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.
