This has definitely got to be a once in a lifetime sighting as we have never seen such an extraordinary mating ritual happen before.
Field Guide at Andbeyond Kirkmans Kamp in the Sabi Sands, Matthew Smith (25), recalls the version of the event to Latestsightings.com: “The Eyrefield pride have had a torrid 2017, losing 5 pride members to other lions. Only 2 females remain and the future of the pride lies in their hands.”
“They have been continually running away from and avoiding any males, so we were extremely excited to find the younger lioness mating with a male one morning. That evening there was a lot of roaring around the lodge and the next morning we found these 3 males with the same young lioness. They had chased off the other male and were now all mating with the female in quick succession.”
“I was initially very excited just to see the lioness mating because we had been waiting a very long time for this. For a pride take over and hopefully some cubs in the near future. But what happened then was just unbelievable.”
“I have heard of lionesses mating with more than one male so as to confuse them who fathered the cubs, thereby ensuring the cubs safety. But I have never heard of or seen a female mate with more than one male in such quick succession and in the presence of the other males. The 3 males are brothers and seemed almost content with sharing.”
“My only possible reasoning for this might be because of their age. These males are close to 5 years of age and therefore still fairly young and may not have established dominance amongst one another. She mated with these males over a period of 3 days, every 15 minutes or so.”
“She did however have preference for 2 of the males, the ones with slightly fuller manes. This was one of the rarest and most unique sightings I have ever experienced. I have seen lions mating on numerous occasions. But I have never heard of or seen anything like this”.