标题: 2024.12.03 致敬15岁莫拉尼Morani 火枪手联盟在马拉的奇妙旅程 [打印本页] 作者: LolitaNep 时间: 昨天 14:40 标题: 2024.12.03 致敬15岁莫拉尼Morani 火枪手联盟在马拉的奇妙旅程 A proud Pride Male until his last Days - Tribute to Morani
向莫拉尼致敬 - 值得骄傲的地主雄狮的最后时光
Plus the Musketeers amazing journey in the Mara (alonger story)
加上火枪手联盟在马拉的奇妙旅程（更长的故事）
(Picture: Morani the first time I saw him in May 2012 圖：2012年5月第一次見到莫拉尼 )
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Morani At Bila Shaka Lugga / Vumbi-Vumbi. June 2012
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Morani & Little Rembo June 2013
作者: xuxindong 时间: 昨天 14:41
传奇作者: LolitaNep 时间: 昨天 14:41
原文
A proud Pride Male until his last Days -Tribute to Morani
Plus the Musketeers amazing journey in theMara (a longer story)
Nobody knows what has happened to him, ascountless other Lions in the Mara the last standing of the famous FourMusketeers vanished without trace. The last reported sighting of him was end ofApril or beginning of May 2023. Morani has shown his age in the last year ofhis life. His teeth were worn down and often he looked skinny and vulnerable.But he proofed everybody wrong writing him off too early. Until his last dayshe was seen courting Lionesses and feeding on kills, Morani was a true PrideMale for 11 years in different areas of the Maasai Mara. Born in March/April2008 into the Olkiombo Pride as the son of the formidable Olkiombo Males he was15 years old when he vanished. He lived a long and successful life out on theplains. His death marked the end of an era in the Maasai Mara.
Morani was the "All-rounder" ofthe Musketeers compared to the “Macho” Sikio, the “Family Man” Scar and Hunterthe “Maverick”. He was a rather laid back Male with confidence &determination. Hence he was the first Guardian of the Prides and territoriesthe Musketeers held over the years. How often did we see some of the Musketeerspatrolling, how often did we got information about some of the Musketeerschasing off intruders. Morani always was amongst those protectors. He neverhesitated to take on challenges and challengers. He was not as big & stronglooking as Scar or Sikio, he did not sport a huge mane, but to me he was thefittest of the Musketeers. Morani also spent lots of time with the Lionessesand Cubs along with Scar, while Sikio and Hunter mostly kept their distance toavoid the pester power of the little rascals. Morani was a true Pride Malebeing instrumental for the success of the 4 Musketeers. It was not a surprisehe was the last standing of this Coalition.
Hunter vanished without trace end of August2019 after he crossed the Mara River into the Mara Triangle and was never seenagain. He likely met rival Males over there and lost his final battle. Sikiowas seen last time in December 2020 being in a very emaciated state afterseveral severe injuries as a result of different fights with other Males(nobody knows for sure who the opponents were) the months before. There wasword him being seen in the OMC those days trying to kill livestock and that he wasspeared by local people, hence there never was a confirmation. The amazingthing is that Sikio has walked a long way from the Musketeers territory aroundLookout Hill to spend his last weeks in an area he roamed as a young Male. Andanother of the Musketeers made a similar move. Scar died peacefully in theKaboso Area on the 11th of June 2021 of natural causes, no injuries, no recentfights. Scar was tired after a rough and successful Life coping with somehandicaps for many years. He said Goodbye to this world in a place he knew sowell as a young Male Lion back in 2010/2011 and somehow closed the circle.
Talking about the success of Morani as aPride Male the measures are the surviving offspring he and his comrades leftbehind. That means how many youngsters they helped raising until thosewere able to fend for themselves. Without any doubts the Musketeers wereamongst the most successful Pride Males of the Marsh Pride to date, maybe eventhe most successful. They are the fathers of Yaya, Dada, Red, Chemi, Tatu,Rembo, Kito, Kabibi, Topknot, Spot and Little Red.
And we have to add the offspring of the 5Marsh Breakaway Lionesses (Mapema/Musiara, Sila, Lippy, Jicho and Kini). Whenthese Lionesses left their natal territory for good towards end of 2014 it wasa Pride of 16 members entering the Kichwa Plains incl. 11 youngsters sired bythe Musketeers. The demise of the Breakaway Pride is a different story, acomplete disaster. None of these Lions is alive today, the last membersvanished beginning of 2019. Jicho, Kini and 3 younger Cubs (probably sired bythe Kichwa Males) moved into Oloisukut Conservancy and were never seen again.But 3 of the Musketeer offspring made it to independence and have to be countedin, Akili the daughter of Lippy as well as two Males. One of Sila’s sons andone of Kini’s sons survived and became Nomads. They were last time seen in thefirst half of 2019 in Mara North harassing the Cheli Pride, hence were neverseen again.
