Hairy Belly Matimba

Farewell Hairy Belly: (March 17, 2021)
The passing of the last Matimba male - now officially mentioned by the Savanna Private Game Reserve after almost two months without any sighting - marks the end of a special era of male lions that shaped and influenced the Sabi Sands Game Reserve for almost two decades.

Never before had a rivalry between lions attracted so much attention to the Greater Kruger section and inflamed such a deep fascination within lion lovers all over the world like it had been the case with the big three that consisted of the Mapogos, the Majingilane and the Matimbas. Later joined by the Birmingham Coalition.

The legendary tug of war between the two Matimba males and the Majingilane males in 2016 remain as unforgettable as their miraculously return from the dead in 2018 when both males ended up taking over the Othawa pride to become the protectors of the last offspring of their long-term rivals from the Majingilane coalition they had competed with for so many years. Who would have thought that two old male lions, both scarred by the ravages of time, could celebrate such a comeback? At this point it was hard not to develop a soft spot these veterans.

After the death of his coalition partner, the Ginger Matimba male, in August 2019 due to a severe case of mange, nobody really expected Hairy Belly to keep going much longer, but again he proved everybody wrong and despite suffering from a permanent hip injury he hung on for yet more than another year till the arrival of the Tumbela males finally marked the turning point.

At the age of approximately 15 years Hairy Belly has now passed away at last. And that incredible journey of his has come to an end.