History Of the Amazing Mapogos Lions

The Mapogos are a large coalition of male lions living in Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Typically up to six of these are seen in the Djuma area. This coalition used to be referred to as the "Spartans" and are true warriors. These lions are also referred to as the Eyrefield Males, the Sparta Males and in certain areas as the "Cannibals". They originated from: the Eyrefield Pride (also known as the Sparta Pride).
The Sparta/Eyrefiedl pride still exist and are living in areas of the reserve. They were sired by the coalition of male lions named the "West Street Males" (Sparta males).
History
Mapogo Males/Eyrefield Males/Sparta Males 

Mapogo Coalition - Six male lions also known as the Eyrefield Males, the Sparta Males and in some regions the “Cannibals“ They were named Mapogo after a security company that utilizes rather harsh methods in dealing with offenders. We’ve found several different meanings for Mapogo. Ulusaba refers to it as meaning “Vigilantes“ and Savanna Lodge refers to the Mapogo name being a Zulu word meaning “Rogues”. What ever the meaning, they are bad news.

Pride they Originated From: Eyrefield Pride aka Sparta Pride This pride still exists and consists of three adult females and nine cubs. Two of the remaining Eyrefield pride lionesses are siblings of the Mapogos and the third and oldest lioness may very well be the Mother to some of them. The dominant male of this Pride today is the one remaining Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton Male.

Sired by: A coalition of five male lions known as the West Street Males aka the Sparta Males. (Note: There is a twist to this story that we will share a little later.) These males took over the Eyrefield/Sparta pride from the Manyeleti males in 1998. They were approximately 8 years of age at the time and successfully raised many cubs to adulthood during their reign. The last of this coalition died in 2004 at the approximate age of 14 years or even older (some reports indicated the last two were plus/minus 16 years in 2003 when two of the original four Marthly/Split Rock/Robson males moved in).
The Oldest Mapogo Male is said to be unrelated to the other five. The story is that the original pride (Eyrefield/Sparta) lost a male sub adult of 20 to 21 months of age in May/June 2000 and in July 2000 this male of about the same age latched on to the original pride. Though not readily accepted by the lionesses, the West Street Males barely tolerated him though they did not kill him as he was no threat to their dominance due to his age.
His life was not an easy one as he was considered an outcast, yet this young lion became one of the boldest and most valued hunters by helping to keep the pride fed when the West Street males became too old.

The other five Mapogo males are said to be sired by the West Street Males but here is where the twist comes in...... the two youngest might have been sired by the Roller Coaster Males aka Shaw Males aka Castleton Males. The Roller Coaster males were believed to have started out as a coalition of six. Four of which enticed some of the Eyrefield/Sparta females into mating with them while the ageing West Street males were away from the pride. Thus it is unclear who actually fathered the two youngest. And to add another little twist, it is said that the West Street Males who sired the Mapogos also fathered the Roller Coaster/Shaw/Castleton males.
Estimated ages of the Mapogo Coalition as of Dec 2009:
Older Unrelated Male 11 years, 2 months
Two Older Related Males 8 years, 11 months
One a Little Younger Male 8 years, 9 months
Two youngest males (possibly sired by the Roller Coaster Males) 8 years 1 month
(The two youngest are distinguished from the others by one having an immature mane sporting a mohawk style look and the other a noticeable kink in his tail.
Cubs Sired by the Mapogo Coalition: Prides that currently or previously have/had cubs sired by a Mapogo are the Tsalala pride, the Othawa pride, the Styx pride and the Sand River pride. Jan 2009 -The Sand River pride with their 5 male sub adult cubs feeling pressure from the Mapogo Coalition escaped the safety of the reserve and the entire pride (2 Lionesses and 4 sub adults) were shot and killed. Only one sub adult male survived the shooting and though he hung on for quite a while, sadly he didn't make it. The Ximungwe pride is also under the dominance of the Mapogos and cubs are expected in 2010.
How has this large coalition of males impacted the lion population in the years they have been independent? Here are a few reports:
Londolozi reported previously that five prides that have been adversely affected by the Mapogos. They cited these three. Castleton Pride originally 22 and down to 6. Tsalala Pride originally 10 and down to 5. Ximunvanyane Pride originally 10 down to ZERO. We can say confidently, the number of prides adversely affected has risen since the Londolozi report.
Elephant Plains reported early 2008 of receiving a report from Sabi Sands stating almost 40% of the lion population has been killed by the Mapogo Coalition in just the past year. That relates to approximately 50 lions.
Quote from Elephant Plains referencing the Mapogos “Killing buffalo, adult giraffes, even young rhinos and hippos. And lions. And they were not just killing the lions….they were eating them...”
September 2009, Mala Mala Game Reserve renamed the two Mapogo/Eyrefield Males (Kinky Tail and Mr T aka Mohawk) that have taken up territory there. They are now known as the Mlowathi Males. These two Mapogo/Mlowathi males have been spending a lot of time chasing after the Styx pride in Mala Mala and surrounding reserves as well as trying to take over their birth pride known as the Eyrefield/Sparta Pride. They have sired eight cubs with the Tsalala Pride in 2009 and it is believed two of the Styx lionesses may have bore their cubs Jan 2010.
The other four Mapogo males including the oldest, known as Makulu, are leading very productive lives in the Western Sector of the Sabi Sands. Mating with the females of the Ximungwe Pride and the Othawa/Robson Pride. Four new cubs were presented on Christmas Day 2009 by one of the Othawa/Ottawa/Robson females. May they prosper under the protection of the Mapogo/Eyrefield Males the same as the 6 sub adults of this pride have.
The Mapogo Coalition is not the first nor will it be the last large coalition. Being the first large coalition encountered in recent years, it is hard to comprehend that the current lion population can survive with all these killings attributed to this coalition of males. The survivors of this onslaught will be the “new” beginning, the “next” generation just as the survivors of past large coalitions were. We don‘t like it and we don‘t have to like it but sadly it is the nature of things.
On June 8th, 2010, a dramatic change came to the Mapogo Coalition. By 9:30pm that evening, Kinky Tail was dead. He and his brother, Mr T, tracked down and mortally wounded a young male from the Majingilane Coalition of five. Later that night, Kinky Tail charged in on the four remaining young males near the Nkorho Lodge. Being outnumbered, he was killed. His brother, Mr T, tried to come to his rescue but was injured and chased off by the four young males.
This was just the beginning of events that lead Mr T to return to the safety of his coalition brothers in the Western Sector. Prior to his reuniting with his coalition brothers, he and his pride, the three Tsalala lionesses and their eight cubs were attacked by the Majingilane males which resulted in the deaths of two youngsters.
On July 5th, the five Mapogo males returned to the East together for the first time in many months and possibly years. Once again united and roaring in defiance of the new young males that had killed their brother. Only time will tell the ultimate outcome of these Lion Wars.