Leopards: Our guests continue periodically to be thrilled by sightings of "Zawadi" ("Shadow") made famous by the BBB's Big Cat Diary television program near the Kichwa-Koyiaki migration crossing point (on September 26 and 28) and sometimes at Fig Tree Ridge (on October 8, 9, 10 and again on October 22 and 23) or even in her old hangout at "Leopard Gorge" (on October 16). She has her two five month old cubs with her most of the time. On October 5 and 16 she was also sighted near the Koyiaki windmill near Musiara gate.
The other female leopard in that area with her two cubs aged about eleven to twelve months old has also been sighted in the area spanning the Koyiaki crossing point and as far down as Musiara marsh. On the 28th of October guests saw her feasting on a young wildebeest that she carried three meters straight up a fig tree.
We have not had any recent sightings of the other BBC star Bella. We are hoping that she is doing o.k.
We also continue to have sightings of the "Aitong Leopard Basin" female leopard. On October 16 in the evening she was sighted with a Thomson's gazelle kill near the "Five Kilometer" junction. On a late evening drive back to the camp she was seen stalking a herd of impala and successfully bring down a young fawn.
Guests going south to the Serena crossing have also periodically gotten sightings of the female leopard with her two large cubs that are now about twelve to thirteen months old. They have been hanging out in the rock formation near the Mara River pump facility. On the 16th of October they were seen, all three of them, feeding on an impala.
Cheetahs: We continue to get many cheetah sightings for our guests in the conservation Koyiaki area. On multiple days during September and October we have found the female cheetah with her two cubs between Koyiaki's Fig Tree Ridge and the "Acacia Woodlands" across from Koyiaki's Leopard Gorge. On the 16th of September and again on October 16 she was viewed hunting a herd of gazelles.
To the south the Musiara single female cheetah was seen occasionally feeding on impala or topi calves during October. Honey's three male cubs continue to hunt together despite losing their mother earlier this year. Occasionally we also run across them on game drives on the opposite conservation area.
To the north near the "Aitong Junction" we get daily sightings of the two cheetah brothers who roam the Aitong plains. On the 12th and again on the 18th of October our drivers reported that their guests watched the two brothers take down a young gazelle on each occasion.
Hyenas and Silver Backed Jackals: Near the Olare Orok River we periodically find a clan of spotted hyenas that number well over thirty. They were seen on the 10th of October running down and taking a wildebeest that they wore down after an extensive run. They prove to the non believers that hyena are not just scavengers but when in a pack are formidable predators like wild dog.
The hyena family that is commonly found on game drives just outside our camp recently had a new set of cubs. Guests find it very entertaining watching them play around their underground hole.
Jackals are also plentiful, usually in pairs. Although they are thought to be scavengers we constantly see them running down young impalas. or gazelles. On the 5th of October one of our landcruisers stopped for a young fawn sitting in the middle of the road only to have a jackal come out of nowhere and snatch it.
Lions: With the Koyiaki conservation plains full of wildebeest and zebra from the migration the lions everywhere are having a feast. The migration has brought large numbers of wildebeest and zebra near our facility and as a result many lions have followed them and have settled down in our vicinity. In fact a pride of fifteen lions consisting of two males, six females and seven young cubs have set up home directly near our reception area. They are probably an offshoot of what was previously called the "Maternity Pride." Our staff have now baptized them as the "Royal Pride." Almost on a daily basis during October we have had to stop our game drive cars just outside our camp for guests to photograph the pride whenever our game drives enter or exit the camp. At night many zebra roam into the camp believing it is a safe harbor so they seek refuge from lions only to be chased by the pride, some times between our suite tents. We have had to keep our Maasai Il Moran guards on alert at night to try to keep the lions away.
On game drives to the south to Musiara we have been getting sightings almost daily of the Musiara Marsh pride. The pride now has three males, four mature females and two cubs about 2-3 months old. They too have been feasting on the migratory ungulates. There has been a lot of mating observed between the male and the four females in October so we expect this pride to gain many cubs in the future and grow in numbers. The three males are a power to be reckoned with and they keep their area well patrolled daily from intruders.
Near the Serena crossing we constantly find members of the Paradise pride consisting of three males also with five females and a swarm of eleven cubs. With many wildebeest and zebra crossing thru the month the river this pride has positioned itself close to the crossing point to feed off the migration. On the 5th of October our guests observed the females who took down a zebra that had survived the crossing after escaping from the jaws of a large crocodile with bite marks on its left thigh only to be taken by the lions after the river ordeal.
In the Koyiaki Acacia woodland area near Leopard Gorge guests are thrilled to find the Mara Rienta pride of four female lioness with their eight young cubs. Originally there were 10 cubs as of late September but apparently two have been lost to some intruding male or to hyena.
On game drives to the north we also find daily the Aitong pride which now number about twenty nine. They have following the wildebeest and have moved significantly closer to us and are found by our drivers sometimes within one kilometer radius from us. In fact they are so close to the turf of our resident Royal pride that we are concerned of a possible turf war breaking out at any time soon.
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