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Governors' Camp Game Report, Masai
Mara, July 2011
Weather and
grasslands:
Weather
conditions were quite varied this month with some high winds and overcast
days, early morning temperatures averaged around 16°C and late afternoons
were warm with temperatures of 32°C. The total
rainfall for the month was 48.5mm, much of this
rain fell in the late afternoons or early evenings. Grassland levels remain
short particularly within Musiara, Bilashaka and some areas of Rhino Ridge. Towards the riverine forests of Paradise Plains there is still long
grass. Grass levels on the Burrangat plains are
still quite long although moisture levels are starting to dry out.
 
Photos courtesy of Katie McLellan
Wildebeest
Migration
Many
Wildebeest are still in the reserve with better concentrations on the
shorter grass plains in the Masai conservation
areas; rain in these regions move the wildebeest back and forth. A large
crossing was seen on the 15th, 16th and 17th July
going from east to west at the main crossing points where an estimated
5,000 animals perished. Large herds of wildebeest can be seen on the Burrangat plains on the west side of the Talek
River. On the 27th
many wildebeest crossed the Talek River
from west to east again. Armed with a picnic breakfast guests have been out
all morning with the herds so as not to miss the action. There are zebra
everywhere with young foals of varying ages.
 
Photos courtesy of Matt Dickstein
With
more good Black Rhino sightings, we are often seeing the 'big five' in a
mornings drive. On the morning of the 29th
guests staying at Il Moran camp saw the big five before 11.00am; they said
this is their 4th trip to Africa
and they have never seen such quality of wildlife in a
such short space of time.
Elephant
have spread out a little, small maternity herds are in the Musiara Marsh, Bila Shaka and the riverine
woodlands of the Mara
River, some of them
pass through the camps particularly at night. Good numbers can still be
seen in the Trans Mara conservancy. Giraffe
remain on Paradise Plains near the riverine woodlands
and also at Bila Shaka.
Cokes Hartebeest in small herds are on the southern plains of Bilashaka and on the way to the Paradise Plains and
there are plenty of Topi on Topi
Plains and in the Conservancy areas.
Defassa Waterbuck
and a large troop of Olive baboons are ever present residents within the
woodland verges of the camps. Baboon troops are held together by
matrilineal females who are all related through the
mother instead of the father and it is these female kinships
that hold the troop together, it is only the males who come and go. The
savannah dwelling species of baboons (old world monkeys) live in large
groups of dozens to hundreds, called troops. Within a troop of baboons
there is a very complex hierarchy based on mother-daughter lines of decent
and male strength. This means that a female baboon is born into whatever
rank her mother was (much like a princess becomes a queen) and males
establish their place within the troop by fighting one another for
dominance. Female baboons remain in the same troop their whole lives and
male baboons leave the troop when they are mature enough to search for a
mate. Baboons are omnivores and have a diverse diet consisting of grass,
berries, seeds, leaves, root, bark and other vegetarian items along with
insects, fish, birds, and small baby antelopes.
 
Photos courtesy of Bessie Hwang and Katie McLellan
Warthog
and their nine month old piglets are abundant all over the short grass
plains; lion, leopard and cheetah feed off them readily and there are daily
sightings of lion and cheetah with warthog. There are good numbers of eland
on Paradise Plains, Musiara Marsh and in the
conservation areas of Koiyaki, many females have
calves averaging two months old and often these calves are seen in varying
age groups huddled together in crèches.
The
large breeding herd of Cape buffalo (an estimated 500 animals) are on the
Eastern grassland plains of Rhino Ridge and Bila Shaka; the grasses here are still a little longer and
well suited for buffalo. We have enjoyed good sightings of Black Rhino; a
large male and a younger male have been seen in the Paradise
and Talek areas.
Spotted
Hyena with many cubs of varying ages are present all over the open plains;
wherever lion inhabit hyena will not be far away; they are eternal enemies
but hyena with the ability to vary their dietary habits have the upper
hand.
 
