Loonkito

Loonkito (Born 2003)
Loonkito, the world's oldest wild lion "Male Lions generally hit their prime around eight years, and in Amboseli´s ecosystem, few live past ten. Most males like Loonkito´s brother and coalition partner, Ambogga, die defending their territory from competing males.

Loonkito (2017)
Loonkito is now about 18 years old. He still reigns over a big pride of females and cubs. however, since 2017 he is on his own. That year his brother and comrade in arms, Ambogga, died in a territorial fight. Loonkito himself was badly injured. Loonkito was alongside Ambogga during his fatal fight but Loonkito survived and has continued to hold onto their territory and pride. In 2010 Loonkito and Ambogga first took over the prime territory in the heart of Amboseli National Park which boasts plenty of wild prey, boundless springs of fresh water and safety from people and livestock. Many males have unsuccessfully challenged Loonkito to steal control of this oasis and the lionesses within it. And for years we have all been asking this same question: How can Loonkito possibly still be alive despite all of the challenges thrown at him. But he survives each onslaught and seems to come out stronger - albeit more weathered and worn. Luckily females don´t seem to mind his tattered looks, but there is one big problem with Loonkito´s long reign: He has been around so long that he is now mating with his own daughters and granddaughters. As much as we admire Loonkito´s survival skills, we do not love what he is doing to gene pool. Recently we found Loonkito´s large pride in the neighbouring Kitirua Conservancy. Due to heavy rains, they have followed wild prey out of Amboseli Park and once surrounded by livestock, they were tempted towards a different dinner option and killed a cow. This was a huge risk, as it is easy for warriors to retaliate and find a lion to spear in such a large family group - especially in an open area in mid-afternoon! But with so many bellies to fill, we can understand why they took the chance. And during this time of high risk, Loonkito demonstrated that he is equal to any challenge thrown at him, despite his age! Thankfully, because of good relations between the stakeholders and high tolerance from the livestock owners, Loonkito and his pride survived another day." (Philip J. Briggs) "

Loonkito (2021)
On 8 August 2021, after some birding and a short sighting of a pride of 4 lionesses and several cubs we were heading to Observation Hill when we saw some vehicles near the marshes. We stopped to observe some hyenas lingering around when suddenly Loonkito appeared and made his way through the line of vehicles. He was very relaxed; he didn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest - neither by the vehicles nor the clan of about 10 hyenas. But this changed when suddenly a herd of elephants emerged, clearly heading for the marshes. Loonkito hesitated for a moment but then decided to retreat into the marshes. Some calm steps, a quick jump – and he fell into the dirty swamp water. Luckily the elephants decided to circumnavigate the marshes on the other side. Loonkito hastily got out of the water, looking much less like a lion king, and crossing again the line of vehicles, going over to meet two of his ladies. However, those two did not seem very happy to see him – maybe because of the foul smell of the swamp water? After some short rest, Loonkito and the females parted ways and we decided to let him alone to recover from this inglorious incident." (Karina Robin). Loonkito is one of the last real great lion kings of Africa!