A Topi kills another Topi

While on a game drive today in the Masai Mara game reserve, i witnessed something i have never seen in my 18 years of guiding!.

I was with guests, doing a game drive just below lookout hill in the south of the reserve. We had stopped to watch one of the 2 nomadic male lions that moved inot the area recently. While we watched the sleepign lion, i would occasionaly scan the palins to see if i can pick up something else more interesting than ‘just a sleeping lion’

I saw 2 male Topi fighting in a dicastance, and i didnt give them a second look since this is not the ruttung season so i treated this as the normal tease fighting, whihc is common among the antelopes here. I had another look and i chaznegd my mind whne i noted the fight was more serious. I then alerted another guide on radio who was also watching the same lion, but had not seen what was happening with the Topi. When i approached the Topis, i noted one was bleeding badly on the inside of the upper thigh. As i was wondering, if the fight had caused all these, then the other male Topi went for him again and gored him again on the same place, know him down where he proceeded to hit him with the horns until the other Topi laid down unable to get up.

As we watched this, a hyaena came running from down wind, obviously having smelled the blood from teh injured Topi; When he got there the other Topi left. The injured one on seeing the Hyanea, pulled himself together and struggled to his feet and tried to ward off the Hyaena, but the Hyaena just ran in circles to avoid its horns and eventually managed to grab it from teh back an dpulled it down, then proceeded to do what Hyaneas do best; eat the animal while still alive. While this hapened, we did not realized that a flock of vultures was circling above us. They started decending one after the other until there were 60 of them! The Hyaeana was soon joined by 6 others.

The sleepignlion, later woke up when he saw some vultures landing in a distant, and decided to follow them and investigate. He managed to come closer to the carcass before teh Hyaenas teamed up an dsaw him off! My guests then asked me, so who is the king of the jungle here?

This marked an xtraordinary morning for me since i have never seen a Topi kill another; the rest of this of the sighting was not rare since i have seen this before.

 The 2 Topi fighting it out

 One gores the other badly

 The injured Topi struggles to get up

 It could not and just lay down flat groaning in pain; A hyaena came along

 The Topi tried to run on seeing the Hyaena but was badly injured

 Eventually it fell down and the hyaena took charge

 A fatal grip

 The lone hyaena feed on it and kept fighting off the vultures

 Soon he was joined by others

 Then there was unease, when  a lion appeared on the horizon

 The lion could not get too close because the hyaenas were more

 They saw the lion off

But some times the lion would give them a fright!

The Mara at best

The Mara has for thie past month been unusualy quiet, making it regain some wilderness concept. It has been nice going on game drives with few or no vehicles at sightings as the Mara has now been known for.

Most of the big cats in the Mara have got cubs; lions, leopard and cheetah. Three leopards in the central Mara, along the Talek, Olare-Orok and Olkeju-Rongai rivers have got 2 cubs each. Olive finally showed us he cubs about two weeks ago. The cubs are still quiet shy form game drive vehicles. Lorian, the female leopard at Olkeju-rongai has got two cubs as well. I managed to spend a great time with them recently whenthe mother had just brought them out.

Shingo the cheetah with her 6 cubs had gone far east but is now back at Olkiombo area. it is nice to see the cubs doing well an d learning fast how to hunt.

Many lions too have got very small cubs, among them the Ridge pride, where three of the females ahve a total of 12 cubs aged about 3 months. It is quite spectacular to watch them playing around their mothers. The season of plenty, that was the migration season caused most of these cats to mate so as to have their cubs whne food is available.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the readers followers on this blog A HAPPY SEASON

One of Lorian's cubs come closer to investigate who we were!

 The female cheetah hunting. just look at how the cubs are obedient and just stay behind her.

6 of the cubs in the Ridge ridge

A beautiful and quiet Mara

I would like to apologize to my followers on this blog for having taken long without updating you with the happenings in the Mara. I have been busy with guides training at Koiyaki guiding school in the Mara and doing the gold level assesment for other guides in Naivasha

After a very busy season in the Mara from June to last month, it is now relatively quiet. The park is bereft of the many visitors we had earlier. We have had intermitent rains over the past month and the plains now truning green. This is a very good time to be here!

The main migration from the south left last month for Serengeti, where they are expected to saty untill next June. We still have some remnants in teh Mara, and we think these are just the loita population, just waiting to return to teh Liota plains. These herds can be seen in a concentraion around Musiara Marsh and the northern edge of the reserve, while another sizeable herd is still on the Mara triangle, concentrated on a batch of recently burnt plain towards the escaprment. There is also a big herd of wildebeests moving into the Mara from North Serengeti. They are now at the salt lick and have moved uptowards 4kms junction

The big cats are still active. I have been seeing Olive’s family along the Talek and Olare Orok rivers. WE are yet to see Olive’s young cubs. One was only seen whne it was about two days old and has not been seen again. I believe she is still hiding them in a batch of forest around the junction of the Talek and Olare-Orok rivers. however we have been seeing the older cubs, Pacha, Binti and Nkaiyoni. The cheetah with 6 cubs is still around thought she has moved towarsd sekenani into the closed area.

Lorian, the female leopard which for a long time had disappeared from her teritory on Olkeju-Rongai river, is now back an dhas got 2 liitle cubs thought to be about 1 month. I saw them yesterday for the first time. She had never been seen with the cubs. My firned and colleague Jackson Looseiya, had seen her 2 days ago but not with the cubs. I had to break to him the news of the cubs sighting and we were all excited. After seeing them yesterday, we had a big storm and i have been unable to get there this morning. However, it was nice to see them and i hope they will grow into adulthood safely.

A map of the Mara showing recent big cats sightings

Vultures feeding on a dead Hyaena:

Now if you thought vultures are of no use, you rather changes you perception!

Cheetahs and Elephants at Musiara marsh

A Topi at sunset on Rhino Ridge

This was not an accident scene, but a first aid training we did for Koiyaki Guiding school students:

now you know next time they take you around in teh park that you are in good hands

Romeo and the marsh pride watching a warthog that came to close and tempted them to hunt;

One of Lorians cubs which i saw yesterday for the first time

Lorian watching over her cubs at Olkeju-Rongai yesterday

A big storm started yesterday afternoon; it rained almost the whole night till this morning