The Epic Story of the Young Orpen Male Lion (Q&A With Matt)

Who is the biggest between mandevu and red road ?

The Orpen sired Mbirhi male was born in the Mbirhi pride,same as Mandevu. The Two Orpen Males,Jr and Buddy,took over the Mbirhi pride after their stint as dominant males over the Skorro and Koppies pride. Both of these males kicked the Tintswalo males out of the Mbirhi pride. Unfortunately,Buddy and Jr died before Orpen Jr was born. The Tintswalos,sensing the vacuum left by the dominant males,came back to rejoin their natal pride. When Orpen Jr was born,the Tintswalos did not harm him or his sister.

Thanks Matt, I hope we get names for the Kambulas too, K 4 seems to be recovering, after such terrible damage unbelievably. I have seen footage where he is putting his foot down & able to move it gingerly. Great News but the MM are powerful dark Maned males, clearly used to battles & determined.
Enjoying this question & answer, the earlier Show was terrfic too. Two Leopards, a female with a male Kudu kill!! I hope both have litters safely.
The Plains Camp Males & Ndzengas were a sight, some tactical moves there I think.
Expecting another tryout, before real hostilities take place.
Is it the Nharu who are recovering slowly from manage,? I hope so.
Red Road is amazing as you say, so impressive.
Sad Ncile probably gone. But Mandevu has a great new partner, who has strength, to support his experience. Thank you! ❤️🦁 you@

Thank you Matt
Great Q&A

Thank you was very enjoyable!!

With respect, there a bit of misinformation in the Orpen males, and young Orpen male. The Orpen males took over Skorro pride in 2018, Koppies pride in 2019. Shortly after they took over Koppies pride they abandoned Skorro pride. They weren’t ousted by Hercules/Sumatra males. Hercules/Sumatra took over Skorro pride causing them to split, Skorro breakaway pride was 1 lioness maybe 2, and 3 subs (2 males+1 female) sired by Orpen males. The younger of the 2 Skorro sub’s disappeared, and the older Skorro male was recently seen around Sabi Sands before moving back into the Kruger I believe. The Koppies pride which consisted of 3 lioness, 1 died July/Aug 2020, another killed by Mbiri pride Nov 2020. Shortly after Junior died the first week of December. The last Koppies lioness disappeared into Kruger with 5 cubs. The young Orpen male you’re talking about was born in the Mbiri pride around February 2021. Hercules/Sumatra males were only dominant over Skorro pride for about 7 months before 2 Mbiri males ousted them. They were nomadic for a while having run ins with the 3 Nharhu males, amongst others I’m sure before settling down with the Giraffe pride sometime in 2021.

what happened to the young male that was with Red Road a couple of years ago? the channel was saying maybe they would form a coalition but I guess that didnt happen

I love Mandevu & young orpen male🥰🫶👑🦁💛 I wish them the best. Stay safe boys🙏🏻✨️

That makes ZERO sense.
Because that is not the same story that Tintswalo said years ago.

❤❤❤❤❤

fascinating stuff

He is born in Mbiri pride in February 2021, his fathers died when he was just concived, he never met them.

Tintswalos who where succesors of Orpen males (Tintswalos become territorial over their natal Mbiri pride) are his uncles or older brothers, who accepted him and sister as small cubs in early 2021 and rised them.

LOVE this Q & A video Matt! I have a question ⁉️ for the next one. You mentioned giving the Kambulas better names, so I'm assuming that you are FOR naming some of the beloved animals?? I know some guides and naturalists are against it and I don't understand why? What are you thoughts on this? Giving names to wild animals? Thanks so much! Peace

I’ve been looking for the white Birmingham white lion it’s a boy lion not the girl lion I’m wondering about her too, but the boy lion Birmingham I’m missing him. Everybody does we don’t know what’s going on with him or his brother we heard one of his brothers died we don’t know if that’s for surebut that in and Devon Mende I mean and his of the open Mail or trying to figure out what’s going on there too.

I’ve been looking for the white Birmingham white lion it’s a boy lion not the girl lion I’m wondering about her too, but the boy lion Birmingham I’m missing him. Everybody does we don’t know what’s going on with him or his brother we heard one of his brothers died we don’t know if that’s for surebut that in and Devon Mende I mean and his of the open Mail or trying to figure out what’s going on there too.

I disagree you don't know that Ncila is dead

Great job Matt thank u for this info injoyed this q/a look forward to next

I like k leave it like it is

K4 is doing much better

It wasn't the nhaur it was the inbarli lioness kambula mated with.

Nice setting Matt, with a museum-like background and the polished table.

