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.
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