News & Blog


2022-04-07
Marloth Park Lions and other predators - story by Dawie Fourie on Facebook



Last night the lions caught 2 ostriches in (Ironically) Volstruis Str. again.
I think it's time we discuss lions in Marloth Park.


I have known this Park for 40 years. Ironically it was an incident with lions that started my interest in this place. My dad was working for what later beccame known as Telkom. They were planning the automation of the old manual telephone exchanges in the area, including Komatipoort, Hectorspruit and Malelane.


One day the office in Komatipoort received a call from a technician in Marloth Park, clearly frantic with fear. He was working in Marloth Park when he was surprised by a small pride of lions. He's ladder was already pitched against the telephone pole so at least it looked like it would provide some escape. He scrambled up the ladder (dragging his toolbox up the ladder with him)(I could never understand the reasoning behind that...), then proceeded to strap himself to the top of the pole and then kicked the ladder out from under him. Fortunately his toolbox had a telephone handpiece they used to directly tap into the copper wires.
He phoned the office and told them about his predicament and asked the Komatipoort staff to come and rescue him.
It was the "old days" and all the roads were gravel so he spent a very anxious 50 minutes plus, up a telephone pole with a bunch of curious lions trying to figure out what they were looking at, before he got rescued.


That was about 1979. There wasn't a proper fence up along the river. It was only a 5'6" cattle fence (known as the Snyman's fence) that was put up to control the movement of buffalo. It was relatively effective but it certainly didn't discourage the movement of lions.


In 1999 (if I remember correctly)(I was already living in Marloth Park at the time), we received notice that the Dept. Of Veterinary Services were going to upgrade the existing fence and replace it with a 2,4m electrified game fence. (Another sad story for another day). This new fence would be more effective in controlling the movement of buffalo, waterbuck, kudu and also elephants and lions.


Now most people will immediately assume that lions will jump over a fence (by the way, an adult lion can easily clear a 2,4m fence), but no - lions are rather lazy in that way. They will rather pace up and down a fence to try and find a weak spot where they can crawl under a fence. (And, by the way, they will also dig to enlarge existing holes under a fence).


Generally the electric fence is relatively effective but during the rainy season the gullies where drainage lines run into the river are often eroded by runoff water. That causes holes under the fence to "grow" big enough for animals such as warthog to dig under the electric wires. (O, by the way - lions "smell" the electricity in the fence and are quick to take advantage of an interruption in electric current).


The long and short - despite the fence along the river (and along Lionspruit)(or any other farm for that matter) doesn't stop the movement of lions and other predators such as wild dogs, cheetahs and leopards. At best it discourages them from unnecessary movement.


Now with that out of the way - the fact that the fences wont "stop" predators - why do they come in?
Our knowledge of lions have vastly improved over last 20 or 30 years. One of those most vexing questions in researchers minds for years was - why do lions live in prides? (If we understand that it pretty much gets you almost right there to the answer about, why they come into Marloth Park).


For years the popular opinion was that lions lived in prides to increase there chances of successful hunts. Turns out that lions are not only capable of living a very successful life as solo predators - hunting success can actually be higher for single lions than for lions hunting cooperatively. (It's an all together very interesting story but there's not time to tell it here, right now... another day perhaps)


Living in prides gives them a better chance to control prime hunting territories and protect it from neighboring prides and vagrants.


The situation in Marloth Park is slightly "unique". The Crocodile River, especially the areas near the confluences with the Vhurami, Bumi and Mbiyamithi Rivers, provide some of the best lion territories in the Kruger - indeed, some of the best in Africa. The result? This area along the Crocodile River?., it's a bit like the "Sandton" of the lion world. You will always have a whole lot of potential tenants looking to come and live here. It's prime real estate for lions.


Something else about lions (and other predators), that people don't always understand! They don't control animal numbers. They control the health of a population. Predator-prey relationships with lions are among the most interesting of all predators and actually warrants a whole other essay but for the moment - lions bread "easily". This breeding success can unfortunately also become a prides undoing.


Good years (for the lions at least), means lots of food, less competition and better chance of survival for the young ones, but, as for pretty much everyone and everything the "tide" inevitably turns. Now this is where the problem starts. It's the laws of "survival of the fittest". If food supplies dwindle or it becomes more difficult to outwit and outhunt your prey it leads to increased tension and stress among the lions.


It is this "dealing" with this tension and stress that results in Marloth Park's "problem" with lions, but let's keep it for here for the moment. More about the lions tomorrow.

This story was written by Dawie Fourie a well know resident artist living in Marloth Park. Dawie is known worldwide for his outstanding elephant paintings.