Reporting Date: 15.10.2011

Its three weeks ago when one of the three male cheetahs named the 'Artur brothers' was killed by lions in a fight. It was a very big loss to the coalition and for a few days they seemed at a loss. They did not hunt for some time and they moved away from the scene of the confrontation for over two weeks now. We have been tracking them to find out where they go and how they survive. During a Full Day Game Drive, Philip and his guests sighted them as they rested under an African wild date tree. They looked well fed and healthy. It seemed that they have accepted fate and are moving on with their lives. They have no choice but to do just that. Live must go on. But they must be careful not to get into trouble with lions ever again. 

Reporting Date: 12th october 2011.
 

Martial eagle misses Klipspringer.

Klipspringers are members of the dwarf antelopes whose major habitats are the rocky outcrops (kopjes). On these habitats they have to be alert because a good number  of  predators  rely on them as their food source.  On this particular day, ranger Deus was on a morning game drive with his guests  when  on a tree by some kopjes they saw an  immature martial eagle  looking down on some three kilpspringers. One of these Klipspringers  was  a baby while the other two were its parents. From the look of things, the young  kilipspringer was the target of the Martial eagle. The Klipspringers were at first unaware of the eagle’s  presence  and it was as though they had  moved under  the tree after the eagle had perched on it.  Whenever  the  baby moved a little, the eagle would turn his head sideways to have a better sight at it. This happened for a while until the Klipspringers walked to a nearby rock when the eagle finally decided to make a move. He dived at them, aiming at the baby with its sharp talons from an angle but the older  ones had already seen him coming and quickly dashed into a nearby hole with the baby following as they made the characteristic whistling  alarm sound. He had waited too long to strike perhaps because he was an immature martial eagle.

Head Scout’s daily report

Reporting date: 10.10.2011

We watched 4 subadult cheetah hunting impalas without success. Their frustration and disappointment was evident. It was getting dark and they did not manage to make a kill. About 100M away, Ferdinand sighted a pack of wild dogs. As usual they moved fast in the bushes. They were hunting running after a herd of Impala. They managed to kill one female which they mauled and ate fast. The pack of 18 were not shy at all. We watched them eat their kill just 20M away. The pups looked very healthy.

Reporting Date: 9th October 2011

Klipspringer’s narrow escape.

Jaffery and his guests were out on a drive when they saw a female leopard that was hunting a Klipspringer on the rocky outcrops (kopjes). At first the spotted cat was sunning himself at the foot of a huge tree while at the same time licking her paws, then as they approached, she started walking away with her eyes fixed on some spot. It was a klipspringer which was about fifty meters away below a huge bolder that she was aiming at. The klipspringer was at first not aware of what was happening and seemed so relaxed looking away from the direction of the leopard. Then just as the leopard started to gather speed, her target dashed away into the opposite side of the kopje with the leopard in hot pursuit. When Jaffery drove round, the leopard had stopped and was gazing at the direction of the prey she had just missed and which she could see nolonger. The antelope had survived to live another day.

Reporting Date: 09/10/2011.

The African elephant is the biggest land mammal we have in the world and one of the most intelligent. Female elephants are very protective and caring towards their young calfs.

Today Peter and his four guests were having a great time driving around in the extensive Masai mara game reserve. The weather was great and at around noon they came across a small herd of ellys resting silently under a tree. As they drove closer they noticed one of the baby ellys lying flat with its mother keeping a watchfull eye. 

Reporting Date: 09/10/2011.

The African elephant is the biggest land mammal we have in the world and one of the most intelligent. Female elephants are very protective and caring towards their young calfs. Elephants can spend upto 18 hours feeding and take naps in between but young ones require more rest. They can sleep standing or lying flat on their bellies.

Today Peter and his four guests were having a great time driving around in the extensive Masai mara game reserve. The weather was great and at around noon they came across a small herd of ellys resting silently under a tree. As they drove closer they noticed one of the baby ellys lying flat with its mother keeping a watchfull eye. It was interesting to see how the whole herd stood around while the little one was trying to get some sleep.