Thanks for the QnA...much appreciated. Great info; glad his journey Orpen ended well; wish him Mandevu n pride safety 💥🦁

The Orpen male and his sister were born into the ambiri pride and have stayed in that pride..
When junior Nkuhuma & Buddy died, the Tintswalo tolerated these two cubs.

They are calling him Orpen junior because their fathers were the ORPEN MALES who ruled the Mbiri pride until Junior lasrly died via Anthrax.

Orpen young male. Aka Orpen Junior jr.
Born in: Mbiri Pride.
Fathers: Junior & Buddy of Orpen Coalition.
Littermates: one female. Orpen female.

Tintswalo never stops surprising me with how great their content is.

From the Virtual Safaris to the Q&A, it's all top notch.

Thank you so much! I was curious about the Orpen male. SO interesting. Thank you for this amazing update, Matt!

He is growing nice and big he have that matimba blood in him.
I still hope ncila is out there somewhere safe

Thanks for your efforts and dedication. I imagine you did this video fast but it’s appreciate

What’s the full story on Red Road male lion ?

Also whatever happened to the Young Birmingham male lions that had a white male lion in the young coalition.

Absolutely love these sessions - thank you so much ❤🐾 🦁

I believe this young male was born to the mbiri pride he is the last offspring to the orpen males. There is an older skorro male seen a few days ago in Northern sabi sands. The koppies cubs are believed to have died

I never knew random lions could join forces

i think you got it wrong, the two mongawane males were the ones you had a video of in nharu territory, but the two males in the northern sabi sands were the mantimahles

Really like these q&a sessions thanks a bunch!

This is a great idea , letting the viewers know, and learn the story of we’re lion coalitions have come together, brilliant 👏

Have you any idea , what happened to the Mayanbulla pride , led by the mighty Skorro males

Young Orpen Male was born in Mbiri pride sired by Jr Nkuhuma, at that time Orpen males took over the Mbiri pride, and there is evidence of Jr Nkuhuma matting with Mbiri lionesses, Buddy was in poor condition. So Young Orpen male it was part of the Mbiri pride. Not Scorro not Koppies. His luck was that Tintswalo males tolerated him and didnt kill him

Thank you for the update and background on the orphan male. I enjoy these Q&A.

Hey Matt, who is the largest lion you have personally observed, and what is the heaviest lion ever recorded in the Tintswalo area? It would be fascinating to hear about both your firsthand experience and any historical data regarding the size of lions in this region.

Where is red roads young offspring these days? Are they still in the pride with red road?

TLDR:
The Orpen Young Male was actually born into the Mbiri Pride and is Mandevu's younger half brother/cousin through their mothers.

Clarification:
There were originally 6 Matimbas. They were all still together when they took over the Nkhuma Pride. Any of them could have been Junior's father. Junior was 3-4 years old when the remaining Matimbas were "gently" pushed out in 2015. He also had several sisters sired by the Matimbas who became the core of the Nkhuma Pride.

I don't think Junior and Buddy (The Open Male Coalition) were dethroned by the Hercules & Sumatra. They just abandoned the Skorro Pride as they moved into the Thandi Impi Coalition's former territory.

Matt seems to be mixing up the story of the Skorro Young Male and the Orpen Young Male. The Orpen Young Male is the Tintswalo Males' (Mandevu) half brother/cousin. They were all born into Mbiri Pride except for Lambile who was born into the Nharu Pride. The Tintswalo Males' (including Lambile) fathers are the Thandi Impi Coalition. The Orpen Young Male is the son of the Orpen Male Coalition, hence his name. The Orpen Coalition died (Junior from anthrax poisoning, Buddy from BTB) shortly after taking over the Mbiri Pride. They only had time to sire two cubs, the Orpen Young Male and his twin sister. The Tintswalo Males fully returned (they hadn't wondered far as nomads) to their natal pride after Buddy & Jr died and took over. They did not kill the the cubs as they were still young males themselves at the time and were pretty much still a part of the pride having only recently been chased of by Buddy & Junior.


Yes, the Tintswalo Males became dominant over the pride they were born into, uncommon but not unheard of.

Buddy & Jr were dominant over the Skorro Pride for more than a year. When Hercules & Sumatra took over, an adult Skorro lioness took 3 subadults (2 males, 1 female) and followed Buddy and Junior to keep the subs safe. They still weren't very safe because of the Mbiri and Nharu Prides and Red Road. They disappeared. A year or so later the Skorro Young Male popped up as a nomad looking like a prime adult male despite his young age. The lioness and the female sub presumably returned to the pride when she was old enough to mate. I think there were pictures, but I can't find them to verify. The other young male disappeared.

