Weather
March began with heavy rains
which washed away some camps, flooded the rivers and made the bridges
impassable.
However the rains brought a
sigh of relieve for the wildlife and the communities that were desperately looking
to the rainy season. The livestock belonging to the Masai communities had been
ravaged by the drought.
It’s cool most of the time
with temperatures ranging between 16ºc in the mornings and evenings to 24ºc
during the day.
Wildebeest Phenomena in the Mara
The wildebeest began to drop
their young in the Mara in February and are still giving birth in large
numbers. This is a phenomenon because wildebeest give birth in the Serengeti
and in the Loita Plains but not in the Mara.
The Loita herds of
wildebeest and zebra are back in the park heading south towards the Talek River.
Some have crossed to Possee Plains.
General game
Game viewing has been good
with lots of plains wildlife feasting on the green pastures and water.
The topi continue to rut.
Males display their dominance in the breeding grounds (leks) with females
moving in and out of them.
Warthogs, buffalos, Maasai
giraffes are well fed and calving. Herds of eland are common around the Mara
Intrepids camps where they are marooned between the Olare Orok and Ntiakitiak
Rivers.
On a recent early morning
game drive we saw a python strangle and swallow a dikdik.
Predators
Lions
The Olkiombo Pride
It is reclaiming its former
territory along the Talek River. The pride has two big, dominant males named Maridadi and Kaka including four females and nine cubs.
Maridadi seems to be a bit
bigger than his coalition mate and has been crossing the Talek River but does
not venture far from it. He may be looking for new territory.
The Ridge Pride
It’s in its territory at the
Topi Plains. The pride was seen feasting on a cow and a hippo. Blacky and Lipstick
are still the dominant males. There are also three young males in the pride who
may be kicked out soon as they are almost sexually mature.
The Enkuyanai Pride
It’s along Ntiakitiak River,
crossing the river every time the water goes down. The lions killed a buffalo
and they feasted on it for three days. The dominant males - Oloolpapit and Olbarnoti
– then started to mate.
Leopards
Bahati
She and her cubs are roaming
around the Mara Intrepids. We have named
the two cubs Hatari (the male cub) and Bella 2 (the female). They seem to be
separating from their mother at a very early age as they are barely one year
old. However the cubs are already independent and hunt for themselves. On
several occasions, they have been seen with kills of young impala and scrub hares
up in the trees.
Recently, Bahati killed a
big male impala but didn’t bother to call the cubs. She ate for two days and
left without looking for the cubs.
Kaboso
She and her two cubs are
also doing well. Kaboso with the help of her older male cub Blue Eyes is
keeping a serious watch over the cubs as there are many baboons and hyenas
around. Blue Eyes helps his mother to hunt gazelles and warthogs.
Luluka
She’s at Olkeju Rongai and
has been seen with gazelle and impala kills up on a tree on different occasions.
Cheetahs
Malaika
She and her two male cubs were
on the western side of Olare Orok River when the water level was at its highest.
There are unconfirmed reports that Malaika
may have tried to cross the flooded river and drowned.
Other reports are that she
may have left her cubs who are now old enough to hunt.
Malaika had shown some signs
of coming on heat and we our keeping our fingers crossed that she is fine. Her
cubs are still searching for her.
Imani
She had a new litter of four
cubs around the Lookout Hill. She has
lost one and we hope the remaining three will survive as she seems to be taking
very good care of them.
By R. Koikai
Senior driver-guide at Mara Intrepids/Explorer Camps
