Deceased
Orkitok
Also known as Orkitok Sala · Father of the Topi Boys
August 2015 – June 2025
Born in Masai Mara, Kenya
Orkitok was one of the three Sala’s Boys of Kenya’s Masai Mara, admired by followers for his courage and resilience. He is believed to be the father of Kio (Kiongozi) of the Topi Boys.
The Sala’s Boys were three brothers born in August 2015 in the Sala’s Pride of Kenya’s Masai Mara, sons of the two old Sala’s males: Olepolos, Osapuk and Orkitok. Their first major takeover was the Rekero Pride; they then took the Topi Pride on the Topi Plains, which grew to about thirty lions at its peak. In the Covid years of 2020–2021 the Topi lionesses bore them seven sons, the Topi Boys, who took the Marsh Pride in December 2024. In December 2022 the three chased the young Black Rock brothers, who then caught Osapuk and Orkitok alone and injured all three.
In December 2022 the Black Rock brothers caught him alone and injured his back leg; he limped on and off for the rest of his life but kept mating with the Topi lionesses into late 2024. He died in June 2025, at nearly ten.
Profile
Identity
- Name
- OrkitokThe name he is best known by
- Nicknames
- Information not available
- Origin of the name
- Information not availableMeaning not found in the sources used
- Sex
- Male
- Distinguishing features
- A back-leg injury from 2022
- Weight
- Information not availableFor reference, adult male lions usually weigh 150–260 kg
Birth & Family
- Born
- August 2015
- Birthplace
- Masai Mara, Kenya
- Birth pride
- Sala’s Pride
- Father
- Information not availableOne of the two old Sala’s males
- Mother
- Information not availableA Sala’s Pride lioness
- Siblings
- Olepolos, Osapuk and Orkitok
Reign
- Pride king
- Yes, a pride male of the Sala’s Boys
- Prides ruled
- Rekero Pride; Topi Pride; later the Enguyanai Pride
- Pride size
- Information not available
- Reign
- About 7 years (c. 2018 – 2025)
- Ruled with
- His Sala’s brothers
- Coalition
- The Sala’s Boys
- Home range
- Topi Plains and central Masai Mara, Kenya
- Territory size
- Information not available
Death
- Died
- June 2025
- Age at death
- Nearly 10
- Cause of death
- Information not availableNot published
- Place of death
- Information not available
- Burial
- Information not available
Names & Meanings
A Maa name; its meaning was not found in the sources used.
Family & Lineage
Life Story
- August 2015
Born in the Sala’s Pride, Masai Mara.
- c. 2018 – 2019
With his brothers, took the Rekero Pride.
- Afterwards
Took the Topi Pride on the Topi Plains.
- 2020 – 2021
The Topi lionesses bore the seven Topi Boys.
- December 2022
Fought the young Black Rock brothers; all three Sala’s Boys were injured.
- December 2022
Caught alone by the Black Rock brothers; injured in the back leg.
- December 2024
Still mating with Topi lionesses despite his bad leg.
- June 2025
Died.
Legend & Truth
Sons who replaced them
The Topi Boys, fathered by the Sala’s Boys, now rule the Marsh territory next to their fathers’ land.
Photographs
Film
Animation
Sources
- Governors’ Camp — Masai Mara wildlife, October 2025
- Governors’ Camp — Masai Mara wildlife, December 2024
- Mara Predator Conservation Programme — Lion Tails, October 2024
- Lions of the Mara — The Sala’s boys and the Black Rock brothers (Pinterest)
Where sources disagree, the most widely reported figure is shown, with other reports noted beneath it.