The future of the Masai Mara game reserve and the continued existence of the abundant game inside it is directly dependent on the Masai communities living around it. The pastoralist Masai community keep herds of cattle, sheep and goats as a pride of wealth and their main source of daily livelihood. They also keep donkeys as beasts of burden. Their large herds of cattle can graze up to some interior parts of the reserve. If no care is taken, this can prove to be a threat to drive away the wild animals, making them difficult for tourists to see.
Large predators like the lion, leopard, cheetah and spotted hyena that inhabit the Masai mara plain are able to do so because of the large abundance of herbivores. Most predators like the lionesses stalk the prey by taking advantage of any available cover and seek to knock down their quarry. When it comes to other smaller game like antelopes, the attack will always land on the neck, along grip that maims the spinal column of the prey. The larger preys like buffalo or zebra, a throttling hold over the mouth or nose will end the hunt through suffocation. lions are very aggressive and have always been seen to drive away other predators from their kills.
Cheetahs do their hunting in the daylight, catching their prey after a high speed chase preceded by a slow stalk. They hunt in the grasslands camouflaging in the grass and open woodlands. However they cannot sustain this very high speed longer than a few hundred meters away. Like in Masai mara, cheetahs take Grant's gazelle, impalas and hares. During the rainy seasons when the grass grows very tall, they often use termite mounds as vantage points to sport their prey. Cheetahs only eat what they kill themselves, and don't scavenge like other predators.
Leopards are very shy and quite elusive animals. They are very good at camouflaging and are solitary animals. They feed on different species of herbivores such as thompson's gazelle, dik-dik, reedbuck, warthog and the young of topi. They hunt at night after a slow stealthy stalks to within a few meters to their prey. They keep their meal in the fork of a tree where it is safe from other scavengers.
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photo: Yongyut Kumsri
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