Deceased
Also known as Snip Tail · The Mapogo Lost Beyond the Fence
c. 2001 – late 2010
Born in Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa
Dreadlocks was a male lion of South Africa’s Sabi Sand Game Reserve, beside Kruger National Park, and one of the six members of the Mapogo coalition that dominated the Sabi Sand from 2006 to 2012. He was one of five brothers born around 2001 in the Sparta Pride, also called the Eyrefield Pride, on the land of Londolozi and MalaMala. He was named for his wild, matted mane, and he is also reported to have been known as Snip Tail because the tuft at the end of his tail was missing.
When the coalition split in June 2007, Dreadlocks stayed in the western Sabi Sand with Makulu, Pretty Boy and Rasta, while Mr. T and Kinky Tail went east. In 2010 the coalition began to fall apart: the Majingilane males killed Kinky Tail in June, and Rasta vanished in the weeks that followed. With Makulu ageing, many fans regard Dreadlocks as the strongest of the remaining Mapogos at that time, and he was still being photographed with Makulu and Pretty Boy in November 2010.
Around the end of November 2010 Dreadlocks left the reserve near the Kokovelo River in the north, where he had reportedly gone out before to hunt cattle in the community beyond the fence. According to the account later given by former assistant warden Willem Botha, he was caught in a snare set beside the carcass of a cow he had killed the night before, and was killed by local people. His loss cut the Mapogos to three, and some followers believe it hastened the end of their reign.
For his heavy, matted mane, which looked as if it had grown into dreadlocks. Who first used the name has not been documented.
For the missing tuft at the end of his tail. Used in some fan accounts; not every source confirms it.
Some websites call him Scar. Others use Scar for a different lion, or merge Dreadlocks and Rasta into one, so the name is not reliable.
The shortened name used by fans.
Born in the Sparta (Eyrefield) Pride in the Londolozi and MalaMala area, one of five brothers sired by the West Street Males.
Grew up in the pride with his four brothers and the slightly older outsider Makulu.
Left the pride with the other five. As nomads they became expert buffalo hunters.
The Mapogos took the northern Sabi Sand, killing one of the four resident males and the cubs of the Othawa Pride.
After Makulu beat Mr. T in a fight the coalition split. Dreadlocks stayed in the west with Makulu, Pretty Boy and Rasta.
Held the western Sabi Sand with Makulu, Pretty Boy and Rasta.
The Majingilane males killed Kinky Tail. Mr. T fled west to his brothers.
Mr. T killed cubs in the Ximhungwe Pride. Fan accounts say Dreadlocks and Pretty Boy asserted their dominance over him when he first returned.
All five surviving Mapogos were seen and filmed roaring together at Leopard Hills in the western Sabi Sand.
Rasta disappeared, leaving four Mapogos: Makulu, Pretty Boy, Mr. T and Dreadlocks.
Photographed feeding on a hippo with Makulu and Pretty Boy, one of the last records of him.
Left the reserve near the Kokovelo River and was caught in a snare beside a cow he had killed. He was killed by local people, leaving three Mapogos.
Lodges first reported that he may have been killed by the Majingilane. His death at human hands was later confirmed by Willem Botha and Colleen Holland.
At first, reports from Ulusaba and other lodges suggested the Majingilane had killed him. Later, the reserve’s former assistant warden Willem Botha said he had been caught in a snare outside the reserve and killed by local people. Botha had left the Sabi Sand about a year earlier, so his account came from others rather than from his own sighting.
Many fans say Dreadlocks was poached. Others point out that he was killed outside the reserve after hunting cattle, which makes it a case of human–wildlife conflict rather than poaching inside the reserve. Both descriptions appear in sources.
Each lodge used its own names, and the documentary Brothers in Blood uses different names again. Some sources merge Rasta and Dreadlocks into one lion, and some call Dreadlocks Scar. Most accounts agree that Rasta and Dreadlocks were two different brothers.
Fans also discuss a different male lion known as Dreadlocks Delaporte. He is not the Mapogo Dreadlocks.
Daniel Huertas
The rise and fall of the Mapogo coalition, filmed over many years in the Sabi Sand. Shown in the United States as the series Lions of Sabi Sands on Animal Planet. The film uses its own names for some brothers.
Londolozi Blog
An update on the Majingilane; readers’ comments record the news that Dreadlocks had been lost.
Leopard Hills
A guide’s account of all five surviving Mapogos roaring together, including Dreadlocks.
Willem Botha (WildFact)
First-hand stories of the Mapogos from the Sabi Sand’s former assistant warden.
Where sources disagree, the most widely reported figure is shown, with other reports noted beneath it.
