New beginnings for the Mugoro pride once again!

On the last afternoon on the Narok side of the Masai Mara we went to spend our last afternoon with the Cheetah mum and two cubs. On the way we called to the area where we had heard that the other the Notch boys and the Rekero Pride had also taken down a hippo that morning, the same morning as we had been also watching Grimace on the other side of the Mara with his own Hippo. Tucked deep in a lugga you could hear the Lions feeding and the flies swarming but could barely see what was happening so we continued off to head for the Cheetah. 

We found them fairly quickly and again in the same area. It was clear that she felt this was a good area for the cubs as although she had previously had an ‘altercation’ with Hyena there were few other predator around and a reasonable amount of game to hunt. 

We spent around 45 minutes with them, for some time hidden in the Croton but soon moving across the plains, Maliaka wanted to hunt and continued her car hopping antics as the cubs frolicked and played. At one point darted up a small bush during which Andy got lovely shot of one of the cubs at the top.

Cumulus Nimbus clouds started to form and we knew this meant only one thing.....a storm was approaching and when the rains come down in the Mara the black cotton mud can prove quite a challenge so we cut short our time with the Cheetah and headed back to camp. Sure enough the heavens opened and the rain came down with force, the thunder boomed loudly around the Mara and lightening seared down across the plains. We sat in camp and watched the light show and wandered what the conditions would be like in the morning, knowing that it would be quite a challenge as the dusty plains took on a different face. 

Heading out the next morning we wanted to go back to the Hippo that Grimace, the other 5 lioness and Hyena had been feeding off the previous day. There was barely a morsel of meat left and various body parts lay scattered around the area where the Hyena had continued to feed long after the Lions had left it. So just 24 hours later as it was almost gone.

We had planned to spend one last night on the Narok side to go in search of Notch but as we started tracking along the roads the conditions became a real problem, despite having a well equipped 4WD vehicle and a husband that is well versed in off road driving the previous evenings torrential downpour had turned the roads into an ice rink, as we slid around for some time, constantly on the verge of getting stuck! It had taken us 2 hours to drive what had normally taken us 20 minutes and many other vehicles also struggling with the notorious African black cotton mud. At this point it became clear that we were going to struggle to cross the luggas and the constant battle to keep the vehicle from getting stuck was getting a little tiring. so our decision was made, today was the day to go over to the Mara Triangle. There we knew it was a little drier with better track conditions and so today was the day we had to say a sad goodbye to our friends on this side and start our search for the Mugoro Females (Lions) and all other things ‘felid’.

Tracking into the Mara Triangle it was indeed drier than the Narok side and not too long after crossing the Purrungati Bridge we came across 5 Lioness, looking wistfully toward the Serengeti and waiting for the lines of wildebeest that would soon be making their journey into the Mara and providing food a plenty for the predators. Whilst there was certainly a reasonable amount of game toward the Tanzanian border there still seemed no sign of the incoming ‘beests’ but given the rains the days prior this would certainly induce some movement and we would expect that in the next week they will likely enter the Mara and in the 2-3 weeks the herds will no doubt start their famed crossings over the Mara River, which is now around 1 month later than normal and largely due the the constant rains in Tanzania. 

For those who may have read our previous blog posts there is probably no surprise that our first priority was to check out how the Mugoro Lionesses were doing. We last saw them in June of last year in which we only saw 4 of the 5 girls. They had lost their cubs the February before to the new incoming males (4km boys) and in June they were mating. Reports had come through earlier in the year that they had cubs and we dearly hoped the news was true and that we would see them. Given in 4 years we have never seen them raise any cubs to adulthood it was about time these girls had some luck.

On the first afternoon drive we found one of the Mugoro Lioness, in the core of their territory but with no sign of the others (including ‘KB’) but it was early days yet and the mornings are always best for Lions. 

Indeed the next morning (today!) revealed ‘our girls’, again just 4 of them, and including the strong and fierce Lioness ‘KB’. It did not take long to see that she had indeed became a mum again as you could see she was full of milk and had been nursing cubs recently. More heads popped up in the grass, 1,2,3 and eventually 6 more lions and all cubs of different ages. Two aged around 3 months, and the other 4 around 6-7 months old. It was great to see that they had babies again and KB was the mother to the two younger cubs.

Having seen the ‘destruction’ of the pride just 18 months or so ago prior it was so great to see that they had successfully mated with the new ‘4km males’ and raised cubs to this age so far. Whilst the cubs looked hungry (one in particular) and the Lionesses were looking lean they looked better than we had expected given the sparse plains and feeding 10 hungry mouths is no easy task. They looked to have fed in the last 24-36 hours but needed more food for sure. We spent over 3 hours with them, most of the time with them just laying in the grass but at around 9am a herd of Topi caught their attention and so the hunting party set out. 

Led as usual by KB, with 2 of her fellow females flanking around the outside. With the wind direction sadly not in their favour there efforts were thwarted as the ever vigilent Topi soon clocked their intentions and the girls retreated back toward the cubs, who looked curiously on as the females tried to secure breakfast. Here we left them under Acacia and here they were likely to stay for some time so time for us to go and devour the sausages Andy had cooked the night previously in our camp. 

We can only just hope that now some stability can return for the females and they have the chance to raise cubs to adulthood. However, with the 4km males increasing their territory over the Mara River, also mating with the Paradise/Serena females and therefore leaving the females alone for longer amounts of time it would indeed leave the cubs and mothers vulnerable during migration in which nomadic males often follow.......only time will tell for these Lioness.....

Passing Elephant smells the lions

The Topi sense the lions

Full of milk!

One of the older cubs