Back to "My office"

First i would like to apologize to followers of this blog for delay in posting new sightings. I have had a few people write to me with concerns that i had taken to long to update them on the happening in the Mara. The reason for the delay is that i had left “my office” to go and work in a different kind of office. I went to run a course for guides in Rwanda, after which i had an opportunity to also go for serious birding and see the big apes! Before coming back, i also visited eastern Congo to see the active volcanoe of Nyiragongo.I am now back at “my office” and was welcome by heavy rains. In fact i sepnt a night in the vehicel stuck in mud on the day i travelled to the Mara. I have been careful for close to 20yrs not to spend a night stuck, but i now beleive there is a time for everything.

I came back to join the BBC filming crew on the “Planet Earth Live” shoot which is underway. We are following particular prides of lions. Despite the heavy rains and challenges of driving around, there are still some great sightings. Two days ago, while looking for our lions, i came across two male Impala fighting an di stood to watch. But while still looking at the fighting Impala, Olive the leopard, appeared from nowhere and bounced on one of them as the other got away. The next thing is saw was mud flying all over! ..... she had got herself and her cubs a meal.

I stayed with her for  a while till she took the kill under a bush, then i remembered i had to look for the lions! After sometimes, i decided to pass by the kill again, and that is when i found that she had brought her cubs to feed. I was excited to see both cubs, since some guides had reported seeing only one cub for long time. Welcome to the Mara where nothing follows a sript!.. things go by the “Mara plan” as i and some of my guests call it. Accept whatever comes you way and always go out with open mind. 

The "kiss of death". she is know to kill male Impala this way to avoid the horns

attempts to drag kill to cover

Drags killed to hide in bush before going to bring cubs

It was a long drag

One of Olive's cubs join her to feed

Olive stalks in mid day hunt, which saw her kill beside my vehicle last month. This was also reported by my guest Sarah skinner on her blog: http://adventuresinalandrover.blogspot.com/2012/03/olive-hunts-in-midday-sun.html

She also killed a male impala that time; and here sh erests before taking kill under bush

Beautiful Masai Mara

The Mara cannot be better than it is at the moment. with very low tourist occupancies in the lodges, the park has regained its wilderness concept again. You can go on game drive and enjoy a sighitng all to yourself for hours. though most people thinkt ehere is little to see at the moment, on contrary there is plenyt of game though concentrated only certain areas in the park.
the rains have just stopped though we gte occassional drizzles. the grass has grown very tall on most plains in the park. In the past couple of weeks, i have had interetsing sightings an di am posting here some of the pictures i took on game drives

This lion with his brother fought with 17 Hyaenas over a buffalo carcass for 2 hours. The lions lost the fight

This herd of Elephants made my morning one day last week when they came streaming down to the Mara river to drink and then went to a nearby swamp to wallow. It was really great. It was nice wathcing one male elephant chase a buffalo out of a mud hole.

I witneesed these two male buffaloes fight the whole afternoon, and got their horns locked such that they could not free themselves. i left them at 7pm an dcame to the same location at 6.30am the next day and found them still going for each other. they managed to free them selves after one of them broke his horns

An afternoon with Olive's cubs

I went out this morning to look for Olive’s cubs after I was called by another guide over the radio that they have been seen. However when I go there, they had disappeared into the bushes. Olive was also seen about half a kilometre away. After looking around for a whole one hour I went back to camp.


There was a brief storm over lunch, but did not last long. I set out at 4pm again to look for the cubs. I have been trying to have a good observation on the cubs to be able to identify them positively.

I finally got up with them just as they emerged form the bushes at around 5pm. They were very relaxed and gave me an amble time to have a god look at them for a whole 2 hours. I managed to get a few shots (not great ones) for identifying them. I can now confidently say that I can identify the cubs.

