Steroid Boys
 

Was just reading in the Mombo newsletter than one of the Steroid Boys at Mombo had been killed by a lion. How sad, especially in light of the death of one of the Savuti brothers. Carol

absolutely right carol, they were an amazing pair.

on a seperate note though, for people taht want an explanantion as to why Mombo is so special for predator viewing, they need look no further than in the latest newsletter which states that they have identified 90 different lions in Mombo's driving territory. i doubt any place in the world can match that. cant wait to visit next sept.

bigcountry,

I don't know if this is correct or not, but I was told by my guide at Simbambili, Jaco, that the best predator densities in the world were as follows:

1. Ngorongoro Crater
2. Mombo
3. Sabi Sand (given the limited size of the Sabi Sand, it would not make sense to name one lodge over another)

However, given the exclusivity and ability to go offroad at Mombo, I do see how it would probably offer the very best experience for predators.

Keep in mind that when the lion densities become so high the other predators often become scarce. It is thought that the wild dogs disappeared from Mombo due to the lion numbers growing, it will be interesting to see if the dogs become reestablished with this years den.

The loss of one of the Steroid Boys illustrates the direct impact the lions can have.

PB beat me to it...

We were told on both our visits to Mombo, 2001 and 2004, that the success of the lions had an impact on the success of other predators in the area - particularly cheetahs since they were unable to defend their kills.

Leopards continue to do well in the Mombo area and I believe wild dogs have once again been spotted in the area (we saw them on the first trip but on our second they had not been seen for a while).