White Eye’s Fate and a Warm Welcome

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Posted by Sara Blackburn at 7:32 PM

It has been a long time since the last post, and I must apologise for the long silence! I am now back in the Mara North Conservancy and resuming monitoring of the local lion population. Already I have seen some old faces, and some new ones!

There is a lot of news to be shared. Some of you may be concerned that White Eye was dead, but I believe that she was seen yesterday with Romeo around the Musiara Marsh. This is fantastic news, as she plays an essential role in the pride, and is still producing healthy cubs. We still do not know who the dead lion was, found in the Marsh, and I suspect that it was a female from the Marsh Pride. It is important now to track down Lispy and Siena – Joy and Charm I believe have been seen healthy and happy. I’ll post news if and when I hear it.

In the conservancy, the Cheli & Peacock Pride are Rver Prides are doing well, each with their new males. The three brothers, Ajani – Shambe and Samir – have been pushed across to the River Pride territory, and have been spending time on both sides of the Mara River. Last night I found Ajani and Shambe striding across the plain in the darkness – a nice surprise!

night roar
Ajani and Shambe appeared in the darkness
Just before my encounter with the two brothers, I found members of the Cheli & Peacock Pride on the ridge below the camp. Amber and Saba were resting with Akiki (one of the three brothers who now reside with the pride) and their mother, Nura. A bout of roaring soon alerted us to more pride members over the next hill, and the quartet moved off at a fast pace towards the incoming bellows.

walk
Nura leads the rest of the group to the distant roars

There’s a lot of exploring to do to find our resident lions, so I’ll keep you posted with the developments. It’s good to be back in the Mara!

Sara