Fate unknown

Ma di Tau

Also known as Mother of Lions · The Last Lions

Filmed in the late 2000s

Born in an unrecorded place

Ma di Tau is the name the filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert gave to a lioness of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the heroine of their 2011 National Geographic film The Last Lions, narrated by Jeremy Irons. The Jouberts lived for seven years in a tent across the river from Duba Island and knew the lionesses there as individuals; Ma di Tau means “mother of lions” in Setswana.

Her story begins when a rival pride, pushed out of its own land, invades her territory. Her mate is killed in the battle and she is badly wounded, but she blinds the leader of the invaders in one eye; that lioness is known from then on as Silver Eye. With three small cubs and no pride to protect them, Ma di Tau flees a bushfire and the cub-killing Silver Eye by swimming a crocodile-filled channel to Duba Island, a place ruled by a huge herd of buffalo.

Alone, she has to learn to bring down buffalo, the most dangerous prey in Africa, to feed her young. She loses one cub to a crocodile and another to the buffalo; one son survives. In the end, faced with the buffalo, she joins forces with the very lionesses of the rival pride to hunt together, and a new pride, the Tsaro pride of Duba, is formed. Her birth and death were never published, and what became of her after filming is not known.

3Cubs in her litter

1Cub that survived

7Years the filmmakers lived at Duba

2011The Last Lions released

Profile

Identity

Name: Ma di TauThe name she is best known by
Nicknames: Mother of Lions
Origin of the name: Setswana for “mother of lions”, given by filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert
Sex: Female
Distinguishing features: Information not availableThe Duba lionesses are described as among the largest and most muscular in Africa, from a life of hunting buffalo
Weight: Information not availableFor reference, adult lionesses usually weigh 110–180 kg

Birth & Family

Born: Information not availableNot published
Birthplace: Information not availableNot published; she lived in the Duba Plains area of the Okavango Delta, Botswana
Birth pride: Information not available
Father: Information not available
Mother: Information not available
Siblings: Information not available

Pride Life

Role in the pride: A lone mother who became a founding lioness of the Tsaro pride
Prides: Her original pride (unnamed in the film); later the Tsaro pride of Duba Island
Pride size: Information not availableNine lionesses of the Tsaro pride crossed the delta to Duba Island
Years in the pride: Information not available
Pride-mates: Her mate, killed in the rival pride’s attack; later the Tsaro lionesses, including her old enemy Silver Eye
Coalition: Information not available
Home range: Duba Island and the Duba Plains, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Territory size: Information not available

Death

Died: Information not availableNot published
Age at death: Information not available
Cause of death: Information not available
Place of death: Information not available
Burial: Information not available

Names & Meanings

Ma di TauName

Setswana for “mother of lions”. Given by Dereck and Beverly Joubert for the film.

Mother of LionsEnglish name

The translation used in the film’s publicity and by the press.

Family & Lineage

Not knownParentsHer parents were not identified in the film or the book.

Mother of LionsMa di TauDates unknown

Surviving cubSonThe only one of her three cubs to survive the events of the film.

LostCubTaken by a crocodile during the crossings to Duba Island.

LostCubFatally injured, its back broken, in an attack by the buffalo herd.

Life Story

Before filming
Lived with her mate and three young cubs in the Okavango Delta, where the Jouberts had already been following several of the lionesses.
Start of the film
A rival pride, driven out by people encroaching on its land, invaded her territory. Her mate was killed and she was badly hurt, but she blinded the invaders’ leader in one eye: Silver Eye.
Soon after
Fled a bushfire and Silver Eye’s pride by swimming a crocodile-infested channel to Duba Island with her cubs.
On Duba Island
Learned to hunt buffalo alone to feed her cubs, facing the herd led by a bull the filmmakers called the Scar Faced Bull.
On Duba Island
Lost one cub to a crocodile and another to the buffalo. One son survived.
End of the film
Joined forces with the lionesses of the rival pride to hunt buffalo together, forming the new Tsaro pride of Duba Island.
January 2011
The Last Lions premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, followed by a cinema release.
2011 – 2013
The film won awards including best theatrical program at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and best film at the International Wildlife Film Festival.

Legend & Truth

A true story, told as a story

The Last Lions is real footage of real lions, but it is edited into a drama with a heroine, a villain and a narrator. Some reviewers felt the editing gave the lions human feelings they may not have had. The events are real; how they are linked is the filmmakers’ telling.

Why so little is known

Unlike the Mara lions, who are photographed by thousands of visitors, Ma di Tau lived on a remote island seen by very few people, and the Jouberts never published her birth year or her fate. Many sections of this record are marked as not available for that reason.

Lions that swim

Lions usually avoid water, but the lions of Duba cross the delta’s channels every day and specialise in hunting buffalo, which has made them some of the largest lionesses in Africa.