Head Scout’s daily report

Reporting date: 08.10.2011

This morning the scouts reported that there were 4 cheetahs in the conservancy. They were hunting. They looked really hungry. They had to make a kill to survive, otherwise they would die of starvation since their mother was no longer around to fend for them. In the Afternoon during a game drive in the conservancy, Peter and his guests reported that they had sighted the 4 cheetahs on a kill. They had killed a male impala and had eaten most of it. They engorged themselves and spent most of the afternoon lying down, digesting their well deserved meal. They will survive another day. They have inherited the kiiling insticts from their mother. If their mother was around, she would be so proud. Her cubs have finally come of age. Cubs leave their mother between thirteen and twenty months after birth. The first eighteen months of a cub's life are important; cubs must learn many lessons, because survival depends on knowing how to hunt wild prey species and avoid other predators. At eighteen months, the mother leaves the cubs, who then form a siblings group that will stay together for another six months. At about two years, the female siblings leave the group, and the young males remain together for life. 

To view the sighted animals table click the "Read more" button.

Head Scout’s daily report

Reporting date:      07.10.2011

Under a Desert Date (Balanites aegyptiaca) tree lay the seven cheetahs - a mother and her six cubs. It was at about noon when Peter and Charles on their way from Siana airstrip came sighted them about a kilometre from the camp. They were surprised to see the family of seven away from the Mara Reserve where the cubs were born and were seen for the last year.

The cheetahs ventured further into the conservancy and were seen right infront of the camp during an afternoon game drive. Japhet and Ferdinand with their 11 guests watched the cheetahs hunting impalas. They were not successful but it was just very exciting having them within our conservancy. Whether they will stay in the conservancy for the next days is difficult to predict although we wished they could make it their home.

Reporting Date: 6th October 2011.
 

The Gnu that ran back.

Ranger Jaffery and Gordon  were out on a game drive by the banks of the mara river with their  guests waiting  to see if a large group of wildebeests  would  cross.  It was about mid-day and the strong heat of the day  was  pushing these animals to keep piling at the edge of the river noisily. As usual, when it comes to river crossing, patience is the price to pay, so they  waited for almost half an hour before the action started. These animals crossed for almost twenty minutes in a wild rush and  then walked in a long line in the open plains before spreading out.  After a while the crossing stopped and one small group remained behind on one side of the river. There was no sign of crocodiles where they were crossing  and  everybody thought they had escaped death. But one young  wildebeests  that had crossed into the open plains decided to run back and plunged himself into the river to catch up with the ones that had remained on the  other bank. It was as if he had lost his mother and went searching for her. He never made it across as from  somewhere  in the middle of the  river  emerged a crocodile which grabbed him by the hind legs, pulled and drowned him.  All the way from a safe zone in the grassland, he had brought himself  into the jaws of a crocodile that had perfectly hide on the crossing point. 

Head Scout’s daily report

Reporting date:      05.10.2011

The previous night a lion roared around the conservancy. The next morning, the scouts went on patrol and found a carcass of a wildbeest eaten that night. They knew the lion was still around. They found it in one of the croton bushes. During the Afternoon Game drive, Philip and Peter searched for him but in vein. Probably it was still too early. During our sundowener, a pack of spotted hyenas could be herd laughing and calling. We suspected that they had seen a lion or probably had killed something. As it got dark, we wound up our Sundowner and decided to head to the area where the sounds were coming from and true to our imagination, a lion was lying next to the salt lick surrounded by a pack of 13 spotted hyenas. When the lion saw us he stood up and moved around followed by the hyenas. We saw a wound still bleeding and freesh. He was hurt. The hyenas could smell the blood and followed him everywhere he went. Some even tried to attack him but he repulsed them. They followed him and threatened to attack but the lion is the'king of the african bush'. He kept his ground. We had to leave as it was dark. The next day we asked the scouts whether thet saw the lion and yes, it was alive.