Makhulu Mapogo - fatally injuring Gwarri Bush Lion Nhlanguleni

Lion warfare in Africa: Mapogo vs Nhlanguleni
Ranger’s Report:
Makhulu was the oldest and the last one seen alive at 15 years old. He was probably the reason why the Mapogos didn't loose any members in their first years out of the tribe. He defeated the dominant male of the Othawa pride and the Sand river pride on his own. Here's the report of this fight: "Nhlanguleni was first seen in the west around March 2005, he was found in the river mating with one of the Ottawa lionesses, close to Ottawa camp. He moved from there to feed on an elephant carcass south of Exeter that the two resident males had been on with some of the SRP previously. Soon after that our two males disappeared, one was found dead in the river and the other was reported as having left the reserve under pressure from Nhlanguleni (who at that time was unnamed). His name came from Nhlanguleni picnic spot in the Kruger, directly east of the Sands as that is where we guessed he came from. At first he was very aggressive, charging the vehicles from about 100m away (we later learned that he had earlier been seen on chitwa-chitwa with a kill, reacting in a similar way). He was often on his own but started spending more time with one half of the Ottawas after the cubs were born (the other half- 2 lionesses 2 young males and a young female stayed away from him) as only a few people had seen Nhlanguleni mating with the females it was often said that he had adopted the previous males cubs - He certainly thought they were his own though. He also started to push further West, and came into frequent contact with the Sand River pride - 5 females and 8 cubs at that point. The two older females (One eye and 1+1) left the 3 younger females to look after the cubs and started to move with Nhlanguleni who by this time was relaxed with our prescience It was around this time that the testicle incident occurred, the 3 lionesses and the cubs had a Kudu kill and the two older lionesses came over to join, bringing with them the male, the rest of the story you know... It was after this that the 2 lionesses and the male started being referred to as the Skorro pride as they were all looking old and battered! he never fully took over the Sand River pride, the 3 younger lionesses managed to keep away from him until the arrival of the 6 male lions from the east who would soon become known as the Mapogo in Feb 2006.
The new males first came into contact with the Ottawa pride but continued to push west as the Ottwas ran across the river to escape from them. Over the next few weeks the new males slowly moved further west until one night the oldest male (Makulu) left the others and followed the scent of Nhlanguleni all the way to the western fence, north of the river. The next morning the rangers following the tracks found the evidence (blood, scuff-marks etc) of a huge fight between the two males. The large male from the coalition was found heading east to rejoin the others, bleeding heavily from the mouth and showing many scratches from the fight, on closer inspection it was seen that his lower right canine had been snapped in half. Later on Nhlanguleni was found, limping badly and with a terrible wound on the right side of his face, the wound was deep and it seemed he had lost an eye, inside the wound was what suspiciously like a broken canine tooth lodged in the cheekbon.
A few days later Nhlanguleni was seen with the Ottawa pride, the swelling around the wound had gone down a bit and we could see the eye was not damaged after all. he was seen for a few more days after this before he disappeared. Nobody knows what exactly happened to him." written by Rob Vamplew
P.S.: It is believed that all 6 Mapogos found the expelled lion and killed it cruelly.

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