(未完 接續)作者: LolitaNep 时间: 昨天 14:42
By overstretching their territory theMusketeers were not able to protect the Marsh Breakaway Pride but left them forgood in the first half of 2015 after taking over the Paradise Pride. TheseMales also struggled to protect the Topi Plains Pride effectively. Out ofcountless Cubs sired by Morani & Co. only 4 made it to independence.Autum’s two sons named Ormawoi and Lebahati as well as Summer’s daughterLongneck and Summer’s son Nusu. Anyway, in the first Chapter of the Musketeersas Pride Males they left behind 18 young Marsh Lions fending for themselves, aremarkable track-record. Well, it blows your mind realizing that only 3 out ofthese 18 Lions are still alive today, with a very small chance that Ormawoi andLebahati crossed into the Serengeti end of 2019 and might be alive today! Acombination of conflicts with other Lions and HCC (Human Caused Conflicts) tooka heavy toll on the Marsh Lions over the last 10 years.
Morani and his partners left the Pridesthey took over in 2011/2012 behind and opened a new chapter taking over otherLion Prides in the course of 2015: The Paradise Pride and Breakaway Groups, theRekero Pride and the Rekero Breakaway Pride. Many believe they also took overthe Mugoro Pride, but I never saw them with this Pride and I am not aware ofany reported sighting of the Musketeers hanging out with the Mugoro Lionesses.This 2nd chapter of the Musketeers career lasted until end of 2019/beginning of2020.
There were 8 adult Lionesses in theParadise Pride in 2013, plus 2-4 young Females surviving the takeover of theMusketeers in the course of 2014, meaning there were up to 12 breedingLionesses beginning of 2015 and stability provided by the 4 Musketeers for thenext 4 years. The Mara should be packed with Paradise Lions today, butobviously many of the youngsters sired by Morani & Co. vanished before theyreached independence. But certainly the Musketeers left their mark on theParadise Plains and today the Paradise Lions control way more landmass in theMara than the Marsh Lions which is also a legacy of the legendary Lipstick& Blackie.
From the first generation of MusketeerOffspring at least one Lioness became a permanent member of the RiverPride/Kichwa Pride (her mother was sired by the Notches and the other 3 of theoriginal 5 Lionesses of the Pride are daughters of Lipstick & Blackie), itmight well be that the Satellite Lioness of this Pride, the Swamp Lioness, alsois a daughter of the Musketeers. Four more youngsters of the 1st generationsurvived, 3 Females and 1 Male. The latter sadly vanished without trace but the3 Lionesses became the new Rongai Pride. So from the 1st generation Musketeeroffspring at least 6 Paradise Lions survived and 5 of them are alive today.From the 2nd generation (7 youngsters born into the Paradise Pride beginning of2017 and 8 youngsters born into the River Pride/Kichwa Pride in 2016) only 4Cubs of the Paradise Pride survived. There is one Lioness being part of theParadise Pride today named Sidai. Three of her male siblings survived andbecame Pride Males in the southern parts of the Mara Triangle, 2 of them arestill alive. Overall the Musketeers left behind at least 10 of their daughters& sons reaching adulthood. This rather low number given the many breedingLionesses probably has to do with the fact that the Musketeers also took overthe Rekero Pride soon after the Paradise Pride takeover and had to protect vastareas.
When the Musketeers took over the RekeroPride in the 2nd Quarter of 2015 it was a thriving Pride with 5 Lionesses and13+ youngsters of different age-cohorts sired by Lipstick & Blackie. A yearlater only 2 adult Lionesses and 1 young Lioness was left referred to asChinese Hill Pride those days. Sometimes takeovers result in a completedisaster when Lionesses split and move around to protect their Cubs, they runinto other Prides and other Males with many casualties being the result andthat is what happened to the Rekero Pride. The surviving 3 Lionesses bondedwith the Musketeers and new Cubs were born in 2016. Four of these youngsterssurvived. A Female born beginning of 2016 named Bella as well as 1 Female namedMikunjo and 2 Males born end of 2016. Sadly all Cubs sired by the Musketeersborn the next years vanished. The two young Males also vanished without traceafter the Musketeers left the Pride for good towards end of 2019.
