RISE AND FALL OF NOTCH COALITION OF MALE LIONS THE NOTCH COALITION MINI DOCUMENTARY 1

A large coalition of male lions has left a huge footprint on the Maasai Mara, Kenya. A coalition of six big male lions called the Natch coalition. They've ruled over an area of about a thousand square kilometers for about a decade of their dominance from 2008 to mid-2017. The Natch boys were the most popular coalition of male lions in Africa and they ruled over many prides of lions as they moved around over the years. Natch was an iconic male lion who appeared in the Maasai Mara along with his partner in 2003. A year later they had finally taken over the marsh pride of lions. Several cubs were born into the pride soon after. Everything was going fine until Natch found himself being a single pride male in mid-2005 after his partner was killed by three intruding males from Paradise Plains. This was a massive blow to the surviving Natch who had eight cubs to defend. Natch played it smart and kept a low profile whilst continuously following the pride. He kept his head down a bit because obviously roaring was only going to cause more trouble for him as lions can count. Roaring is their way of communicating and telling other lions how many of you and where you are. Against all odds Natch held on to his territory for another two years until 2007 when the same three males muscled in that had killed Natch's partner in 2005. Natch couldn't hold on to his territory against the three and was finally chased off. Usually that marks the end of a male lion as single nomads mostly don't survive but Natch did something very unusual. He did not leave his territory alone but took his five sons with him who had also been pushed out by new males. These five young males were named Natch Two, Mighty Long, Ron, Caesar and Grimace. They were expelled from the marsh pride when their sons were only two and a half years old. For a year or so Natch not only took care of himself but also his five sons who were growing in size and strength every single day. A year later in late 2008 Natch and his sons started making a name for themselves. They started conquering pride after pride and at one point had more than four prides. There was nobody to challenge such a dominant force and they became the undisputed kings. From 2008 to 2010 asserting their authority they kicked out any male or coalition that crossed paths with them. This was the height of Natch era and they seemed invincible. The coalition suffered its first loss in 2010. Mighty Long was the first to go and vanished in the Mara triangle. Despite this massive loss the remaining five were still the dominant males and a formidable force. The remaining four brothers under their father's guidance continued their impressive reign until 2013 when Natch himself never returned from a Only a few months after his father's disappearance Gremis also got lost during one of his excursions to find new females in enemy territory and never returned. The remaining three Natches finally settled down in the lookout hill area. They were still a formidable force of three big males and they were more than willing to trade blows with anyone willing to stand in their way. In mid-2016 the coalition suffered yet another loss when Ron went missing and never showed up again. He was killed by the Sand River males. A year later in 2017 Caesar developed a limp and started losing condition quickly. The reason turned out to be an abscess in his right hind leg. Vets treated him but two months later he was found in very bad condition. He was last seen laying motionless near the bank of the Mara river. With the demise of Caesar there was now just one of the Natches left. It was Natch too. At the age of almost 13 years old and being all by himself his days seemed numbered as the younger males were rising nearby. Natch too vacated his last territory without any serious fight. He was seen wandering around as a nomad of what used to be their stomping grounds just a few years ago. He disappeared after spending some time on his own and everyone speculated that he was dead. But this was not the end. The legendary son of Natch resurfaced and took a page out of his father's book. He took his son Spear Boy under his wing and formed a coalition with him. Natch too at the moment is about 15 years old and he and Spear Boy are still living together. It's safe to say that the Natch coalition is one of the most successful coalitions of all time as they've sired countless cubs and so many of them are now adults. A lot of them are ruling over the vast areas of the Maasai Mara and beyond.