Disappeared, presumed dead
Also known as Leonidas · The Missing Mapogo
c. 2001 – mid-2010
Born in Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa
Rasta 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 took his name from his mane: a part of it had become matted into what looked like a single dreadlock. Fans called him and Pretty Boy the Twins, because the two looked alike and were often seen together.
When the coalition split in June 2007, Rasta stayed in the western Sabi Sand with Makulu, Pretty Boy and Dreadlocks, while Mr. T and Kinky Tail went east. He is reported to have been the western brother who most often crossed onto Londolozi to visit the Tsalala Pride, and to have visited Mr. T and Kinky Tail in the east. He is the least documented of the six, and is sometimes called “the forgotten Mapogo”.
In June 2010 the Majingilane males killed Kinky Tail and Mr. T returned west. In early July all five surviving Mapogos moved east together onto Londolozi, roaring and hunting buffalo, then returned west, where Leopard Hills saw and filmed all five roaring together in the middle of the month. Within a few weeks Rasta was gone. Pretty Boy reappeared in late July with severe bite wounds; Rasta was never seen again, and his body was never found. Most guides believe he was killed in a fight with the Majingilane, but some people think he was poached or hunted. What happened to him is still unknown.
For a section of his mane that had matted together and looked like a dreadlock, after the Rastafarian hairstyle. Who first used the name has not been documented.
According to fan accounts, Rasta was at first also called Dreadlocks because he had the bigger mane. When another brother’s mane grew larger, that lion became known as Dreadlocks and the names separated.
Used by fans in online tributes, after the Spartan king, a reference to the Sparta Pride he was born in.
Fans called Rasta and Pretty Boy the Twins because they looked alike and were often together.
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. Rasta stayed in the west with Makulu, Pretty Boy and Dreadlocks.
Held the western Sabi Sand. He was reportedly the western brother who most often visited the Tsalala Pride on Londolozi, and he also visited Mr. T and Kinky Tail in the east.
The Majingilane killed Kinky Tail on 8 June. Mr. T fled west and by early July was reported together with Rasta and the other three.
All five Mapogos moved east onto Londolozi for the first time in many months, roaring as they walked and catching a young buffalo, then headed back west.
All five were seen and filmed roaring together at Leopard Hills in the western Sabi Sand, in a sighting the lodge posted on 14 July.
Rasta disappeared. Pretty Boy reappeared in the west in late July with severe bite wounds on his back. Rasta was never seen again and his body was never found.
Dreadlocks was lost too, leaving three Mapogos: Makulu, Pretty Boy and Mr. T.
Many websites say Rasta vanished after a fight at Elephant Plains on 9 July 2010. But Leopard Hills reported all five Mapogos roaring together in mid-July, so he was still alive after that date. Fan researchers now place his disappearance in late July or early August 2010.
Because Pretty Boy came back badly bitten at the same time, most guides concluded that the two had fought the Majingilane and that Rasta was killed. Others point out that no one saw the fight and his body was never found, and suspect poaching or trophy hunting. Neither theory has been proven.
Each lodge used its own names, and the documentary Brothers in Blood uses different names again, so Rasta and Dreadlocks are easily mixed up. Some sources even treat them as a single lion. Most accounts agree they were two different brothers.
A different and much younger lion called Rasta, one of the Golden Boys of the Serengeti in Tanzania, is said to be a son of Bob Junior. He is not the Mapogo Rasta.
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
Reports the five Mapogos moving together onto Londolozi in early July 2010, weeks before Rasta disappeared.
Leopard Hills
A guide’s account of all five Mapogos roaring together, one of the last records of the five as a group.
YouTube
Footage reported to show Rasta with the Tsalala lionesses on Londolozi.
Where sources disagree, the most widely reported figure is shown, with other reports noted beneath it.