The surviving Skorro Young Male is currently in the Sabi Sands. Not to be confused with Skorro Tumbela who is also in SS and is the son of the Nharu Pride and the Thandi Impi Males, Lambile's "full" brother/cousin, Mandevu and Ncile's half brother cousin through their fathers. Skorro Tumbela is believed to have been sired by Skorro Thandi Impi (based on resemblance), hence the name. Skorro Thandi Impi was born into the Skorro Pride and he (or his brother) is probably the father of Red Road Male. Skorro T.I.'s brother was killed by the Matimbas and MIGHT have been the Matimbas half brothers through the Old Skybed Males.

Fun facts: Siznani Thandi Impi and Junior Orpen were both born into the Nkhuma Pride and Junior succeeded Siznani as the dominant male of the Mbiri Pride (with coalition partners of course).

The Matimbas (sons of the Old Skybed Males and the Birmingham Pride) are Junior's fathers and dominated the Mbiri Pride before the Thandi Impis. They sired a few daughters and 5 sons (including the Mbiri Males, ZigZag and Shaka) in the Mbiri Pride. The Mbiri Males are currently dominant over the Birmingham Pride. The Mbiri Males were briefly dominant over the Skorro Pride before taking over the Birminghams. The Mongawane Males seem to be taking over the Skorro Pride. Torchwood Mongawane is the son of the Birmingham Males and grandson of the Matimbas. Osindile Mongawane was born into the Birmingham Pride, sired by the Avoca/Giraffe Males. The Birmingham Pride's genes keep recirculating through Timbivati, Manyeleti, and the Sabi Sands.

The Nharu Pride is actually a breakaway of the Birmingham Pride. Red Road Pride, mothers of the Red Road Male and his siblings, was also a Birmingham Breakaway. Red Road Male is currently dominant over the Nharu Pride. He was preceded by the Thandi Impi Males which included his possible (probable?) father, Skorro Thandi Impi. If I remember correctly, Red Road's mother is the White Dot Birmingham lioness (a Matimba sister). She is also the mother of Osindile Mongawane (who, if you remember, is possibly taking over the Skorro Pride) and grandmother of the current Birmingham Young male sired by the Ross Males. Trying to remember all of this makes me feel like a conspiracy theorist (It's all connected, man).

Hi Matt,

As you have seen all of the Mbiris, Red road, Tintswalo, Mongawane, Kambula, Mantimahle males closely, could you please tell us who among them are the top 3 or top 5 largest and strongest individual Lions?

Thanks.

I like to see these kind of video to learn more about lion lineage and dynamics. Keep going! like coment and subcribed

How and where are the mbiri males now ?

This is a very well done and very clearly explained session. I appreciate the information. Indeed a great story of this young male lion. All these animals are amazing! Thank you.

I do not understand? The young Orphen male lion is form the koppie pride? It does not make sense. Did the lioness join the Mibiri pride? I thought he was born in the Mibiri pride?

Also, it wasn’t Mantimhale who chased Kruger male and S Avoca. The 4 young Kambulas were chased north and into s8 Imbali’s former territory by PCs from April - July 2024 so 4 young Kambulas took over the Imbali pride from Kruger male end of July and into August which resulted in killing of 1/5 Imbali lioness mid august 2024, but Kambulas being pushed by Red and also going into Torchwood and Nchoro enticed 2 Mantimhale males to start chasing them back into S8 Imbali’s former territories, at first occasionally then exponentially from July 2024 to and including November 2024 exponentially and in the process the Mantimahale finding that not only are s8 Imbali territory vacant but also that Northern Avocas territories are vacant (rhey ventured in occasion all the way to landozi and chitwa during summer (no wonder the PCs then too gradually stopped when they sensed their scent) so they took Imbali lionesses and the Imbali lionesses to avoid Mantimahale went further into Djuma misguidedly seeking protection of the 4 Kambulas which unfortunately resulted in them running into Kambulas screwing and hiding behind Nkhumas and the 2nd Imbali lionesses got killed. S Avoca and Kruger male found each other end of august beginning of September when S Avoca uncustomary went north into Djuma and they made surprising quick bonding and then S Avoca took Kruger male west into Landozi, Singita, Savanah etc and they came back in north around Chitwa, Arthusa, Simbambili in November a Thursday(a few days before k4 got attcked).

Matimbas were originally a 6 male coalition after the most dominant male of the group passed they split up into 2 separate coalitions.

Interesting and informational.

Thank you Matt this would be a great regular thing to see for sure 😁😍🦁🐾🐾