Weather and grasslands
January 2017 has proved to be drier than many other years, dust in the air has brought on some lovely colours at dawn and dusk, a total of 7mm of rainfall fell. In the evening of the 8th there was a downpour on Topi Plains and Malima Tatu with enough water to be seen lying in pools the following morning. Morning temperatures are 15°C with midday and afternoon temperatures reaching as high as 32°C, the humidly fluctuates between 57%-65%. The sunrises at 6.48am and sets at 6.57pm. The Musiara Marsh has dried up at both ends although there is still a little water is still in the center channel of the marsh which has the deepest channel and appears to still support many reeds. The Mara River is also getting very low but it is still flowing slowly.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Reynolds
On the plains
Large numbers of resident wildebeest and zebra moved into the Musiara Marsh and surrounding areas in the first week of the month. There were little pockets of rain on Topi Plains and Malima Tatu on the 8th and these caused more wildebeest and zebra to come down from the northeast conservancies. On the 14th more wildebeest and zebra were being seen within the East and West marsh grasslands, later on in the month many had crossed into the Trans Mara via the main crossing points on Paradise Plains.
Photo courtesy of Sarah Clark
On the 20th a large number (estimated at 1,500-2,000) of wildebeest and zebra moved out west from Paradise Plains and crossed at the main crossing point going west, they crossed with barely a splash for the water level is low; crocodiles looked in awe as quickly they crossed. In the evening of the 21st and morning of the 22nd large numbers had been seen in the north, east and west marsh, they had been seen moving down from north east of the Masai Conservation areas where the grass is low and grazing is sparse. On the 26th there was another crossing at the main crossing point of an estimated 500 wildebeest and zebra that were going west. Wildebeest cows have started calving this month. Topi females have also been seen to have some very young calves, this is very late for Topi and perhaps the changing weather patterns have induced this phenomenon. Many Topi have crossed the river at the main crossing points and gone west into the Trans Mara for there is more grazing available here; some small herds are within the Musiara areas of Topi Plains, Rhino Ridge and Malima Tatu. Earlier on in the month there was a movement of Topi that had come into the west marsh grasslands and these then moved further north and later crossed at the Kichwa crossing points and moved west into the Trans Mara.
On the evenings of the 28th and 29th there was some good rainfall in the Paradise Plains areas and as of the 29th many of the wildebeest have moved out of the Eastern marsh grasslands and filed towards Paradise Plains and small herds filed north into the northern Masai Conservancies. These wildebeest and some zebra that filed towards the Paradise Plains may well cross towards the Trans Mara in the west perhaps later or in a day or two. A few small herds of zebra will be seen around the Marsh and Malima Tatu area.
Photo courtesy of Moses Manduku
The Hippos are struggling to find enough grazing, water levels in the various rivers within the Mara and conservancies are slowly drying up and hippo who were resident in these refuges are moving out to other water sources. This then causes friction with the inbound resident Hippo; an adult Hippo requires 50-65 Kg of grass per night.
The Warburgia trees in the riparian woodlands are still fruiting, these Warburgia fruit will give Elephant the opportunity to stay longer in the riverine woodlands while eating these fruit painstakingly one by one, they pass through the camps at night. Elephant still come and go between the Trans Mara and the Musiara Marsh; some small breeding herds will be seen scattered across the open grassland plains.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Reynolds
On the morning of the 14th Governors Camp driver guides alerted professional photographer Warren Samuels who was photographing in the nearby area that a young and weak elephant calf was in need of being rescued, he was near the Naibor Soit area close to the double crossing, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust were immediately notified, the Narok county council rangers were summoned and duly rescued this young male calf and it appeared that he was very weak and had not been feeding, he was flown out at 2.00pm with the help of the David Sheldrick wildlife trust, the Elephant care team were on hand and were very professional with how they treated and handled the young Elephant calf into the aircraft, news of this male two weeks later indicates that he has a new surrogate mother, the professional care of the Elephant orphanage under the care of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust has given a life to another elephant.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Reynolds
The cape buffalo herds are more habituated particularly along river courses and areas where ground can be waterlogged, grasses here are dry yet still quite dense and buffalo being hard mouthed will graze on these grasses, they have not been seen to suffer the drying conditions although some young born calves have been taken quickly by the resident predators who will seek out weak prey. Giraffe are becoming more resident within the riparian woodlands for browsing value is still more so than out further beyond the grassland plains. The Olive Baboons are travelling further afield in search of food with quite a few sightings of dominant males taking young Impala and Thompson fawns; this food source will be shared amongst favorite female consorts, they are also arriving later to roost at night which is an indication of hard times. Olive Baboons are also taking liberty of the Warburgia fruit.
