Photos by DAVE MCKELVIE:
Portrait of a fallen King: poor old Ujonjo ran into a coalition of 2 other males (very likely his own sons) & this is the result…
Poor old chap: adult male lions have about 7 years to reach maturity, carve out a territory (& mating rights over the females within it) & other user’s rights, until somebody stronger & meaner comes along ….
Sounds like a leonine Oedipus complex, right??
Ujonjo, deposed, came out the worse for wear in the fight for dominance & has a lonely & dangerous future ahead of him: his newly dominant sons will quite likely kill him if they find him in their territory…..
One of the ‘new boys’ or The Punk Wot Did It………
7 Comments
UJONJO -Had many fine years as NNP KING -more than many other wild lions !! ….but the gene pool needs to change , with a few new lions as well !!!
Poor Ujonjo.. Can’t help but feel sorry for him,for he looks badly beaten in those photos. How old is he?Did he have young offspring,which is now in danger, or maybe already dead?
Gareth brought up an important issue of getting a wider gene pool to keep the NNP’s lions healthy. I assume that no outside lion is able to wander to the park without being killed?
we feel so bad for this old boy. he seems like he is underweight already. without his pride and home, how on earth will this old boy find food? not livestock i mean. with such a small area, he has really no space to run to, does he?
You guys are so right about the lack of rich gene pool for the lions in the park. i remember there was a lone lioness wondering right outside of the park and near human development. I assume there could be a very slim chance for a new lion or lions to enter the park. However, for the sake of the lions there, humans/government should import several new females.
So was Ujonjo’s pride and the young coalition in the actual national park? do we know the lion population in the athi-kapiti ecosysytem and where do most lions reside?
He may sadly soon go to join the first lions of the park documented by my wonderful Grandpa who from the dedication in his book would love you to have their names ( the dedication;” I dedicate this book yo my wild animal friends and to all those people who have done so much to save them “)
; Lulu, Macora, Dickens and Jones. Chapter 10 after Lions Should Talk to Lions Do Talk ( I love the titles the book is Fly Vulture).
This is a lovely documentation of the Park, he would be so proud and the people of NBI will begin to see their park even in their very busy daily lives.
Addy, I doubt there are any lions in the Athi- Kapiti Ecosystem of which the park is a last relic: it is very humanised nowadays (the city of Nairobi!) but lions DO wander out of the park from time to time (it is unfenced on the southern side.)
I estimate 35-40 lions within the park: a very healthy number: 30 is the historical average…..
thanks for the info…. out of the numerous times I’ve been to the park I’ve only seen lions twice. Im out of the country now, but will be home in a few weeks. The goal is to find the last remaining cheetah! any idea where all the herbivores are right now, and when do they usually migrate out?