Tale of the Thombi Pride

As the sun rises over the African plains, nothing beats the sound of one of the majestic Big 5 calling. Within the boundaries of Nambiti, it is often the members of the Thombi Pride who can be heard on the plains or seen patrolling the vast African bush.

Thombi, who the pride is named after, was one of the original lionesses introduced to Nambiti in 2007. After watching this young adolescent grow into a majestic lioness that entertained many guests, she then became a brave mother to many cubs on Nambiti. Thombi died at the ripe old age of 16, however, her legacy lives on through her two daughters who gave birth to their first litter of cubs in 2022.

After the tragic death of their mother in 2021, the Thombi pride’s remaining females took over the role of leading the pride with the sisters working together to survive. At this point their two younger brothers were with them as they were still learning the ropes of being an apex predator.

Mid 2022, the two young males, having reached maturity and mastered the ability to hunt, left the comfort of their pride to explore the kingdom of Nambiti. This new adventure for the males led to new problems. The dominant males continuously exerted their dominance to ensure the “little boys” knew their place. The time then came, in 2023, for these young males to be moved to a new reserve to avoid being killed by the dominant males and to ensure genetic diversity within the lion population on Nambiti.

The two remaining members of the Thombi pride then gave birth to a new generation of cubs on Nambiti; these females gave birth within a month of each other. Working together as a team, the Thombi Pride now consists of the two Thombi lionesses, 1 female sub adult cub and 4 sub adult male lions.

The mothers are raising their cubs while still having to hunt for survival, and protect their young to ensure the legacy of the Thombi pride lives on.