After this, I thought I should contact my colleague Jackson Looseyia, who has been following these cubs all along as well, so that we name them, now that I can tell the two. One of the cubs is bold enough and quite relaxed. This one I named Nkaiyoni (Maasai for boy) and the other cub, which is a bit shy I called him Paja (Swahili for twin),

We both agreed with Jackson that these will remain their names now that we can identify them. and Hurray…… that’s their names

Paja: Full face and left side

Nkaiyoni: Full face and left side

Nkaiyoni: Right side, note 3 spots over hte wiskers line

Paja: Right side, note onnly two spots over hte wiskers

Happy New Year

The 3 brothers on a termite mount before the rains

One of Olive's cubs up in a tree this morning

The trio having a drink after a hunt recently

The Ridge pride: males drinking while females feed on hippo in water

Happy new year to all:

It is another year, everyone making new resolutions for the year and all with high hopes for better things ahead. Here in the Mara we are no exception; we do hope the year will be better than the last especially on climate. The past year has seen the Mara river drop to lowest level ever, and this made last year’s wildebeest crossings just like a joke, because the animals could easily walk across. We therefore missed the usual action that goes with such activity. That was last year. Now we do hope that this year will be different climate-wise. We have just started the year with lost of rain over the Mara and many other places in Kenya, which is actually good news. In fact just as I write this, at 1400hrs Kenyan time, it is raining, and has been going on since 1.00am

The lions have to move around and follow the herds which are now congregating on drier higher grounds. The past two days we have seen the Olkiombo pride split into two by the Talek river which has suddenly gone up. They can’t now cross easily to either side. The ridge pride has now moved towards the southern side of Rhino ridge, away from the Mara river area where they have been for sometimes. It was nice seeing them recently feeding on hippo in the water. The sub-adults are still moving around on their own. The last two days, the almost had a confrontation with Olkiombo pride when they ventured into their territory.

Olive is now near Olkiombo airstrip with her two cubs. We found her this morning near Olare-Orok crossing, and now with eh two rivers full, they will have to stay around longer. The three cheetah brothers (Honey’s boys) are still around between the two rivers. They killed a young warthog yesterday after a dramatic hunt;

Masai Mara Latest

Olive stacking a herd of Implala

Heavy downpours in the afternoons, now common

Streams flood, but still fun driving through

The long awaited rains finally arrived two days before Christmas. Most parts of the country received a lot of rains over the past four days. It was so heavy in some places that it resulted in lose of human lives.

The rains would not have come at a better time. The Mara needed more rain to enable th grass re-grow after heavy grazing over the last five months by both wild and domestic animals in some areas. The Maasai people, who have this year been affected more than any other year by the drought, can now afford to smile, because their remaining cattle will survive now that there is food.

Although the rain is welcomed, it is now going to limit us from moving into certain areas fro game viewing. The little streams which we have been just crossing through with ease have now changed into rivers;

On the Big Cats fronts; Olive is still at the Olare-Orok river, around the smelly crossing. She is still with her two cubs. There were false reports earlier that the cubs had been killed, but she still has them. Another leopard upstream, near double crossing point, has been there for the last one week is looking expectant and might bring forth new cubs soon. Binti was seen last week just below the junction of the Talek and Olare-Orok rivers. We had a rare show on 21st December, when Kali confronted the Rhino ridge male (the father of Olive’s small cubs). He spooked and chased him for about 300 metres before the male turned around only to find it is just a small boy, at which point he turn back and chased him. But before long, Kali turned back and charged at him again but he was given a fright and had to run fro his live. I can see him becoming a very strong male in future.

The Ridge pride is still near the Mara River with Notch and his gang still accompanying them. Paradise pride is at their usual place at paradise plains near the wildebeests crossing

Back from break

Topi & Flowers, a common sight now in the reserve

Fire ball lily; One of the many flower species that can be seen now

I would like to apologize to my followers on this blog for the long lapse in updating them on the happenings in the Mara. I have been on leave, hence the long lapse in my update here. I have just come back to the Mara to a very welcoming carpet of short green grass on the plains, mainly the recently overgrazed areas. With the short rains we have started receiving, there is now plenty flowers growing on the plains and the on the edges of the bushes. it is very beautiful especially if you are taking a picture of a subject which is right in teh middle of the flowers.

The rivers Talek and Olare-Orok which had almost dried out are now flowing again. Hopefully the rains we have will last a lot longer.

All our big cats can be seen around. Olive i was told had been lost for 3 weeks, but only two days after arriving in teh Mara on my first game drive, i found her with Impala kill up a tree near the smelly crossing. The Ridge pride can now be found along the Mara river while Olkiombo pride along the Talek towards the gate. other lion prides are still in their places and ineterstingly many of them now have got cubs. Nodge's gang are with the ridge pride. Shakira is now in the north.

