Samburu Cats
January Sightings
Game viewing in Samburu has been interesting, as witnessed by these pictures provided by one of our guests, David Lawson who was on safari just a few days ago in the Samburu National Reserve.
The leopard was found at southern foothill of Koitogo, on Leopard Rocks and the majestic Somali ostrich at Larsen's plains. The following day, while on a mid morning game drive, David came across the lioness at the Leopard Rocks –– nice spotting Mr. Lawson! The Grevy's zebra was seen on the eastern side of Kiotogo Hill on the same day.
Thanks for the pictures David, and we hope to see you again soon!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
2009
|
 |
November
Lions
Guests at Samburu Intrepids had a rare treat, watching a pride of lions make a kill. The Koitogo Pride in Samburu Game Reserve brought down a fully grown female buffalo, a battle which lasted more than an hour in the early morning. A single lion needs 10 to 20 large animals a year to sustain it. Our guests, *Brian and Alison managed to take some photographs. In the excitement, they were the only ones in the group who remembered to take pictures of the lion hunt.
Our driver-guides have names for all the resident lions in the reserve. During this hunt in at the end of October, the pride was made up of the females Nachupai and Nabo and the two males, Lguret and Loirish and their five cubs. Lorish is the dominant male and the most stubborn and our guides do not get too close to him because of his temper.
After lunch, we returned to the kill. The four adults were there but we could not see the cubs and l suspect that they were hidden in the thickets just in case other lions in the area came for the free meal and in the process it would not have been hard for them to kill the cubs – and possibly devour them too.
Our driver guides have names for all the resident lions in the reserve. During this hunt in at the end of October, the pride was made up of the females Nachupai and Nabo and the two males, Lguret and Loirish and their five cubs. Lorish is the dominant male and the most stubborn and our guides do not get too close to him because of his temper.
After lunch, we returned to the kill. The four adults were there but we could not see the cubs and l suspect that they were hidden in the thickets just in case other lions in the area came for the free meal and in the process it would not have been hard for them to kill the cubs – and possibly devour them too.
Stephen Lekango,
Resident Naturalist/Community Liaison Officer, Samburu Intrepids
* Picture courtesy of Brian and Alison Bloch
Lions
Lions were seen throughout August and September. The prolonged drought has forced the herbivores to come to the Uaso Ng’iro River for the little grass and shrubs to sustain them. This has been good for the lions, who have waited along the river to pounce on the poor prey. In Buffalo Springs, the Ngare Mara pride was seen thrice in a week along the Ngare Mara River.
Nanyeisho of Ngare Mara pride had two cubs, which were first seen in the beginning of September when they were two months old. The cubs were named by our guides as Ngooyeni (Lucy) and Ngayoni (Ricki) (the little couples). Many lions in the area have been forced to go to Isiolo River, which has a permanent water source in the region.
The Koitogo pride has split into smaller groups. The pride of four adults (two females and two males) with five youngsters is seen at Daraja-wire area north of the Uaso River. This is part of their territory, but they have also moved east towards the border of the reserves (Buffalo Springs and Samburu). Two lions were also reported at West Gate Conservancy. The scarcity of prey has forced the pride to split into three small groups.
The Ngare Mara pride has split into two smaller groups, both with little cubs. The White River females have two cubs, which were nearly six months old. Our guides named the female Uaso (Uaso was born by River Uaso which had water after a long dry spell) and the male is called Lengolong’ which means; 'born during the bad drought'. The mother has been named Moduai, which is a Samburu word for ‘rarely seen’. Moduai has settled in the southern part of the Uaso Ng’iro River, three kilometres east of the main viewpoint along the White River. The lion population in both the reserves is between 17 and 20.
|
 |
The Intrepids guides have named all the lions in the area. The biggest pride Koitogo has Uni, a mother of two (Lentasat and Namunyak). Lentasat is the young male lion who is roughly 13 months old.
Namunyak is a Samburu word for the blessed one. The 13 female lionesses share the name with the lioness which adopted the Beisa Oryx fawn at the beginning of the millennium. Namunyak barely managed to survive a buffalo attack a few months ago when they were learning how to hunt.
Nashupai, another lioness, has three cubs Ngosouwan, Lolibuo and Naduaya. She is Naibor’s daughter and Uni’s sister. Her name in Samburu means ‘smart girl’. Ngosouwan means the ‘strong one’ (buffalo like). She made her first hunt going for a buffalo during the dry season. In the normal circumstances a healthy buffalo, often stampedes towards the thicket where the young lions cubs are, doing their best to trample the cubs to death whilst warding off the lioness.
However, this time the buffalos were in for a surprise. Lolibuo, the young male was very eager to make a kill and when Ngosouwan jumped on the buffalo’s back, Lolibuo followed and since it was the whole pride of seven, all the lions tried to help the little guys kill the buffalo. The enraged buffalo flung Ngosouwan into the bush
|
 |
Head Office, Nairobi Postal : P.O. Box 74888 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya | Telephone : +254 (020) 4446651 / 4447929 |
Fax : +254 (020) 4446600 / 4446533 | Email :sales(at)heritagehotels.co.ke
