No lion hunt in the Balule Nature Reserve!

A while ago it has come to my ears that a hunting permit was allowed for a lion in the Balule.
It was about Mazinio, a big and old male lion who formed a companion with Bigboy, the other big male lion.

Bigboy seen on an Amukela lodge game-drive in Balule.

For more then 9 years these 2 lions are the dominant males
over a pride of more then 20 lions.
Their territory runs from the York-Tshukude fence to the Olifants river, the fence at the R40 and further eastwards.
This year 3 new young male lions came into their territory and challenged both Mazinio and Bigboy. Altough they were able to fight them off, maybe next time the outcome will be different...
The main function of a leading male lion is to reproduce and protect the pride. Normally the hunting is done by the most experienced females, although when a big animal like a giraffe or buffalo is taken down, he might be involved.
In the wild normally (but this can vary) male lions lead a pride for 5-7 years. In this case one could say that the Balule lions have had their function.

Mazinio seen on the Marula-drive in the Balule.

From an objective point of view you could say that now is the time to allow for a commercial hunt on one lion. The revenue would be around R500,000 and that is money which could be well used for futher conservation in the Balule.
However, from a financial point of view it is not necessary to earn this extra income and therefore it has been decided not to hunt a lion in Balule. I think that it is good thing, after all why do we have a nature reserve? To preserve nature, and interefere as less as is possible.
That is what nature conservation is about.
Last night I heard the lions roar, and wandered if Mazinio was also one of them....

Best regards from the bush,
Corné van Dongen.