Photos courtesy of Craig Philips and Samuel Kiplangat
There
have been some good sightings of monitor lizards, there are both species
here in the Mara, the Nile Monitor which is often found close to waterways
and the Savannah Monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) which prefers
more open country, particularly where there are abundant termite mounds,
all monitor lizards will lay 7 to 35 soft-shelled
eggs being 2 inches long with leathery shells and the female
Nile monitor will often use these mounds to lay her eggs, the termites
treat this as mound damage and will quickly seal it up. The temperature
inside the mound is ideal for incubation. Incubation is 8 to 10 weeks.
The young use an egg tooth to emerge, there is
little or no sexual dimorphism (difference in appearance between males and
females of a species). As they are diurnal large eagles will prey on them
and the Martial eagle is renowned for this. Leopard will also feed on them.
Lion
Bila Shaka/ Marsh Pride has 15 members including five
breeding females, six sub adults, two older cubs and two males; Romeo who
is younger and Claude who is quite old now. One of the older females called
Joy has four cubs that are five months old and another
of the older females has two 6 week old cubs, originally
there were three cubs, however sadly one of them
was killed by the resident buffalo.This pride
remain in the centre of their territory close to Governors Camp. They are
feeding off wildebeest, zebra and topi.
Photos courtesy of Matt Dicksetin
The
Paradise Pride with the 5 male coalition are seen
frequently in the Paradise and Talek areas; they have been well fed on the many
wildebeest that are abundant.
The
Double Crossing Pride of four adult females and their four sub adult cubs; those are over 2 years old have been
feeding off warthog. One of these females was quite old has not been seen
recently; she was struggling to feed herself and we fear that she may have
passed on.
Cheetah
We
have enjoyed good sighting of cheetah this month particularly of females
with cubs of varying ages.
A
single female has been near the double crossing area and she has one cub of
about six weeks old. There are two single females resident close to
Governors Camp and there is another single male seen often near paradise
towards the Talek River
he has been feeding on warthog.
 
Photos courtesy of Katty Velasquez and
Chris Ogle
The
three male coalition have been near the Talek
River and Emarti south side of Rhino Ridge. They have been
feeding off impala, zebra foals and warthog. They were all seen with a
single female on the 23rd and there was quite a lot of activity
but none were seen to mate. Perhaps it will happen soon.
People
coming back off the Governors balloon safari have had some good sightings
of cheetah in the conservancy. A female cheetah has been near the makaburini site and also a male called 'Cheetah ya Balloon' which is near the airstrip side of Little
Governors.
Leopard
There
have been some good sightings of the female leopard known as Olive and her
6 month old cub and she is sometimes seen with an older male cub; this
year's young wildebeest fit the menu bill perfectly for these two.
 
Photos courtesy of Craig Philips and Koyla
Hicker
The
large male near Bila Shaka
has also been seen in the Paradise Plains. The young male on the Talek
River near the
crossing was seen recently feeding off a young gnu.
A
young female with a 6 month old cub has been seen in the woodlands near the
Bila Shaka/ paradise
crossing. On the 28th in the evening she was seen feeding off an
impala.
Walking
in the Koiyaki Conservation Area.
With
short grass and little rain the walking safaris have been busy. Good
numbers of wildebeest have been seen going back and forth between the
reserve and the conservation areas, their movements often depending where the
rain has been. Reasonable numbers of zebra have been seen as well.
A
few elephant have been sighted with young calves in the acacia woodlands.
Small groups of bulls have also been seen on and off; the damage to the
local acacia trees indicate that there has not been much movement.
On
the 22nd walkers saw a Black Back Jackal pair hunting a young
Thomson Gazelle which they caught after a good chase. Jackals are
opportunistic hunters and use the same strategy as wolves and hyena in running
down their prey. Black Backed Jackals are monogamous and the male plays an
important role in the rearing the young pups.
Lion
have been sighted on many occasions and the croton thickets below the salt
lick are good places to see them. We have had lots of sightings of two
females and a male and it appears two of these are mating. On the 26th
walkers saw two lionesses attempting to hunt topi
on the plains below the 'fly over'. There has been some good spotted hyena
activity hunting wildebeest; they tend to hunt quite early in the mornings which coincides with our walking safaris.
Excitingly
we have had two sightings of aardwolves this month, in the early hours of
the morning. Both sightings were of a mother and a young cub. Aardwolves
are specialist feeders with harvester termites playing a major part of
their diet, they are very nocturnal and sightings are not common.
We
hope to share the magic of our corner of Africa
with you sometime soon. We also have propeties
in Rwanda where you can
see Mountain Gorillas, Lake Naivasha from where you
can explore the Great Rift Valley and Lake Victoria,
where you can relax and explore one of the world's great lakes.
     
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