Impala who have young fawns are not necessarily seasonal breeders; Impalas breed once a year, since there are no dictated breeding season herds are being seen more frequently near the riverine woodlands will also be seen early in the mornings out in the grasslands browsing on what is left of drying out shrubs and small bushes. Grants Gazelles are prevalent on both sides of the Marsh either in the west side or east grasslands. There are some large and impressive horn sizes on some of the Grants Gazelles noticeably seen in the west marsh grasslands. Thompson Gazelles are now spread out within the short grass; some ewes have fawns with some very young ones at the moment, as the grass is short the fawns have problems struggling to lie low which is their natural form and also acts as an anti-predator posture.
Photo coutesy of Patrick Reynolds
Serval cats are being seen frequently when the grasses are short, sightings become easier. There is a healthy three legged female on the north side of the Bila Shaka river bed; how she lost her left front tibia we are not sure, but she is very active. There is another female seen near Governors Private Camp, two individual males are being seen on Paradise Plains. There was a great sighting recently when a male Serval Cat seen on Rhino Ridge caught a hare that had erupted from its ‘form’ like all cats they are opportunistic hunters.
Bat eared foxes have also been seen more frequently and this ties in with the big movement of wildebeest onto the plains. As the wildebeest move over the plains they eave their droppings which attract dung beetles and many other insects which the Bat Eared Foxes like to feed on. Bat eared foxes have a well-developed digastric muscle and besides the large ears, the bat-eared fox differs from other foxes and canids by its unique dentition. It has more teeth than any other heterodont placental mammal with a total between 46 and 50. Southern Ground Hornbills are being seen all over the Mara and recently they have been calling in the early mornings and late evenings with local superstitions that their call is an indication of rain; we certainly hope this is the case. Black Rhino have been seen in the west marsh and also down on Paradise Plains, they often cross from the Trans Mara in the early morning and by late morning they have crossed back again. Very early in the morning Black Rhino can be seen coming down to the river to drink opposite the camps that are on the river. Verreaux’s Eagle Owls have been seen more frequently deep into the riparian woodlands, some will also be seen out in open country particularly if they are hunting or have been hunting beyond the boundaries of their natural habitat, on the 22nd early in the morning a couple of these owls had been seen eating a cape hare.
There are large clans of Spotted Hyenas on Topi plains, South Bila Shaka Plains and East Marsh grasslands with wildebeest being taken on a near daily basis, they are competing strongly with the resident Marsh Pride.
Lion
Photo courtesy of Moses Manduku
The marsh pride is still habituating the east and west marsh areas. Lioness Charm is still pregnant and we are expecting her to give birth any moment now. Another young lioness known by the BBC film crew as Spot and the daughter of Sienna had two cubs in the first week of the month sadly as this was her first litter she abandoned them soon after giving birth, later on in the month she was seen being mated again by male lion Njema. Lioness Kabibi has three cubs that are three months old and they have been residing in the east side of the marsh and the Lake Nakuru salt flats area of the marsh. The two breeding males Njema and Bahati are with the three lionesses most of the time, Sienna’s two daughters spend much time on their own and hunting together; there appears to be a little friction again starting in this pride. They have all been very busy hunting wildebeest, zebra and warthog.
Lioness Madomo and her four, six month old cubs were in the rocks on Rhino Ridge and recently they have been residing by the murram pit croton thickets, they have been feeding off many of the resident wildebeest and on Topi Plains, Madomo’s daughter also has four young cubs that are two months old and they are all being seen together, this is a working pride. There are two males Lipstick and Blackie that monitor this pride and were last seen on the 29th below Emartii Hill, Lipstick was seen mating with a lioness from the Madomo Pride.
Photo courtesy of Moses Manduku
Photo courtesy of Moses Manduku
The Paradise male lion coalition of six have been residing in the southern part of Bila Shaka and south west plains of Paradise Plains, all six look very well and fat; these six lion are very active and have been eating giraffe, wildebeest, buffalo and hippo, on the 14th of the month they had killed a large giraffe, they ate the complete animal three days later they killed and ate completely a buffalo cow. There are also four other young male lion that have come through from the conservancies, these four come and go yet recently they have been seen in the west marsh and southern marsh rocky areas. On the 12th of the month there were 12 male lion in a small area of the Marsh and Bila Shaka area.
