Lions moved to Kruger not necessarily Mjejane’s, says SANParks
SANParks' spokesperson, Ike Phaahla, said they have established a good rapport with local communities, the police and traditional leaders, and investigations are under way, however, these are very sensitive.
An unverified Instagram post by Luis Franco (lionhub101) triggered intense social media upheaval after being shared on SANParks’ Facebook page on Friday, August 23.
The description of the reel, ‘Mjejane Pride in Danger’, outlined how six out of seven members of the Mjejane lion pride were allegedly being translocated from Riverside Farm near Malalane to the northern part of the Kruger National Park (KNP) – an area reportedly overrun by incidents of poaching, snaring and poisoning of lions.
In his post, Franco claimed the lions had been moved “as a reaction to a situation that should never have escalated”.
He claimed this was not the first time lions had met a “tragic end on Riverside Farm”.
ALSO READ: Fires rage around White River and Hazyview
In addition, Franco claimed a young male, barely two years old, had been left behind to fend for himself. Lowvelder contacted Franco on Instagram to verify the source of his information. He agreed to speak to this publication, but failed to provide contact details or to contact it on the cellphone number provided.
The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency’s (MTPA) Simphiwe Shangube confirmed the translocation, but said it had been done to protect farmworkers.
He added the lions could not be moved back to the same area of the park they had come from, as new male lion coalitions had chased them away, and they would have been killed or would have escaped out of the park again, posing a risk to neighbouring human communities.
“The lions were translocated for a good cause,” Shangube told Lowvelder. “If we are not decisive and take action and a person is killed, then there is another problem.”
Shangube said the northern part of the KNP was selected for the translocation as there were currently few resident lions, and this would give them a chance to thrive.
He added that the lions had been collared, were being monitored and seemed to have settled well in their new area.
SANParks later responded on its Facebook page explaining that its team only darted lions it had found together at the time, and there were never any plans to leave any animal that had been part of the pride behind.
Surviving rival lions and poachers
SANParks’ spokesperson, Ike Phaahla, explained in the wild there was a constant struggle over resources like food, water and safety.
“When lion juveniles are chased away from their pride, they form a coalition and target another group to take over, and that seems to have been the case. The males in the pride are likely to be killed by the new coalition and they sometimes have to look for new territory to prevent this. So, normally, they run away from the new dominant males, but this time they wandered onto a working farm, endangering workers, hence the request for assistance from the MTPA.”
He said the park was on record stating its concerns over snares and the poisoning of wildlife in the northern KNP. He said there had been incidents of poisoning during which they had lost 37 vultures, a leopard and some hyenas when a carcase had been laced with poison.
“We have [however] established a good rapport with local communities, the police and traditional leaders. There are investigations under way, and [these are] very sensitive, but we are working well with all stakeholders to get on top of the problem.”
Not necessarily the Mjejane pride
Phaahla said they could not be certain if this was the same pride, because it was all in the same landscape. Mjejane’s Johan Coetzee, head of conservation and wildlife matters in terms of the landowners of the Mjejane Trust and Lugedlane Developments, echoed this. He confirmed two females had given birth to seven cubs at Mjejane about two years ago.
They have, however, sporadically been disappearing into the KNP for two to three months at a time, and it has been a month or two since they were last seen in the reserve.
Coetzee also highlighted the vast distance between Mjejane and Riverside Farm (about 20km, according to Google Maps), decreasing the likelihood of it being the same pride.
