BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-08)

August 2020 BBC Wildlife 71

strengthebbingfromhisemaciatedbody,

hewasunabletostranglehisvictim.Alerted

tothefracas,thepastoralistsspearedtheold

maleandlefthisremainstothehyenasand

vultures.It’sa hardtruththatmostlionsdie

a violentdeath.

Overthenexttwoyears,theMusketeers

broughtstabilitytotheMarshPride.Then,

in2013,Scarface’sdestinytooka different

turnwhenhewasshotduringa conflict

overlivestock.Thebulletpassedclean

throughhisabdomenandherecovered

followingveterinarytreatment,butthe

episodelefttheMusketeersextremely

waryofthepastoralistsdisruptingtheir

territory.Sowary,infact,thatthey

abandonedtheMarshPridealtogether.

Thefoursomeheadeddeeperintothe

reserve,toanareaknownasParadisePlain.

TheyspenttimeintheMaraTriangletothe

westoftheriver,killingbuffaloandhippo

bynightastheyconsolidatedtheirclaimto

thisnewland.Thewaterwasnobarrierto

theirambitionandtheyeventually patrolled

a tractofsome100km^2.

Kingofcats

It wasperhapsduetohisblindrighteyethat

Scarfacewasmoreproactiveinaltercations

withhiscompanions,oftensuffering

injuriestothatsideofhisface.Buthewas

a tolerant lion, allowing the numerous cubs

heandtheMusketeerssiredtoplaywith

him,buryingthemselvesinhismaneas

hekeptwatchonthelionesses.Initially,he

patrolledwithhisfellowMusketeers,but

ashebecamelessmobile,hewouldoften

restaloneintheheartoftheterritory,or

closetothefemales.Whenwelastsawhim

inOctober2019,theyearshadtakentheir

toll.Histobacco-brownteethwereworn

andbroken,hisnoseblackascoal,lips

slack,chinpatternedwithspittle.Weknew

it wasonlya matteroftimebeforeyounger

malescaughtupwithhim.Butwhen?With

longgrassblanketingthereserveandthe

COVID-19pandemicforcingcampsand

lodgestoclose,therehavebeennosightings.

DuringtheirreignintheMara,Scarface

andtheMusketeerscontrolledtheMarsh,

Paradise,SerenaandRekeroPrides,and

morelatterly,theOlKejuRongaiPride.The

lions now spend about 70 per cent of their

timeintheRekeroandParadiseterritories

whilecontinuingtomonitortheOlKeju

lionesses.Theirdominationrepeatedthe

patternwehadwitnessedfromanother

coalitionofsixmales,knownasNotchand

hisBoys,aftertheirownoustingfromthe

MarshPridebyClawed,Romeoandtheir

companionin2007.Notch’scoalitionwent

ontoclaimthesamepridesoffemalesthat

theMusketeerswould,withNotch 13 years

ofagewhenhedied.

Thatlargegroupsofmales– suchasthe

FourMusketeers,NotchandhisBoys,and,

morerecently,theSixWarriors,whoclaimed

theMarshPrideterritoryin 2017 – survive

forsolongaspridemalesis notjustdown

tostrengthinnumbers.Conversely,their

apparentsuccessis a signthatsomethingis

amisswiththeMaralionpopulation.

It tellsusthatyoungmalesoustedfrom

their natal pride are not being recruited into

Left:Scarface

likelygothis

woundina fight

witha rivallion.

Above:there’s

tensioninthe

ranksasthe

Musketeersvie

for a female.

Weknewitwasonlya

matteroftimebeforethe

youngermalescaught

up with him. But when?