News this morning 29th, a lioness was seen with two little cubs that are two weeks old near the main crossing points; this lioness is part of the Paradise Pride.
The Paradise Pride is a large pride with 8 breeding females and a total of 17 cubs all under the age of one year. One breakaway lioness has two cubs that are estimated at 2 months old, they are based in the southern Paradise Plains, and here they have been feeding off the resident wildebeest and zebra. Three other lionesses have 9 cubs altogether of which three are 7 months old and five are one year old, these are now being seen near the Chinese Hill area of the Mara River, of the three lionesses one younger lioness is being mated near the Chinese Hill as reported being seen on the 26th with male lion Scar. Two other lioness have 6 cubs together of which two are three months old and four are six months old, these lion are often seen on the western fan of rhino ridge that leads down to the main crossing point on the Mara River. In the evening of the 29th these two lionesses and their six cubs had taken down a wildebeest near the main crossing point, of the four cubs there is a male who has attitude and he is very active in feeding before all the other five cubs. The four male lion coalition the musketeers are within the Paradise Plains and Mara river area.
Leopard
Photo courtesy of Moses Manduku
Saba the female leopard of the Olare Orok River has done it again being the most highlighted leopard this month, her two cubs are six months old and the female cub is much more adventurous with the male being a little quieter. Saba has been hunting impala and Dik Dik; she killed a Dik Dik on the 24th of the month. The large male who is the sire of these two cubs often hunts further south of Saba’s home range has also been very active; he has been seen recently feeding off young zebra and wildebeest. Another male leopard has been seen in the riverine woodlands near the Serena pump house, he seemed quite shy when seen on the 28th, perhaps not surprising with three lionesses some 200 meters away. A young female leopard is being seen often in the southern riverine woodlands of Paradise Plains, she has been feeding off yearling wildebeest and warthog.
These is another female leopard who we suspect as being ‘Siri’ with two very young cubs at the rocky kopje south of the Serena pump house, guides saw two cubs on the 28th deep in the thicket beneath the main rock.
Cheetah
Photo courtesy of Moses Manduku
Malaika with her two cub’s (one male and one female) who are seven months old are at present in the south side of the double crossing. She is hunting Thompson Gazelles and impala and also young topi and wildebeest. On the 26th she had killed and eaten a female Thompson Gazelle.
‘Musiara’ the female cheetah has not been seen recently but her daughter is hunting close to the double crossing area and below Emartii Hill. She has been seen as far as Paradise Plains and the lower Bila Shaka riverbed. Malaika’s daughter the young lone cheetah that was often seen on Paradise Plains seems to have moved out into the Olkeju Ronkai grasslands which are close to the Lookout Hill area. Grasses here are also short and support many smaller ungulates such as Thompson’s Gazelles. Nora’ the single female has one, 12 month old male cub; she is being seen on the short grass plains northeast of the reserve, earlier on this month she moved down closer to the Talek River, she has been seen eating warthog piglets, Thompson and Grants gazelles and their fawns.
Walking Safaris in North/East Masai land
The Masai conservancies that lie north east of the Reserve have also received little rain for January. Early on in the month many of the resident wildebeest and zebra passed through and were mainly in the longer grass areas on eastern plains, as the month continued the majority of these resident wildebeest moved down into the Mara reserve, with the males remaining behind.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Reynolds
Eland are also being seen in the southern plains, there is a breeding herd of an estimated 30 animals and two large breeding bulls, they have been browsing in the nearby woodlands. Topi are well spread out, on the 20th this area received a good downpour of rain, which induced a green flush. Impala breeding herds are resident throughout, early in the mornings they are out on the open plains, moving into the woodlands later in the day with the bachelor herds not far away.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Reynolds
Spotted Hyenas are also active with some large clans on the open plains, they are preying on wildebeest and topi; these predators are more pro-active than the resident lion pride. Giraffe pass through with the southern woodlands browsing and pruning the Gardenia trees as they go. Thompson and Grants gazelles are also well spread out; they like the west plains with the short grass and the rain later in the month has brought out many of these ungulates, this in turn has drawn in many Black Backed Jackals who will be seen in pairs as they run around looking Thompson and Impala fawns.
Patrick Reynolds, Governors il Moran Camp Manager
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