The Cat Report – Episode 9
We encounter Queen Thandi and her princess, Tlalamba moving through the bush and Thandi retrieves a kill which she promptly hoists up a gnarled apple-leaf with a convenient horizontal bough on which to enjoy their meal against the backdrop of a setting sun. Both young Tlalamba and the older yet still immature, Hosana, her half brother, have much in the way of navigating trees to master to reach the level of Thandi’s adeptness.
Ferguson Farms is the son of the matriarch of the North Clan, Waffles, and he shows us how to hunt down an antelope in the wet weather. While coursing back and forth at an impressive tilt, he becomes distracted when he happens upon an old kill. Mid feast, Waffles’ comes to investigate what her son is up to and to take a break from her boisterous cubs.
Three of the lionesses from the Owino Pride strike out and head towards the migrating herds. They are so well-fed at this time of plenty that they needn’t take much care in hunting and simply use the tactic of walking headlong into the masses of animals looking for a sign of weakness. The lion dynamics in the Mara Triangle prove to be in a constant state of flux as prides move to follow the food, abandoning territorial boundaries for the smorgasbord of herbivore.
The Birmingham Boys coalition of lions has left their mark on Djuma but in recent times, the erstwhile owners of this prime territory have pushed south and the three young but formidable Avoca males have claimed the realm as their own. The Avocas show up one morning to relieve the Nkuhuma Pride of a waterbuck kill and an uneasy standoff ensues with the females determined to establish some kind of treaty with the newcomers that does not endanger their youngsters.