I will keep yopu updated as i gather more information on game drives aroudn the reserve.

Olive's riddle

Olive mating with Rhino Ridge male

Olive and the male

Olive, the Mara female leopard is now mating, a few days after she is seen with small cubs on the Talek river. She 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 kept being 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 bank of the river. After a few minutes she went back and brought a second cub. She then 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, she was seen at the double crossing area mating with Rhino ridge male. There was also an unidentified female in the vicinity. In the evening when I went there, the two were mating, sometimes in the open. This was my second time in my 17 years of guiding to see mating leopards clearly. When it was getting late they moved to the adjacent stream, where they got into a bush. At this time another female leopard emerged from the bush and Olive ran away. It was getting dark and I could not tell what happened again. However they were at it again the following day.

This morning I saw them at the smelly crossing heading to the location of the cubs. We now wonder whether the cubs are indeed still alive and if they are, what is going to happen when the male sees them.
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 final appeared, she was coming from the direction where this male normally stays. And if this is the case, the current development could be a bid to lure him closer to the cubs so that he protects them. while this is happening, a guide reported seeing the cubsOtherwise I remain to observe what will happen.

Olive Has New litter

Olive, the female leopard star of the Big Cat Live program has a new litter. She was spotted on the 27th July 2009 at Olare-Orok crossing by Mara Intrepids guides, Tappen & Simon with their guests in the morning carrying a cub. She headed to the junction of the Talek and Olare-Orok rivers where there is some thick riverine forest. She has been seen in the location very often from that day. It is not clear yet if she has another cub. We are monitoring her closely to establish this.

This will be her 3rd litter in a row after the twins, Ayah and Binti, Kali and now the new litter. It will be of great interest to observe how they will all interact. The interaction of Kali and his sisters has been an unusual behaviour among leopards and will be good to observe how they will all behave with an additional litter.

I will post a picture of her with cub here as soon as i get it from the guests who took it that morning.

The dead leopard in an earlier picture taken 20/2/2008

( Note her lower lip and missing upper left canine)

Jackson, Daniel (A guest) and myself with the dead cat

Yesterday morning, was a very sad moment fro the guides in the central Mara region. This is because, one of the key leopards in the area, was found dead, having being killed by another leopard, highly suspected to be olive. The overlap in their territories has resulted in these leopards living in close proximity to each other.

When I heard of the bad news in the morning, I called my friend and colleague on BCL, Jackson Looseyia, who without hesitation, rushed to the scene and I found him there with guides from other camps too. We also allowed guests to come and see as we explained what happened. She died just east of the Mar-Talek junction.

Olive, her daughter Binti and son Kali still roam the Talek river up and down between Mtamaiyo lugga and the Mara-Talek junction. This area saw a good concentration of small herbivores before the wildebeest arrived recently, and that provided a good food resource for the leopards in the area. We attribute the conflict to the overlap in territories and competition for food.

The dead leopard is the mother of one that has been named as Lorian, and is almost a permanent resident of Olkeju-Rongai area. The common feature on her helped us with identity when we found her dead.

MASAI MARA JUNE UPDATE

Weather:
We have just come to the end of the rains in the Mara and the plains have now transformed into a sea of grass. The resident animals, mainly herbivores are congregated into groups on the sweet veldts. The grass in these areas is short and highly palatable as opposed to the long and overgrown grass on most of the plains in the reserve. It only the larger animals i.e. Elephants, giraffes, Buffaloes that roam the reserve freely and are not affected by the tall grass.

The rains that pounded the Mara late May and early this month was unusual in that we normally do not get any rain at this time of the year. Our main rain season is mid-March through April. The situation now is back to normal. With the rains over, though still wet in marshes and depressions.

The weather is now as usual, with clear skies most of the days with only a few cloudy days with sporadic drizzle in isolated areas. Earlier in the month, the afternoon skies were characterised by heavy thunderstorms that sometimes spread into the nights.
As July approaches, we can already feel the temperature change. The last few days have been cold in the mornings with temperatures reading 13ºC. But this changes within the first 1-2 hours after sunrise and would reach 25-28ºC by noon.

