Masai Mara: Big Cats and Kills

  It is often very easy to understand why people refer to the Masai Mara as the crown jewel of Kenya's wildlife areas. The Mara was our last stop on this safari. We had already seen all of the big cats (lions, leopards, and cheetah) and one small cat (caracal). Our big cat encounters in the Mara would bring our experience to a whole new level.

Lioness carrying the head of a young wildebeest

  We were able to see and spend time with three lionesses eating a freshly killed young wildebeest, and taking turns going down to the waterhole to drink. While they walked back and forth by our vehicle, Sean was scanning with binoculars and suddenly said, "there is a leopard in that tree!" So we drove away from the lions until we were right under the tree. Sure enough a beautiful leopard was lounging high in the branches, looking pretty nonchalant that lions were staked out nearby. We got some great looks and picture opportunities before continuing our drive. 

Sean spotted this leopard in a tree with binoculars from far away!

  Next we stumbled upon a huge male lion, hiding perfectly in a bush that barely fit him but concealed him almost fully. We admired the protection and camouflage the bushes delivered, but were even more ecstatic when he chose to come out and saunter over towards the remains of a wildebeest kill. He posed on a beautiful mound for some photos, before lying down for the typical lion behavior...napping. We nicknamed him Mufasa, although with an injured right eye maybe 'Scar' would have been more fitting. We revisited Mufasa later that night on a night safari. He was still near his kill, perhaps to keep the hyena and one brave jackal at bay. 

We nicknamed this big male Mufasa

  The next morning we added a very surprising lion behavior to our list, mating. We drove up on one male and two females lying in the grass just next to the road. Then the female got up, sauntered over to the male and turned, and the male replied by mounting her for about forty seconds. There were some very sensitive looking licks, mixed in with some powerful looking bites and snarls, and then both lions separated and collapsed into the grass to rest up for the next round... which was only a few minutes away. Lions can keep this up for hours, sometimes even days. We stayed with them for quite awhile as they seemed oblivious, or at least impartial to our nearby presence. I never saw the second female lion participate in the mating. Perhaps she was not in estrus yet, or maybe was just waiting her turn. It was a special encounter for our driver James, who had never seen mating lions before!

Mating lions right next to the road. A first for James.

  Our last big cat encounter actually spanned across two game drives. We found a leopard with a freshly killed gazelle. The leopard was so camouflaged in the tall grass that we easily would have missed it in a lower vehicle. It gave us a great look when it stood up and casually walked twenty feet over to its kill. The next morning we went back to check on it and found it had moved its kill into a tree. There were spotted hyenas around which is probably the reason it had to the move its kill higher up off the ground. A group of hyena would be brazen enough to scare a leopard off her kill. It was a very rare opportunity for us to spend a lot of time with one of the most elusive big animals here in Kenya. 

Look closely and you will see a leopard eating a kill

   And finally, I have to throw in Sean's prize spotting find here in the Mara. Even more impressive than his leopard in a tree, Sean spotted a serval cat in pretty tall grass, while the car was moving. I was very impressed. When we stopped and went back we could all just make out the head of the small, but long legged cat as it stealthily moved through the grass. Then with an audible 'wwwwhhhooooooaaaaa' from all of us, we watched it leap high into the air, pouncing down upon its unwary prey. It was like a scene out of Planet Earth.....and who knows how long it took those videographers to capture that behavior. That is why you always want to be scanning on a game drive. It is truly a treasure hunt out here on safari.

Sean's most amazing cat spotting, a hunting serval in tall grass while underway

Closeup of a leopard in a tree

Emotions running high with our mating lion pair

Sometimes lions with come extremely close to the vehicle

Leopard yawning action

We were in awe of the powerful shoulder movements of this leopard

Stretching leopard in the morning sun