February 19, 2025
In the last few weeks, the oldest cheetahs of the Mara – Nora (12y 10m), Nashipae (9y 8m) and Tano Bora (10y 4m) – have been roaming exclusively in closed areas of the Reserve, where their disturbance is minimal. It is important to note that usually after cheetahs have eaten their fill, they spend the next day resting away from roads in safe places, where they are extremely difficult to find. After a hearty meal, the Tano Bora males spent the entire day yesterday resting in the shade, and only briefly went to a tree to mark it before sunset. Yesterday morning Nashipae looked thin, but by evening her belly had rounded out – she was finally able to eat to her heart’s content. In 5 hours, Nashipae completely ate an adult male Thomson’s gazelle. At the same time, just one kilometer away from their mother, Nashipae’s cubs caught an adult male Thomson’s gazelle but ate him twice faster. Nora also tried to hunt a few hundred meters away from Nashipae’s cubs, and in the evening, we left her only a hundred meters away from the well-fed cubs. Lonely females sometimes prefer to stay close to families of other cheetahs, probably because mothers choose the safest places for their offspring. Since Nashipae took her cubs out of the den in September 2024, we have repeatedly observed Nora close to her family. As of today, Nashipae has not come to the cubs. She needs strength to recover and after eating she has such an opportunity.