Wildlife:
All the lion prides in our game viewing territory are still around. However, they have been highly mobile the last few weeks, with some prides splitting up into small groups. This is due to the scarcity of food. With most of the animals concentrated only in certain areas, they find it difficult to hunt as these areas could be in other lions’ territory and will be chased back if they try to hunt in these places. Even then, the lions in the areas where the animals are currently found are not having it easy, since these animals stays in close group forming an ‘’anti predator device’’ by coming together so they have more eyes to watch. This minimises the chances of the predators getting close. It is a very difficult time for our lions. Seeing lions on termite mounts or up in trees, is not unusual at the moment, as they try to get vantage point.

Olkeju-Rongai pride patrols the area between Talek and Olkeju-Rongai rivers. The place has a small concentration of game and this is what they are hunting occasionally. To the north of the Talek river, the Olkiombo pride now rules the all that section upto Ntiakitiak river. Here, there is also a small concentration of game and the cats have been making successful hunts regularly.
The ridge pride roams between the Talek, Olare-Orok, the Mara river and Topi plains just above Rhino ridge. This pride however, has split up and can now be found in 3 groups. Though occasionally comes together. There is a particular female with two sub adult cubs that has stayed alone fro a long time and can be found to the west of the Talek Olare-Orok Rivers.
Cheetahs are seen quite regularly. Shakira, the start in the BBC’s Big Cat Live program, has settled on Topi plains for the last couple of weeks. Though would occasionally head north-west upto Bila Shaka stream. The area in between the two places is currently teeming with game, and most of these are gazelles which forms her main prey. Her cubs are doing very well.
There is another cheetah with two very small cubs just to the east of Mara Explorer. We discovered her on 13/6/09 and we believe she had just moved her cubs out for the first time. The tall grass is really making her uneasy as the cubs keeps getting lost and she has to call constantly. It is a very difficult task for her brining up the cubs at this time when visibility is poor and prey scarce. We hope she will be able to rear these cubs successfully. We get to see other cheetahs too at this time. Sometimes up in tree, which is quite unusual

Olive the leopard, showed up about a week ago after disappearing for a month. She has not cubs yet as was thought by some guides. She was reported mating with Big boy across the foot bridge at Mara Intrepids on 10/6/09. Her daughter Binti was seen regularly along the Talek River just west of Mara Intrepids. Kali has been a frequent visitor in our camp for the last one month, coming for the resident Dik Diks. While Big Boy has been patrolling the river just across from Mara Intrepids, and has been heard roaring or seen by guests from their tents.
We have lost Ayah for sometime now and she is believed to be in the lower Talek River near its junction with the Mara.

GAME VIEWING AT BEST IN THE MARA

The anticipated long rains in the Mara never came as usual. The regular light showers we got was nothing near what we have been experiencing in the past. Even then the little we got has so far transformed the plains into a carpet of green in the recently burnt areas attracting a concentration of animals.

However, in other areas it is now a sea of tall grass. This grass is expected to grow even further in the next couple of months before the migrating wildebeests and zebra mows it down again.

The Mara at this time has regained its wilderness concept due to the absence of many tourist. You can actually drive for Kilometres and it is just yourself. For those who knows the Mara, this is unusual when you compare with the migration season scenario.

Please share with me my game experience over the last few days, in the attached pictures.

Beautiful lilies Topi on alert Big boy goign into the bush

Lions ponder next move Serval cat now seen regularly

Paul Kirui

Masai Mara

Cheetahs kill zebra

MASAI MARA WILDLIFE UPDATE

27 March 2009

The three brothers kills a Zebra

Today at about 5pm, I was following the three male cheetahs who are Honey’s cubs. They had been lying under a balanite tree almost the whole day due to the heat.

At around that particular time, one of the brothers noticed some zebras walking in a distance. He begun to stalk, and with the aid of the long grass, he was able to get very close to a good striking distance for a cheetah. His brothers who were left behind quickly read his body language and also moved closer.

The lead male made a dash for a sub adult zebra and gave chase. Since he was reasonably close he got up with it. He went straight for the throat avoiding vicious kicks from the zebra. Soon his brothers joined and surprisingly they went on to tear the rear side of the zebra while the other male kept trying to choke it on the throat. It took about 14 minutes for the zebra to die, all the while the two cheetah were enjoying a meal.

