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A combination of a dry spell and over grazing has played a major role in the grass cover becoming depleted. This is not a new phenomena for the wildebeest will move on to new pastures to give time for the old grazing pastures to regenerate.

The wildebeest will gradually stream back into the Serengeti with the last herds expected to leave by end of November. They will be away till June-July next year when they will return to graze on the rich green grasses after the long rains of April-May. It will be another season of plenty for the predators and the prey, as the cats and crocodiles keep a close tab on the grazers.

When the wildebeest finally leave the Mara, the predators have to devise smarter methods of hunting for the elusive resident animals. At times they have to go for long periods between meals. The strong ones survive but for the weak and the old, this may be their last season – in the wild, this is the survival of the fittest.

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The long dry spell that has affected wildlife in many areas seems to continue, however, in the Mara, we have been fortunate to have had sporadic light showers earlier in the month.
Because of the showers, even though the grass is dry and coarse on the plains, there are still pools of water in the streams and rivers where the animals throng to quench their thirst after feeding on the dry grass. It’s easy to see animals at the watering holes around midday.
We are also seeing stiff competition amongst the herbivores for grass. Whereas some parts of the Mara have been mowed to the ground, there are areas that have good grass and hence higher concentration of game.
Up north in Samburu the drought is much more intensive, with the rivers dry and the grass withered. The animals have taken to digging for water, which ironically has made game viewing easy since we just have to head for the dry riverbed.

Migration update

The Mara continued hosting a higher concentration of wildebeest in the past week. Most of the herds reported on the Mara Triangle, Paradise Plains, Rhino Ridge and Musiara Marsh are still there.
There were heavy river crossings in the north of thousands of wildebeest from Oloololo Gate area to Musiara earlier in the week. These have settled around Musiara Gate, Rhino Ridge and Paradise Plains on the eastern side of the Mara River because of the availability of grass. When most other areas in the reserve have gone bare, these areas still boast plentiful grass, despite being dry and coarse. But in times like these, anything will do.
Though the wildebeest concentration is only in certain places, it is still a superb sight. River crossings have been frequent at Paradise crossing point, with the animals crossing over to the Mara Triangle and those to the north crossing east to Musiara Marsh, hence making a circle. The herds on Rhino Ridge and south of Mara Conservancy have stopped moving around to concentrate on feeding.
Looking around as you drive through the plains, you will understand why these animals are concentrated in places. A combination of a dry spell and over-grazing has played a key roll in the fast dwindling of grass forcing the herds to keep migrating. Overstaying in one area results in exhausting the food resource and hence for the herds to survive, they have to continue with their migration into new areas looking for new grass.

Predators’ activities:

Lions

All lion prides in our game viewing territories are present in their home ranges. There were many sightings of these cats in the past week, hunting wildebeest, zebra and warthogs all to the excitement of our guests. One lioness from the Ridge pride with her cubs just 1 km from Mara Explorer gave us the sighting of the week, with her cubs coming out in the morning and late afternoon and playing endlessly. There are other lionesses with cubs as well. These are from Paradise, Olkiombo and Musiara prides.

Leopards

Leopard sightings have been very good and better than the previous weeks. The most exciting moment was when Olive and her two cubs showed up occasionally. She has made a few kills in the past couple of weeks with some being witnessed by our guests. She killed an impala a few days ago at the Olare-Orok crossing and dragged it into a bush before going to fetch her cubs. When coming with the cubs, it was nice to see her carrying one in her mouth so as to increase her walking pace to get to the kill. Binti, her older daughter was seen a few times near the rocky bend on the Talek River, a place which has been her area of abode for long. 

Cheetah

Cheetah sightings were also good and a few successful hunts were seen. Shakira has now moved up from Lookout Hill to Paradise Plains where she has been for over a week. The three brothers are also in the same location. There was drama recently, when the three brothers engaged Shakira and her three daughters in a fight that lasted almost an hour before the boys decided to leave the poor ladies alone. The sight of the seven cheetahs was quite unusual and our guests were treated to this rare show.
There is a new sighting of a cheetah with three small cubs (not the one mentioned in our past report) found to the east of Explorer, where she has been hunting over the past week. There is also one pregnant female in the same area that we think could give birth any time.

