February 9, 2025

The Mara ecosystem, which consists of the Maasai-Mara National Reserve and 24 surrounding conservancies, provide permanent and temporary home to more cheetahs than we regularly see. Cheetahs living or travelling through the remote conservancies are usually shy and disappear within seconds, making it impossible to photograph them. As researchers, we rely on our observations and photographic/video evidence from reliable sources (management, rangers, guides and sometimes guests of the conservancies). Personal observations enable us to look into the secret life of these timid cheetahs. Over time, such cheetahs get used first to ranger patrols on various vehicles, and then to local tourist cars – to their sound and shape, the careful manner of slowly approaching and the voices of the guides.

Like in Ol Chorro Conservancy, cheetahs of Olarro Conservancy spend significant time in the dense bushes and wooded hills, where they successfully hunt Impalas without the risk of being spotted by lions and hyenas. Studying the behavior of cheetahs in different biotopes and learning about their adaptations helps to understand the ways of their most effective protection. For example, the success of hunting and preserving prey from predators reveals the high importance of preserving areas with dense bush. Over the past year, three different males have been regularly seen in Olarro, including two in coalition, and a female with cubs. Being opportunistic hunters, cheetahs hunt at any time of day and on a wide variety of animals, including impala in dense bush, and in open areas, on newborn wildebeest, which are now abundant in conservancies. It was absolutely fascinating to watch different shy cheetahs in Olarro. Of the two adult males in a coalition, one is more shy and the other is more decision-making. We asked rangers to name them and will soon update you. The female Nabaya, daughter of Natasha (who used to inhabit Olarro in previous years), is raising two 11-months-old cubs now – a male and a female. All these cheetahs – 4 adults and 2 young ones – make up the most important part of the ecosystem’s cheetah gene pool.

February 3, 2025

As cheetahs age, they gain experience, and the oldest female cheetah, who will turn 13 this May, is demonstrating remarkable survival skills. She copes with intensive tourism in the reserve, regularly successfully hunts adult representatives of various ungulates, and survives in the presence of lions and hyenas. In order to remain vigilant at night, the cheetah must get enough sleep during the day. Older animals spend more time sleeping, especially after a hearty meal. A good daytime sleep without disturbance is important for survival in the face of fierce competition with other predators in the ecosystem. Therefore, it is important that when you find a sleeping cheetah, do not wake it, especially if it is a mother with cubs or an older animal.

January 11, 2025

The beginning of the new year turned out to be very busy – from observing new (or rather, long-unseen) cheetahs in different Conservancies and floating males in the Reserve, to intensive daily monitoring and assistance to Nashipae. On the evening of December 31, while hunting on a rocky road, Nashipae got an injury – a dislocation of the shoulder joint of her left leg. The injury to her front leg temporarily deprived the female of the ability to hunt and defend herself from predators. We are very grateful to the Mara Veterinarian Dr. Njoroge of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, for his prompt response and help to the female – he has already treated Nashipae twice. Together with a heroic team of the Mara Cheetah Unit rangers, we are taking care of the female and her family so that she is not disturbed in particular by predators, eats regularly and in peace. Since the incident, the family has been spending more time in a closed area in the tall grass. The young cubs stay with their mother and together track down danger. However, Nashipae often hides in the tall grass away from the cubs to be less visible. In the absence of food, the cubs can drive away a hyena, but the female cannot, since when frightening an intruder, cheetahs hit the ground with their front paws, and the female is now protecting her paw. Nashipae is improving slowly, therefore we will care for the family as long as it takes for the mother to fully recover and for the cubs to perfect their hunting and survival skills. The cubs continue to learn from their experienced mother, and the longer they are together, the more successful they be.

January 03, 2025

The future of nature, the future of the cheetah is in the hands of the young generation and children.
Preserving animals in their natural habitat is an important and responsible task, and one of its parts is environmental education. For a number of years, our Project team has been conducting educational lessons in schools. The program began with the production and publication of the coloring book “Let’s Go Wild” together with The Laikipian – Art For Conservation team (https://thelaikipian.co.ke/).
Our new joint project was the development and presentation of the game Nexus Dicey. Nexus Dicey is a fun-filled game that’s all about climate change and environmental awareness. In a world faced with an existential threat of extinction from climate change and environmental damage, players take the role of green warriors and experience the real-world effects of climate change. They get the opportunity to undertake activities that contribute to the health of the planet in a fun-filled way.
Last year, we hosted the main members of the team – James Ndungu, the team lead and Martin Ngugi – illustrator, a wonderful artist and an inspiration to everyone who meets him. Together we proudly introduced the game to several Mara schools. In some schools, we were all very pleased to see the very first “Let’s Go Wild” books that we donated 9 years ago. Not only are they perfectly preserved, but they are still actively used! We presented the game as a floor version and at the same time offered children to play the tabletop version. Both children and teachers played with pleasure, animatedly discussing victories and failures. After all, according to the rules of the game, if a player landed on a square where he “threw garbage into the river or cut down a tree”, he returned several points back, and if he “planted a tree”, he moved forward several points.
During the game, children and adults learn how important it is to preserve nature, what is good and what is wrong, and how everything in nature is interconnected. If the player landed on a square with an animal, the presenter would talk about it, using information from the booklet.
Children are always open to new knowledge, which they absorb perfectly in the process of interactive learning. Safari trips to the park are also part of such learning. Some kids showed us their wonderful artworks with cheetahs, inspired by a visit to the reserve, when they were lucky enough to observe the Tano Bora cheetah male coalition. In the coming year, we plan to continue donating the Nexus Dicey game to pupils in more schools. We are also working on a new ambitious educational project, which we will be happy to present in the near future.

12/24/2024

Dear friends, colleagues and partners!

Mara -Meru Cheetah Project team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This year has been eventful, and all the wonderful things we have accomplished this year have only become possible thanks to your all-round support!

We are deeply grateful to the dedicated rangers and especially Mara Cheetah Monitoring and Protection Team (Mara Cheetah Unit), with whom side by side we monitored and protected cheetahs every day in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, to the Management, Wardens, Rangers and Guides of the Reserve and Conservancies for their cooperation.

We sincerely appreciate our partners and colleagues for valuable advice and fruitful cooperation.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to sponsors and donors for their continued comprehensive support, thanks to which we were able to perform various research and conservation activities, including: working in the field all year round, continue our long-term comprehensive study of cheetah behavioral adaptations, monitoring and helping cheetahs in critical situations, training rangers, conducting seminars and workshops for guides and rangers in the reserve and conservancies, carrying out educational work with the local community, explaining the important role the cheetah in the ecosystem and methods of safe grazing of the livestock, conducting interactive lessons with kids in local schools, where players take the role of green warriors, whose activities contribute to the health of the planet in a fun-filled way.

We are very grateful to those who appeared out of nowhere in the field and pulled us out when we got stuck. And our very special gratitude goes to those who donated to our project a new Land Cruiser, and for those who contributed to this. The new vehicle has made our work more efficient.

Thank you to everyone who was with us in sorrow and joy, who believed in us and helped in different ways! We sincerely wish you outer and inner peace, well-being and prosperity, full success, great love and the fulfillment of all your dreams!

Mama Duma and the team