(未完 接續)作者: LolitaNep 时间: 昨天 14:42
But when did the Musketeers took over theRekero Breakaway Pride? It must have happened around the same time they tookover the Rekero Pride, probably towards end of 2015. Not much is known whathappened the next 2 years, but beginning of 2018 of the 4 Lionesses in thePride only one was still alive, the sister of Lipstick 2 & Blackie 2. Shewas seen with 2 Sub Adults, a Male and a Female, being around 2 years old.These 2 are known today as Namelok, who is still with her mother and 3 of herdaughters/younger sisters, and the handsome Rekero Breakaway Male (calledMuwaji) who is roaming between Oloisukut and the Musiara Area today. Those 2are offspring of the Musketeers. Nobody knows what might have happen to theother adult Lionesses of the Pride and the siblings of Namelok & Muwaji.
After Hunter vanished end of August 2019the 3 remaining Musketeers, Sikio, Morani and Scar, held on to theirterritories and Prides on both sides of the Mara River for some time, whileventuring further south and south-east more regularly, something they also havedone occasionally the previous years. By end of 2019 / beginning of 2020 theyhad abandoned their turfs north of the Talek River and started settling downbetween the Rongai Plains and the Lookout Hill. Probably the pressure of the 6Bila Shaka Males and the 3 Sala’s Males was one reason for them to move on.Morani, Hunter, Sikio and Scar sired countless Cubs with the Lionesses of 6Lion Prides in eight years and 34 youngsters we know about made it to mturity(15 Males and 19 Females) with at least 15 of those being still alive (3 Malesand 12 Females). This is for sure a remarkable track record. When Morani, Sikioand Scar settled down south of the Talek they were 12 years old. And they tookover another Pride of Lions.
The remaining 3 Musketeers tried to takeover the Rongai Pride and the small Prides around Lookout Hill. But they had tocompete with their current Pride Males, Floppy Ear & Jagged Ear as well asSpikey & Enkuroto. There were also big Males moving in and out from theSerengeti and the Blackrock Males started their forays to take over the RongaiPride. Sikio got badly injured several times and was seen last time in December2020. The remaining 2 Musketeers however took over the Lookout North Pride. Bythe time Scar lost condition they had to protect 3 Lionesses and 7 Cubs. AfterScar died in June 2021 it was up to Morani to defend the turf and at the age of13 years he was still looking strong and healthy. He tried hard to hold on andto keep the invading Males out. He stayed in his territory for some moremonths, but by end of October he moved on while sadly all the Lookout PrideCubs were gone. Morani was seen in different places of the Mara, even insideMarsh Pride territory and he was not walking alone. Starting in July 2021 hewas seen with a young Male occasionally and this relationship got stronger overtime. Finally they built a new Coalition and his new partner was no other thanthe Rekero Breakaway Male Muwaji, a son of the Musketeers, maybe Morani’s sonor Hunter’s son by the looks.
Morani and Muwaji moved around a lot,returned several time to the Musiara Marsh, were seen around Olkiombo, theParadise Plains and in different areas of the Mara Triangle. By October 2022they had taken over a Pride in the Oloisukut Conservancy and obviously killedsome of their Cubs. I do not know what other Males were dominant in thisConservancy at this time but Morani & Muwaji were often seen with freshfighting wounds. Those two also crossed the Mara River into Mara Northfrequently and tried to take over the large River Pride/Serian Pride aftertheir Pride Males moved on trying to take over other Lion Prides. Often Moraniwent missing for several weeks meaning nobody sighted him. Often he was lookingbattered and hungry. In October 2022 he was found with healing spear-wounds. Morani had a rough time the last two years of his life and pulled throughagainst all odds. I do not know if any Cubs were sired in Oloisukut by Moraniand Muwaji, but if Cubs were born none has survived I fear.
It is amazing how resilient he was and howmuch energy Morani still had at the age of 15 years. What a wonderfulMale Lion Morani was, not many Male Lions in the Mara and across Africa canlook back on such a long, eventful and successful life. He would have more thandeserved to die with dignity and I truly hope that this was the case!
from Peter Rettig 2024.12.03
(完)作者: LolitaNep 时间: 昨天 14:43 (, 下载次数: 0)
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Morani in his full Glory June 2013
莫拉尼尽显荣耀 2013 年 6 月
from Peter Rettig 2024.12.05
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Morani 2013 Some more pictures
莫拉尼 2013 更多图片
from Peter Rettig 2024.12.06
作者: linggan521 时间: 昨天 14:43 (, 下载次数: 0)