Kiduku

Kiduku is one of the seven Saba Bora brothers who took over the Namiri Plains of Tanzania’s eastern Serengeti in 2023. His name is a Swahili word for a haircut shaved at the sides with a strip left down the middle, and it describes him perfectly: long hair stands up along the top of his head while the rest of his mane has never grown in. Tariq Said Sarico, the guide who followed Bob Junior for years and now follows the Saba Bora, says Kiduku was one of the three young males he saw kill Bob Junior.

The Saba Bora, Swahili for “the best seven”, are seven brothers who swept onto the Namiri Plains of the eastern Serengeti in early 2023 and ended the seven-year reign of Bob Junior and Marley. On 11 March 2023 three of them killed Bob Junior. They took over the Semetu Pride, Bob Junior’s own pride, and in early 2024 the Punda Kopjes pride. Two younger brothers joined them for a time in 2024, and later that year three of the seven split away as the Wasafi Boys.

Kiduku is the brother of Chongo, the coalition’s dominant male, and the two are almost always together. The guide describes him as a team player who seeks out his brothers, while others in the coalition are often found alone. He was about three and a half years old in March 2024.