April 22, 2025
Cheetahs are very secretive animals, and some of them are only discovered when they start independent life after being separated from their mothers. Females tend to stay within their mothers’ ranges, while males wander far away. Every few months we encounter new individuals in the Mara, mostly males. Some are floaters, they appear only once, covering vast distances. Some stay longer, and we get the opportunity to observe them repeatedly. Since September last year, we have observed 14 new males: 1 coalition of 3 males, 4 coalitions of 2, and 3 singles. One of the lonely males was Sanare.
This young male first spotted in the northern conservancies in early December 2024, roamed within Ol-Chorro Oirowua Conservancy through February. Conservancy rangers named him Sanare, which means fitness in the Maa language. By mid-March 2025, he had crossed into the Maasai Mara National Reserve, and today, we observed him again. Initially, Sanare was quite timid, but little by little is getting used to the presence of tour vehicles, and continues to explore the Mara. This new male is very important for maintaining the genetic diversity of the Mara cheetah population.
