In Search of Some Good "Spots"

[Lisbeth]

Great experience, but the mange is desolating. I presume that the park is not going to intervene, as it is a natural occurrence Do the lions die at the end or can they eventually recover?

[Flutterby]

Great sightings, just so sad to see the cubs in that condition.

[Bushcraft]

Do the lions die at the end or can they eventually recover?

These cubs were still around in October and looked a little better off

[Richprins]

Excellent luck, Rattle!

And so true about the nice company on a drive!

For some reason I find rhino in a riverbed very special...

Ja, the mange is quite normal and mostly recoverable. It can be a sign of malnutrition or other problems but who knows? Lion prides are hit hard because they are always together and in contact, obviously. Should be fine!

[Pumbaa]

What a fantastic drive you had, Ratel,

especially with the many white rhinos so close to the lion pride and the small cubs on the road

[ExFmem]

As per your usual, wonderful sightings, photos, and narrative. Very enjoyable TT!

[Ratel]

Hi all. Thanks for chiming in.

Regarding the Lions with mange, as Bushcraft said they were/are part of the Lubyelubye pride. We are pretty sure they went to meet the pride on our last day in Kruger, and certainly a week later I saw pictures online of the cubs amongst the pride.

The cubs appear to be present in BCs pics of the pride from October in his latest TT, with the mange still evident. Perhaps BC can offer further information on whether all 4 of the little ones were still alive? One in particular was really suffering in August as you can see in my pictures.

My understanding of mange is that it doesn't cause death on its own, however bad cases can be debilitating. Such a condition will put the body under additional stress, hamper sleep, and weaken the animal which will impact on activities like hunting. Scratching can open up wounds and make it succeptible to infection, which is very dangerous to an animal that is weak or malnourished. Luckily for a Lion cub it has mum and plenty of aunties to take care of it while it fights the condition so hopefully they are doing ok.

[Lisbeth]

Thank you for the information, Ratel

It must be hell for the for animals not to have a doctor around the corner

[Bushcraft]

They, the cubs, appear shortly in my TT. I'm not sure how many there were originally, but plenty, at least 4, showed up for us in October, but they still had mange, however it seemed slightly better.

[Mel]

Oh, poor little things

But Delaporte Day was otherwise really productive in terms of sightings Nice combo with the rhinos and the lions, too