July 29, 2025
Cheetahs migrate freely within the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem, and therefore new cheetahs appear in the Mara every 3-4 months. These are mainly young males who have begun to explore new territories.
In early March, a new male appeared in the Maasai Mara National Reserve and was subsequently observed in areas from the Sand River to the middle of the reserve. Initially, the male was shy, but like his predecessors, he is getting used to the tour vehicles. Our long-term observations allow us to conclude that in order to be successful in the Mara, cheetahs must be tolerant of the presence of tour vehicles. Then they will be able to successfully hunt, rest, find partners and raise offspring.
Unlike females, males live much less – on average 3 years. Our Cheetah Monitoring Unit team named the young male Obik, which in the Maa language means Long-Living. Four days ago, we observed a swelling of unclear etiology on the left side of Obik’s muzzle. Close monitoring showed that the abscess had opened and the swelling had almost completely gone down. We have repeatedly observed cheetahs recovering on their own from sarcoptic mange (male Osidai and female Maridadi), deep wounds (female Imani) and injuries (male Milele and female Nashipae). Both before and after the abscess appeared, Obik hunted successfully. 4 days ago we observed him not far from Nashipae’s daughter Nempiris, and today very close to Nashipae. We hope that he too will be able to contribute to the gene pool of the Mara.
© Mara-Meru Cheetah Project (MMCP). All observations, images and videos in this post are our own unless stated otherwise. Please credit appropriately when sharing
