Lion SM009 was the first lion to be collared by the study proper, July 2009. He has an unmistakable scar across his mid-back, and was known from a November 2008 visit where he was found on Tau Pan. Initially SM009 wore a store-on-board collar, which was removed in April 2010 after nine months. This meant that the initial data was on the default schedule of one GPS reading every hour, every day. The collar was replaced with a GPS- satellite transmitting collar, where the data is collected by email daily, and the schedule can be changed remotely. The schedule collected has been as intended, half hourly at night, a midday fix, and a higher intensity fix rate of every 5 minutes at night for one week, every month.
Lion SM009 roamed singly around three valley systems and a large area to the west, visiting regularly upon three sub groups of females, who themselves rarely consorted, but occasionally swapped members. Despite intrusions by groups of other males (including one group of four), he seemed to hold the area, until his disappearance.
