With sorrow and sadness, we would like to announce the death of one of the legendary 'Duba Boys'. He died after a long sickness that was caused by an attack from the elegant male from the neighboring territory - the 'Skimmer Male'. This happened at the end of the first week of November 2007. The Skimmer Male had always challenged the Duba Boys, but had always been circumspect and cautious in terms of timing and location. On this occasion however he pushed home his attack. The Duba Boy was found by the guides the next morning and had a badly injured eye. Later, the Skimmer Male was located in the area and brazenly stayed in the vicinity area for the following two weeks mating with the 'Tsaro Pride' lionesses. This was not the first time it had happened, but was the longest he had ever stayed in the area. In addition he also attacked the second Duba Boy about five days later, on this occasion not inflicting any serious wounds but clearly winning the conflict over one of the sexually receptive Tsaro lionesses. He then continued to enjoy the Duba Boys territory and mating rights for a further week with no attempt to eject him made by the Duba Boys.
During this period the two Duba Boys gave the Skimmer Male and the Tsaro Pride a wide berth, especially the injured male who in fact became very elusive. The fact that he did not associate with the pride and did not hunt for himself as a result of his injuries caused a rapid decline in condition and deterioration in health. He completely lost the healthy and intimidating physique he had became known for.
On the 28th of December, this male was seen by the guides out on game drive. Most of the guides and guests, including multi-repeat guest Iva Spitzer, agreed that it was likely that if he did not feed during the night that he would breathe his last. This turned out to be true.
James was on game drive on the morning of the 29th when he saw some vultures soaring along Letlalo Road. As usual he investigated and was devastated to find the late Duba Boy. It is fitting that he was killed by the buffalos he had hunted for most of his adult life. The area looked like a battle field. The bush was trashed, the grass was trampled and the dead Duba Boy had a gash from the chest down to the belly from the horn of his final adversary.
HISTORY
The Duba Boys have been in the area since the year 1996, when Duba Plains opened. They were the sons to a male lion called 'Stick', who was dominant in the area at that time. He was then chased out of his territory by another male called 'Squinty' towards the end of 1996. Squinty became dominant in the area up until 1999 when the two Duba Boys proved mature enough for dominancy and usurped his position, ruling over this area since this time. It remains to be seen how long the remaining brother will be able to hold onto the prize?