 200m from the tent I’m sleeping in – pretty close!

After that witch hunt it became quiet for a while with regards to the new male lion and for about a month nothing really happened. Until recently we got a visit from a few ex-EcoTraining students that work for Leo now (the research project in Selati). They had just been out on foot looking for rhinos very close to our camp, when they heard a cough-like sound next to them. They stood still to listen carefully, and then they heard a definite warning growl, one that could only come from a lion. Since they knew where all the other lions were (basically on the other side of the reserve), they knew it had to be the new male. They tried to catch a glimpse, but the big cat was hiding very well. So until this day, still nobody has seen our new male lion and it still remains a mystery as to who he is and where he came from”.

Unfortunately we do not have any photos of the new male lion. Watch this space for photos as soon as he is spotted.