thriving

The wildlife in the Mara is thriving despite the global crisis occasioned by COVID-19 which has brought tourism activities to halt.

With the sounds of Game-Drive vehicles gone, the jungle is silent but the lion roar is louder. The recent week has seen the few tour guides in Mara  report incredible game sightings in the Mara.

On one morning, Jonathan Kaelo of SunWorld Safaris reported a sighting of 12 lions and 3 cheetahs. 

Adam Banister has also documented a captivating sighting of a lion pride with a buffalo kill.

This is just one demonstration of how wildlife and in particular predators are enjoying the peace and silence in the jungle.

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Yesterday in the Mara : one epic sighting took up the entire game drive. A small pride of lions killed a buffalo, but the buffalo returned to chase them off… @angamasafari @maratriangle @marapredatorconservation @magicalkenya @magicalkenyauk #kenya @bbc_travel #wildlife @nature_africa @nature.ttl @pantheracats #lion #buffalo #mara #maasai #safari #lockdown #storiesfromthemara

A post shared by Adam Bannister (@adam_bannister_wildlife) on Apr 5, 2020 at 6:43am PDT

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Kisaru and the superb 6! We found them yesterday evening about a kilometre out of camp. And what a pleasant surprise it was as she had moved off Mara North Conservancy back in November. All six cubs were alive and well and looking very well fed. They had just eaten as their bellies were protruding, and now they were trying to digest their meal slowly. * * * #alexwalkerserian #seriantheoriginal #serian #kisaru #cheetah #supermum #catsofinstagram #maranorthconservancy #maasaimara #magicalkenya #kenya #tembeakenya #travel #virtualsafari #whyilovekenya #marapredatorconservationprogramme #natgeo #natgeoyourshot #photooftheday 🎥📷 @roshperrett @marapredatorconservation @natgeo @bbcwildlifemagazine @natgeowild

A post shared by Alex Walker's Serian (@alexwalkerserian) on Apr 4, 2020 at 6:40am PDT

the super mum

Kisaru – the amazing cheetah mum has also been sighted in Mara North Conservancy with her six cubs. All the cubs are looking healthy as captured by Alex Walker’s Serian.

According to Broekhuis, F. (2018) Natural and anthropogenic drivers of cub recruitment in a large carnivore, high tourist numbers negatively affect the survival of cheetah cubs.

While it’s still too early to determine how the cubs’ survival is being affected by the reduced tourism activities, our Mara Predator Conservation Programme team is following the cheetahs closely to determine if this has an effect.