Male Lion Relocations
- samadele
- Jul 2
- 6 min read
On 2nd July 2024, I was able to witness an intervention with Welgevonden's male lion, Tembe. The time had come for Tembe to be moved from the reserve to another. But why? To understand why male lions are relocated, we must first understand how lions' social structure works.
Please note: I am writing this very generally. Lions don't play by the ‘rules’. Pride structure can be very intricate and behaviours against the textbook norm are always seen but I wanted to keep this pretty simple.
THE CORE PRIDE
Lions are the only true social cats. They live in prides which are usually made up of related females, their offspring and unrelated dominant males.
Females and their young are what makes up the core pride. Their close bond ensures their family works as a unit, which provides an increased chance when hunting, defending their territory, and most importantly raising the next generation.
Typically, a pride is for life, although breakaway prides do happen, where a few females will split off from the main pride. Breakaway prides release pressure for resources, but they also may choose to do so due to avoid conflict with males. Some females may also be nomadic, ousted or choose to leave the pride with siblings - male or female.
MALES
Male lions aren’t a permanent feature in a pride, some prides go a long time without a dominant male, only having males pass through, mating but not actually doing a males job.
Since a pride is the core hub of females and young, males may be referred to as the ' ‘x’ pride males' or 'dominant males'.
A male may have control over one or many prides within his territory or simply be nomadic. Should he secure a pride and territory, this reign is never his for certain, and other males are always looking to take over.
When people think of a lion pride, they think only one male can be included, however this is not always the case. Males form coalitions which are usually made up of males from their natal pride with whom they've already got a close bond with, but they can also form coalitions with unrelated males. This gives them an advantage over securing territory and females, staying safe against other males and hunting. Single males can be dominant, however if you have 2 or more males with you, your chances increase.
A males role when with a pride is to defend the territory and cubs of the prides he is dominant over.
Contrary to popular belief, males do hunt (otherwise how would they feed themselves when not with a pride?) and they’re a handy asset to have when bringing down large prey.
TAKEOVERS
Pride takeovers can be a brutal affair and new males aren't always accepted with open arms.
Lionesses cubs younger than a year are at risk of being killed by the new male. Not wanting to waste time raising another lions offspring, killing the cubs brings the females into estrus faster, allowing him to mate and bring his own offspring into the world. Females will put up a fight, and some might even flee with their cubs. This is not an easy decision as they lose the support of the pride.
Females will also sometimes try and lure the males away, flirting with him and distracting him long enough for any cubs to get to safety.
So now we have the structure of a lion family: females and their cubs usually fathered by males who are currently in control of the pride.
Life in the wild is all about territory, and the spreading of your genes.
When a male lion reaches 2 - 3.5 years of age, he will be either pushed out of the pride, or get the urge to leave himself. As he reaches sexual maturity, his interest in the related females will peak and the dominant male will not tolerate that behaviour. So, he must disperse to spread his own genetics, and he and - if he has them - a brother or cousin will go off in search of a place of their own and in time - if they're successful - take over their own pride and territory.
A successful male lion will hold a territory and pride for an average of 2-3 years before being pushed off by either a stronger male, or a larger coalition. If there is a large coalition, they may hold their place for longer. This is all about the spreading of genetics and is a cycle that prides must go through to prevent inbreeding.
Space is limited for wildlife nowadays, and fenced reserves are crucial. Many fenced reserves are reclaimed farmland transformed into a wildlife Edens, protecting and preserving, however it does mean animals are not able to disperse and migrate as nature intended and so we must do that for them.
Fenced reserves will work with each other to move lions around to improve genetic diversity. This can be both males and females, but most of the time it is the males. Unfortunately, lions need a lot of space and not all reserves can hold lions so sometimes other measures have to be taken should there be an overpopulation and nowhere for them to go.
Sons of the current prides of fenced reserves will be moved when they reach the age of sexual maturity, this brings young fresh blood into whichever reserve they are placed and attempts to replicate the natural order of things for the established lions.
When I first visited Welgevonden in 2022, there were two adult males: Tembe and Dinokeng. Their names are representative of the reserves they came from as adults:
Tembe - Tembe Elephant Park
Dinokeng - Dinokeng Game Reserve, although he was originally born at Welgevonden.
In 2015, Welgevonden suffered a Canine Distemper outbreak which unfortunately wiped out most of their lions, bar one female in the South. Tembe landed in Welgevonden in 2016 and gave a helping hand in re-establishing the lion population and had fathered 2 cubs in 2017. Females were also brought in to build up the population.
Dinokeng unfortunately passed a few days after I left in 2022 after his and Tembes on-off relationship came to a head.
This meant Tembe could take he whole reserve as his and he often spent his time between the Western Pride and back down in the South before his relocation.
After a long successful time at Welgevonden, 2024 saw Tembe leave. He was not the only one however, and his just under 4 year old son Ukuva was also moved and caused a bit of 'trouble' on his new reserve by establishing his dominance.. Rest in Peace Marakele..! There had been hopes these two males would form a coalition, but again, lions do what they want, and he showed exactly how younger males will take over.
The intervention of Tembes relocation, headed by the conservation team and Dr. Peter Caldwell, was also broadcast on WildEarth. It was a big moment for the reserve and lodge guests were also invited to watch the team at work.
So one dominant gene pool has been removed... now for the 'takeover'.
Two new males were brought onto the reserve during my stay there, the first being from Tumbeta Game Reserve, a straight swap with Tembe. He wasted no time in being a male, and was seen mating very soon after his release.
We were privileged to be one of the first to see the second male in the boma to give the conservation team an idea of how he would react to vehicles. He was not happy, and it was soon discovered he needed some dental work done which we able to watch.
I go into more detail about the interventions here.
Lions have a really good homing instinct and are placed in bomas (enclosures) for around a month until they acclimatise to their surroundings and try and 'forget' about home.
The staggered releases between the males and observations while in the boma ensures the reserve management knows the health and behaviour of the lion, reactions to being viewed, and once released, a collar may be used to determine which area he will take over and to make sure he's not travelling along the fencelines trying to return home! Both soon found their place on the reserve with Nyasa taking the south, while Shaka has taken the rest of the reserve and the Western pride.
So this is how a takeover happens when the lions can't do it themselves due to fences!
The intervention for me felt extra special as on my last day in camp 2022, Tembe came by and gave me a private sighting, scent marking on bushes and calling just meters from my tent as if to say goodbye.. and I was there on his last day in 2024.. magical.
I hope this has been informative.
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