This week in the Olare Orok Conservancy has been a busy one.

The two cheetah brothers (there were three but one was bitten by a snake at the end of last year) have spent the last few days on the plains just north of Mara Plains. The majority of the wildlife has been up in this area avoiding the long grass to the south in the reserve. On the 29th these two cats successfully hunted an adult male impala just a kilometer from the camp but unfortunately for them they were very quickly chased off their prize by a sub-adult female lion and her brother. All of this was witnessed by very excited and privileged guests.

Three of Notch’s four sons (some of the largest lions in the whole Masai Mara ecosystem) have been hanging around just downriver from the camp in the last couple of days, after having stolen an adult buffalo killed by some younger lions. Their confident and deep bass trio of roars have been an amazing sound to fall asleep and wake to.

Pretty Girl, one of our resident leopards, is feared to have lost her second and last cub. We are still not 100% sure on this but she does not seem to be producing milk anymore. This would of course be a tragic reality of the circle of life in the predator-dense Mara, but there is perhaps a silver lining… Another leopardess who has spending a lot of time in and around camp over the past fortnight (even returning to the tree on the plain in front of the mess for two nights consecutively to finish an impala kill, and catching a Thompson Gazelle in the camp car park at midday!) and it is hoped that perhaps she is sticking around because she has a litter of her own hidden away in our river line.

We will let you know more as we do, so watch this space!