K A L A M A S
...Male lions, known for their magnificent manes, are an African icon. It comes as no surprise that a few eyebrows were raised when Kope Lion spotted a male lion within Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater with no mane. It appeared that this lion had actually lost its mane somehow.
Kope Lion wasn’t sure who this lion was. They used its whisker spot pattern, a unique pattern similar to a human fingerprint, to identify the lion. They found out that the lion was Kalamas, a male lion they knew who resided within the crater.
Kope Lion is not sure why Kalamas lost his mane. They speculate that the hair loss could be from stress due to conflict with other lions. It could have also been caused by the stress of traveling between the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater. It’s a mystery why he lost his mane, but his mane was able to grow back within a few months’ time.
In early 2017 Kalamas was proudly a dominant male of Mwiba & Maswa Game Reserve at his prime age. Many local rangers & guides agreed that this majestic creature was arguably the largest lion they found in the surrounding areas. Although we didn’t have accurate knowledge about his weight, rangers got chance to have Kalamas’ brother Blaze collared & weighed, another comparable huge-mane boy about the same size or slightly smaller than Kalamas. These two brothers were spotted together during 2014-2015, possibly originated from Ngorongoro Crater Area. Blaze was weighed as 590lb (267kg) which means Kalamas should be about the same. Amazing specimens!
Unfortunately Blaze died of human-wildlife conflict which has been a severe threat to all these beautiful cats in Serengeti. Kalamas led an elusive and nomadic life during his later part of life, holding his stance as a lonely knight and last seen early 2019. Many of his offsprings were lost due to lack of male protection, and lack of food during drought seasons. We are glad to know a few survivors: 3 subadult males in Maswa Game Reserve and at least 1 subadult male in Mwiba. Those boys are definitely huge specimens carrying Kalamas’ genes.
On April 26th 2023 the beautiful black maned Kalamas whose health was failing and at the age of 13, he was found dead in the Crater area. A well known & peaceful nomad who traveled through many parts of Tanzania.
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