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The high concentration of the animals in the Mara Triangle is because of the light rains.
There is sill a lot of grass in the plains as they were not burnt like the other areas and hence there is grass for the hungry herbivores to last the dry period. The dominant species of grass here is the red oat grass. The more the animals graze on it, the faster it regenerates after the rains providing more grazing to the animals.
There was some wildebeest crossing at the Mara River. However, only a handful of wildebeest crossed in either direction at the main points near Lookout Hill or the Paradise Plains. The crocodiles only managed to prey upon a few wildebeest because the water level is too low which makes it difficult for the crocodiles to approach the animals unnoticed.

Wildlife sightings

 

Leopards

Olive, the Mara female leopard was first seen on 27th July carrying a small cub at the Olare-Orok River crossing. The cubs were not seen after that, but Olive was seen around that location for a while. She was again seen on 15th August carrying a cub on the Talek River Bank where she proceeded to hide it in a hole under a tree on the banks of the river. After a few minutes she went back and brought a second cub. She continued to be seen in the area until 19th August when she moved upstream of Olare-Orok River.

On the morning of the 21st August, Olive was seen at the double crossing area mating with the Rhino Ridge male. There was also an unidentified female in the vicinity. In the evening l saw Olive and the Rhino Ridge male mating. This was my second time in my 17 years of guiding to see mating leopards clearly. As it was getting dark, they moved to the stream and into the bush. At this time another female leopard emerged from the bush and Olive ran away. However the following day, Olive was back again with the Rhino Ridge male.

One morning I saw them heading to the location of the cubs. The territory where the cubs are belongs to another big male leopard called Big Boy. I believe, when Olive disappeared briefly earlier in the year, she must have mated and conceived from the Rhino Ridge male because when she finally appeared, she was coming from the direction of the Rhino Ridge male’s territory. I believe she is trying to lure him closer to the cubs so that he protects them. She was seen the following day with her cubs and the male.

There were other leopards in our game viewing locations seen during the past week. Binti killed an Impala fawn recently south of Mara Intrepids.

Lions

There have been good lion sightings during the recent weeks giving our guests great photographic opportunities.

One of the females from the Paradise Pride has cubs, which she has had to move sometimes, especially when a herd of elephants approached the bush where the cubs were. It was a rare sight to see her carry her cubs in the mouth from almost 300 metres.

Cheetahs

The cheetahs have been spotted regularly over the recent weeks. Shakira is now around Lookout Hill.
There is also another cheetah called Alama by the guides because she has a black spot on the side of her face. She is found in the east of Mara Explorer with 3 two month old cubs.

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Most herbivores in this ecosystem have come to associate the burning with fresh grass, which is true only if there is some rain soon after the burning. Most of the Mara Plains are now a sea of over grown red oat grass. To most herbivores this is quite tough and rough for their digestive systems and this explains why the herds have just been rushing through the reserve where there is plenty of new grass.

The crossing at the Paradise Plains over the week, crossed to the west of the Mara River. These were the herds that were crossing east from the Mara Triangle last week. Now they are going back.

The crossing however is not as exiting as usual since the amount of water in the river is very low. The herds of wildebeest just walk across. However, the crocodiles are really struggling to make any kill. They cannot stalk anything in water since they can be seen approaching. Deep water helps them drown their prey easily.

Lions

The lions are having an easy time with the availability of prey everyday. Some lion prides have small cubs. All the lion prides in our game viewing territory have been present over the last two weeks. We witnessed great hunts and kills in the last two weeks.

Cheetahs

Cheetahs were also seen over the same period. Shakira has moved south of Talek River and lately has been beyond Olkeju-Rongai. Her three cubs are quite active and have been seen making their own kills.

Leopards

Leopards were also seen quite regularly around the area near Mara Intrepids. Olive has a new litter. She was seen for the first time on 27th July with a cub at Olare-Orok River crossing. After a brief disappearance, she appeared again two days ago with two cubs at a new location on the Talek. We are keeping a keen eye to see how she will behave with her older litter of Binti, Ayah and Kali.