Tag: cheetah

On the plains of the Athi-Kapiti in search of the Cheetah

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Above: Cheetah on the plains. Copyright Mary Wykstra founder of Action for Cheetahs

Published: 19 October 2019

It’s exciting at Lisa Ranch on the plains of the Athi-Kapiti with the iconic Lukenya stretched in the far horizon. The 6,000 acre ranch is both for livestock and wildlife and we’re here in search of the cheetah.

Thirty kilometres south-east of the ranch is Nairobi National Park and the busy Kitengela town.

In the bigger picture, Lisa Ranch is part of the Machakos ranches that are nestled between the Konza Technocity to the west and the Mombasa highway in the east with the Nairobi-Mombasa railway cutting through. This vast terrain measuring 300 square kilometres or 85,000 acres is one of the last wildlife areas that until a century ago hosted the Mount Kilimanjaro – Mount Kenya migration of wildebeest, elephants and other big game.

Wildebeest on Lisa Ranch.Copyright Rupi Mangat (800x600)
Wildebeest on Lisa Ranch.Copyright Rupi Mangat

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Mid-year Mara

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Above: Maasai giraffe, mother and calf. In Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 27 Juy 2019

It’s the mid-year bonanza in the Maasai Mara. It’s lush and green after a long dry spell. We’re in the south-eastern part of the 1,510-square-kilometre park that is a continuation of the 14,750-square-kilometres Serengeti National Park.

It is this enormous space that is world-famous as big game country: big for the huge herds of wildebeest, big for the big cats, big for the world’s largest land mammal – the elephant and big for the tallest – the giraffe. There are so many superlatives that describe the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem that it is mind-boggling.

June 2019 Wildebeest arriving from Serengeti into Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat (800x600)
June 2019 Wildebeest arriving from Serengeti into Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat

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Mara in Motion

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Above: Elusive leopard in Mara early morning. Copyright Maya Mangat

Published: 23 February 2019

The view is dramatic view of the great Mara from the heights of Siria Escarpment of the big game country.

Maasai Mara Jan 2019 Copyright Rupi Mangat 2 (800x450)
Maasai Mara plains from Siria Escarpment. Jan 2019 Copyright Rupi Mangat

A few miles from Mara’s Oloololo gate, dots appear. It’s a trio of elephants in the midday heat at a mud hole splashing themselves with muddy water. The muddy water is a great sunscreen and a body mask – every one’s concerned about their looks.

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Female elephant in Talek River, Maasai Mara - Copyright Rupi Mangat

Magic in the Mara

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Above: Female elephant in Talek River, Maasai Mara – Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 15 December 2018

It’s sunrise but there’s still a full moon in the sky. The dawn light is magical while the sprawl of the Mara is enchanting. In the soft light, the gazelles gambol and the warthogs graze on knees bent, their necks too short to reach the ground.

Dawn in Maasai Mara - Copyright Rupi Mangat
Dawn in Maasai Mara – Copyright Rupi Mangat

New-born foals suckle at their mothers’ breast while the tiny warthog babies vanish into the grass nervous of people. It’s the season of plenty for the herbivores with so much grass around. Well-fed and healthy, they give birth soon after the rains turning the vast grasslands into a nursery. Continue reading “Magic in the Mara” →

Mara Fast Five and the Talek Hyena Clan

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Above: One of the Fast Five in Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 24 November 2018

Within minutes of driving past the fenced lands of the Maasai and Sekanani gate, we’re in the great Mara. It’s phenomenal that the difference can be so stark. One side is people, cattle and fences where until a decade ago there were few.

IYoung giraffe in Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat
Young giraffe with ox-peckers feeding on the ticks in Maasai Mara. Copyright Rupi Mangat

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