Mapogo lion coalition

The Mapogos first pride clash was in 2006. The Mapogo lions entered the northern Sabi Sand, which was ruled by four dominant males. Immediately upon arrival, the Mapogos managed to kill one of the males, and the remaining three were driven off.[9] With the Ottawa pride's male lion driven off, three lionesses and 11 cubs remained. Due to the male lion's natural instincts, the six Mapogos quickly found and killed all 11 Ottawa cubs, with reports of Mr. T even eating some of the cubs, despite cannibalistic behavior in lions being uncommon.

With all competition eliminated, the Mapogos had successfully controlled eight prides. They were the dominant male coalition of Sabi Sand and killed more than 100 lions from the neighbouring prides during their rule.

The coalition ruled a large territory, however their internal functions were bumpy and riddled with internal competition and rivalry. Many fights were observed between them, particularly with Mr. T, Kinky Tail and Makulu, both of whom had something of a large inter-rivalry. This rivalry escalated into a heavy fight between Mr. T and Makulu where Makulu was able to bite through one of Mr. T's paws and win the fight. This fight may have caused or drastically accelerated the split. In 2008, soon after the fight and for the first time ever recorded, the coalition split into 2 smaller coalitions with Kinky Tail and Mr. T moving out to the coalition's eastern territory and Makulu, Rasta, Scar and Pretty Boy staying in the west. There was an overlap region among the two territories, and the two coalitions occasionally met up with most interactions being friendly; however, it was clear that the two coalitions had very distinct regions and most likely wouldn't reform in the foreseeable future. [10]

Mr. T and Kinky Tail were then seen patrolling and guarding their territory for two years, managing to fight off other rival lions. However, in June 2010, a coalition of five male lions named the Majingilanes entered in Mapogo territory to take over. The five males were witnessed scent-marking and roaring loudly near the Mapogo's territory. In a buffalo hunt, Kinky Tail and Mr. T were able to isolate the youngest of Majingilane males who was on lookout and began chasing him. Soon they caught the intruder and Mr. T bit down on the male's neck, Kinky Tail ripped apart the male's groin area inflicting tears and bleeding. The Majingilane male tried to fight back. Eventually Kinky Tail and Mr. T managed to break the 5th Majingilane lion's spine and he was left immobilized and left to die a few hours later.

Later that same night, a filming crew witnessed the four remaining younger Majingilane lions on the move. Two of them were exposed to Kinky Tail, who immediately charged on them all by himself. They ran with KT on their tail, and the remaining two Majingilane lions came up behind KT. Eventually on a dirt road, under a cloud of dust, the four Majingilanes had pinned down Kinky Tail. The four males immediately started to bite and rip apart Kinky Tail. One lion was biting at his neck, another at his back; the third bit off Kinky Tail's testicles and genitalia. The Majingilanes managed to successfully snap Kinky Tail's spine, thus immobilizing him and leaving him with zero chance of survival. Mr. T eventually arrived and attempted to rescue and fight off the Majingilanes, but was outnumbered and outmaneuvered and forced to flee. Two Majingilanes attempted to track Mr. T, but were unsuccessful and returned to kill Kinky Tail. The four lions had started eating most of Kinky Tail's hind legs and his entire tail. He was seen taking his last breath while being eaten alive. During the altercation, Mr. T attempted again to save his brother.

After the death of his brother, Mr. T headed West to return to the rest of the old coalition. Field guides were afraid the 4 would chase him off and kill him, but instead they welcomed him back and he managed to peacefully coexist with the other 4 again. However, soon after being accepted back, Mr. T began to start to track down, massacre and eat his brothers cubs. His brothers did nothing to stop him and Mr. T quickly began mating with the pride females; taking over the coalition as the new king of the west. [11] Then shortly after this, Rasta would disappear from the coalition. The reason why is still unknown, but it's thought he was either killed by poachers or the Majingilane. Around the same time, Dreadlocks(Scar) would leave the game reserve and be shot by locals shortly after, cutting the Mapogos down to just 3 members: Makulu (14), Pretty Boy (12) and Mr. T(12). [12]

On March 16 2012, a new rival coalition called the Selatis would arrive in the last of Mapogo territory through the south. The four of them were able to single out and attack a single member of the Mapogos, who would end up being Mr. T. By the time the film crew and wildlife officials came to the scene, Mr. T was already attacked. He had many wounds over his front and shoulders as well as a large bite taken into his spine that paralyzed his back legs. The four Selatis would attack him in a consistent pattern of distracting Mr. T from the front to allow them to flank him, bite his spine and maul him for about 20 seconds. The Selatis would then stop, move away, wait, then begin the assault again. This pattern repeated several times before the Selatis then left the crippled Mr. T to die by the road.[13]

The last remaining Mapogos, Makulu and Pretty Boy had to leave their territory to Selatis, fought a coalition of two Kruger males (Freddy and Limper) to occupy their territory and were driven off their territory. One of the Kruger males (Limper) later died due to injuries from Makulu. They were sighted in 2012 side by side, entering the Kruger National Park through the gate attributed to Paul Kruger. The remaining two were once again seen feeding on a buffalo in October–November 2012. In January 2013, Makulu was seen for the last time alone at Mala Mala, neighboring his old haunt, the Sabi Sand Reserve. At this point, he was almost 15 years old and largely exceeded the average male lion life expectancy.[14]