06/05/2026
This came up in my memories today, taken around Christmas 2017.
The Fig Tree pride had had a baby boom that year and eventually those that made it to dispersal, would become some felines that are still around today.
There were four mothers in Fig Tree pride in 2017. I can identify the two lionesses with the older litters and the two with the younger litters, but I’m not sure which lioness had which litter (of course guesses can be made based on looks though appearances alone aren’t always reliable).
That said, some info you may not know that I recorded back in 2017:
- Osupat was in the oldest litter
- Nyekundu/Olonyokie was in the next litter, less than a month between their birthdays
- Almost 6 months later Sukari was born, she had 3 littermates (of course there could have been more prior to my sightings)
- Then Samara was the youngest along with her littermate.
I had a particular fondness of seeing Slitnose Supermama in the field, I was relatively new to following the Mara’s big cats back then and I found it easy to recognise her with that nose.
While I don’t know if she is mother of Sukari or Samara, she was mother of one of the 2 younger litters. She certainly played a part in giving her daughter that rich red coat of hers, even redder than Maridadi, who was particularly stunning around that time.
For those newer to following lions, guides also called Maridadi and Kaka ‘the Orange boys’, for obvious reasons!
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📝 📸 Lucy Johnson, Chrimbo ‘17
