The Northern Avocas

The Northern Avocas were three brothers, Dark Mane, Blondie and Mohawk, born in 2013 in the Avoca Pride of the Timbavati, beside Kruger National Park, and sired by the Avoca or Giraffe coalition. Two older brothers from the same pride went south in 2016 and became the Southern Avocas, which is how the two groups got their names.

In early 2018 the three took the male-less Talamati Pride in southern Manyeleti, and in mid-2018 the Nkuhuma Pride of the northern Sabi Sand, which the Birmingham Boys had left. In 2019 they fathered nine Talamati cubs. By 2020 the coalition had split: Dark Mane stayed with the Talamati lionesses, while Blondie and Mohawk ruled the Nkuhuma and Ximhungwe prides. A push south against the ageing Birmingham males was cut short by the Ndzhenga coalition.

Blondie died in October 2022. Dark Mane, who had lived for years with a broken foot, died alone with the Talamati lionesses. Mohawk, the last, left for Kruger National Park with two young Nkuhuma males and was still alive in late 2025.