Lions JM068 sits on green grass in an area that burned several weeks previously. Normally the grass would be above his head (at least shoulder height on a standing lion. )
A single male dominated the Junction pride after the death of JM011 and his partner see section . Lion JM068 was collared in July 2009 and over the observations I found that he defended two cohorts of 3 females each. These females had not been observed with the original males, and the females that spent most time in the north had cubs that were old enough to be sired by JM068, who behaved as though he believed the cubs were his own. A likely interpretation is that JM068 held a small territory to the north of the original Junction pride range, before expanding the territory to include the vacated Junction territory and females after the death of JM011. After the death of SM009 in July 2011 further to the south again male JM068 frequented the empty territory almost immediately for several weeks at a time (see figure below for a visualization of his range before and after the death of SM009). He had shown no interest in this territory prior to SM009 death, evidence that territories are defended and delineated by scent and roaring and are respected to some degree. Upon cessation of those cues, not just nomadic, but lions with their own territories readily explore undefended territories.
GPS points of lion JM068 movement, the area to the south shows the home range of lion SM009, who this lion probably killed, and explored the new empty range regularly.
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