The Archives

An encyclopaedia of the lions of the wild: their names, their prides, their reigns and their legacies.

Bob Junior & MarleyCoalition · EndedBob Junior & Marley Snyggve & Tryggvec. 2016 – March 2023Two brothers, sons of C-Boy, who ruled the Namiri Plains of the eastern Serengeti for around seven years.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Four Musketeers The Musketeersc. 2011 – c. 2023Scarface, Morani, Sikio and Hunter: four related males who took the Marsh and Paradise prides and ruled along the Mara River for about a decade.View the coalition C-Boy & HildurCoalition · EndedC-Boy & Hildur Bob & Ziggyby 2009 – 2018The two-male coalition at the heart of National Geographic’s Serengeti lion story, and the fathers of the Namiri dynasty.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Notch Coalition Notch & Sonsc. 2007 – c. 2017A rare father-and-sons coalition: Notch and his five sons, who conquered prides across the Masai Mara.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Mapogo Coalition The Mapogos, the Sparta Males2006 – 2013Five brothers and an older half-brother who seized the Sabi Sand in 2006 and ruled it for six years, becoming the most notorious lion coalition of their time.View the coalition CCoalition · EndedCecil & Jericho The Kings of Somalisa2013 – July 2015Two unrelated males, once enemies, who joined forces in 2013 and ruled two prides in eastern Hwange until Cecil was killed in 2015.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Black Rock Boys The Black Rock Males2017 – c. 2025Five brothers born together at the Black Rocks in 2017, who took the Rongai and Maji ya Fisi prides and became world-famous, before four of them were lost, mostly to people, within four years.View the coalition TCoalition · RulingThe Topi Boys Kio and his brothersc. 2021 – presentSeven young males born into the Topi Pride around 2021, including Kio of National Geographic’s LION, who took over the famous Marsh Pride in December 2024.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Majingilane The Night Watchmen2010 – 2018Five males from Kruger who killed the Mapogo Kinky Tail on their first night of war in 2010, then ruled almost half the Sabi Sand for eight years as four.View the coalition TCoalition · RulingThe Saba Bora The Saba Bora Boys2023 – presentSeven young brothers whose arrival on the Namiri Plains in March 2023 ended the seven-year reign of Bob Junior and Marley; three of them killed Bob Junior.View the coalition TCoalition · Status uncertainThe Inselberg Males The Ngiro Are Malesc. 2018 – presentFive battle-scarred males who crossed from the Serengeti into the Mara Triangle around 2018, named for the rocky inselbergs on the border, and ruled its southern prides for years.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Matimba The Phelwane or Clarendon Males2010 – 2021Six males from Ngala who ruled Manyeleti from 2010, split into northern and southern groups, and fought the Mapogos, Majingilane and Birmingham males for over a decade.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Tsavo Man-Eaters The Ghost and the DarknessMarch – December 1898Two maneless brothers who killed workers building the Uganda Railway bridge at Tsavo for nine months in 1898, halting construction, until both were shot by John Henry Patterson.View the coalition TCoalition · Fate unknownThe Killers The Killers of the Serengeti Lion Projectc. 2009 – unknownFour young males named by Serengeti researchers for their lethal attacks on lionesses, who nearly killed C-Boy in 2009 and drove him and Hildur from the Jua Kali pride.View the coalition TCoalition · Fate unknownThe Wauwaji The Killers of NamiriUntil c. 2018Six males whose Swahili name means “the killers”, who led the Namiri Plains super pride of the eastern Serengeti, hunting buffalo and eland, until they vanished around 2018.View the coalition TCoalition · Two remainingThe Bila Shaka Boys The Six Packc. 2018 – presentSix brothers born in 2014 to Lolparpit and Olbarnoti, who replaced the Four Musketeers around the Marsh and ruled the Marsh, Topi, Paradise and Rekero prides of the Masai Mara.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Birmingham Boys The Gowrie Males2015 – c. 2022Five brothers from the Timbavati who drove out the Southern Matimba in 2015 and ruled the northern and central Sabi Sand for about seven years.View the coalition TCoalition · RulingThe Nyati Males The Nyati Sixc. 2021 – presentSix buffalo-hunting brothers of the Mara Triangle who fought the Inselberg males in 2022, losing one of their own while Slit Lip died, and became one of the most powerful coalitions in the Mara.View the coalition TCoalition · One remainingThe Northern Avocas The Avoca Males2018 – c. 2025Three brothers from the Timbavati’s Avoca Pride who took the Talamati and Nkuhuma prides in 2018, then split, with Dark Mane alone and Blondie and Mohawk together.View the coalition TCoalition · Fate unknownThe Tumbela Males The Tumbelas2020 – unknownThree young males from the Nharu Pride who took the Othawa Pride from the old Hairy Belly in late 2020, in an unusually bloodless takeover.View the coalition TPride · EndedThe Man-Eaters of Njombe The Lions of Njombe1932 – 1947A pride of about fifteen lions in southern Tanzania that killed perhaps 1,500 people over fifteen years, the worst outbreak of man-eating ever recorded, ended by game ranger George Rushby.View the coalition RCoalition · EndedRam and Shyam The Brothers of Girc. 2000s – 2016Two Asiatic lion brothers who ruled part of India’s Gir forest for years and fathered many cubs, until Ram died of old age in 2016.View the coalition JCoalition · EndedJay and Veeru Jai and Veeruc. 2017 – 2025Gir’s most famous lion partnership of recent years, named after the friends of the film Sholay, who ruled together for more than eight years and died seven weeks apart in 2025.View the coalition TCoalition · Two remainingThe Sala’s Boys The Salas Malesc. 2018 – presentThree brothers born in 2015 who ruled the Rekero and Topi prides and fathered the seven Topi Boys, now rulers of the Marsh.View the coalition LCoalition · EndedLolparpit and Olbarnoti The Enkoyonai Males2008 – c. 2021Two brothers from the Ridge Pride who ruled the Olare Motorogi Conservancy for over a decade and left more descendants than almost any coalition in the Mara, including the Bila Shaka Boys.View the coalition RCoalition · EndedRomeo and Clawed The Ridge Males2007 – c. 2011/12The Ridge Pride males who killed Notch’s partner, drove Notch from the Marsh Pride in 2007, and ruled it until the Four Musketeers arrived.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Selati Males The Selatis2012 – 2017The coalition that killed Mr. T, the most notorious of the Mapogos, in March 2012 and ended the Mapogo era in the western Sabi Sand.View the coalition TCoalition · EndedThe Southern Avocas The Southern Avoca Malesc. 2016 – c. 2024The two older brothers of the Northern Avocas, who went south in 2016 and ruled the Southern and Sand River prides.View the coalition TCoalition · Two remainingThe Ndzhenga Males The N’waswitshaka Malesc. 2020 – presentFour males from Kruger who took the central Sabi Sand in 2021, drove out the last Birmingham male and halted the Northern Avocas, and were down to two by 2023.View the coalition TCoalition · Fate unknownThe Lake Quintet The Lake Malesc. 2017 – unknownFive males of the Ngorongoro Crater, known by research codes, who ruled its Lakette, Lagunita and Munge Mabinti prides.View the coalition