This is quite unusual for cheetah, since they are known to kill their prey before eating. However, the cheetahs have come to learn to feed quickly while in this area due to the presence of a large pack of hyaenas and a 16 member strong pride of lions who can easily displace the cheetahs from their kill.

This was the third zebra in weeks killed by the brothers. It seems they have developed a liking for them. We just hope they will be careful enough, otherwise an approach from the wrong angle can earn one a deathly kick.

These three have now graduated to going for bigger prey, which is easier for them since they are staying together.

Paul Kirui

Masai Mara Game Reserve

wildebeests with calves

Olkiombo prides female & sub-adults

WILDLIFE UPDATE-02

23-Mar-09

March Game Report from Masai Mara:

Overview
The months of February and March have been the best in terms of game viewing in the Mara. Though it has been dry from the beginning of the year, the intermittent rains we have got has given the grounds enough water to produce the much needed grass which has in turn attracted many herbivores.

The Mara would be almost empty at this time traditionally; but it seems times are changing going by what we are currently witnessing.
There is a high concentration of wildebeests and zebras to the north of the reserve around Musiara gate, Rhino ridge and paradise plains. These herds are part of the local migration commonly referred to as the Loita migration. These herds normally heads to the Loita plains at the end of the migration in November, when the main migrating herds are going back to the Serengeti.

Their re-entry into the reserve is usually around June, just weeks before the main migrants from the south enter the Mara. The movement of this easterly migration into the Mara at that time is an indication that the main migration from the south is just about to enter the Mara.

The sight of the mini migration type of animals concentration in the north Mara has brought life to the would be otherwise empty plains.
With these herds, are accompanying predators, lions, cheetah leopard etc.

The wildebeests gives birth at the end of February and early march in their traditional calving grounds in the Loita, east of Masai Mara and southern Serengeti. However due to the above situation, we witnessed many births in the Mara this year, and that is unusual.
This presented a lot of hazards to the young wildebeest from the Mara’s predators, mainly Hyaena and cheetah.

The inconsistent rain has made the herds settle here due to availability of grass.
The change in the land use in their traditional calving grounds, coupled with the climatic changes has contributed to this change of habit.
The big question now is; could we be the beginning of a change in their migration pattern?


Big cats:
The big cats in the Mara have been seen throughout the season. Lions have been seen in their territories as usual with no changes in the habits especially for the northern prides due to the availability of food. Otherwise in other parts especially central and south Mara, where there are not many herbivores, the prides in these areas have now adopted a lean season strategy.
Leopards are not affected much since they are adaptable to a variety of food. They have been seen throughout the season, with the usual family of Olive, Binti, Kali and Ayah seen regularly along the Talek river. They have however, extended their territory beyond Mara Explorer camp upstream. The riverine forest between Mara Intrepids/Explorer camps make it difficult to follow them throughout, but it is good because they don’t stay there too long unless they have a kill. The family of Mr. Shah, who were staying at Mara Intrepids recently had the opportunity of seeing these leopard family and several others. They were able to count 12 leopard sighting over their one week stay, beating their own earlier record of 10. This is not unusual on this side of the Mara. Here with permission, I quote their testimonial:

‘’I cannot believe that we beat our leopard sightings this time round, really did not expect that. It was fantastic. Kali is a real character, although he is too confident with cars…and when he was scratching the door on Dixon’s driver side and peering up was quite scary and too close for comfort. I’m glad he did not jump on our car bonnet. A few of our highlights were: seeing the hippo run and jump into the river; leopard (kali I think) jumping out of the bush right next to us while we were taking pictures of dik dik; seeing koori bustards (incorrect spelling); olive and kali walking/running together etc.’’ Sonal Shah

Cheetahs have also been seen regularly. Shakira, the Big Cat Live program star has been roaming the plains between Musiara, Paradise and Olkiombo area. She has managed to keep the remaining three cubs safe and they are growing healthy. The three brothers (The late Honey’s cubs) have also been in the same area as Shakira, and occasionally been harassing her just as seen during the Big Cat Live in October last year.
The female that had 7 cubs in January is now remaining with two. She has been moving between Olare-Orok Conservancy and Olkiombo.