2010-11-09 – Masai Mara G.R.

Good news came late in the afternoon, in the middle of a torrential downpour. The two resident male Lions slept the whole day very near where the Lioness that escaped the fight the day before yesterday is nursing her cubs. It is a clear indication that they are their cubs and that they will protect them. But this morning the second female, the one that was wounded in the fight with the pride, was still missing. We spent the afternoon with the female Leopard Acacia sleeping on the banks of the Ntiakintiaki river, and we left as the rain started falling. But the male Lions were awaking and looking straight up the hill, where a Jackal was barking loudly. With binoculars I could see a Lioness laying on a termite mound. We drove up to her and it took us some time to confirm that it was actually the female that was beaten by the pride’s females. She is still walking a bit stiff, but her wounds have healed and she seems in good condition. She was approached by two males who sniffed her and realized she is not in season, so they let her go about her business under a sky of clouds. She’ll probably return to her sister and the cubs tonight.
Another interesting encounter was the young male Leopard Ngayoni, Olive’s son from last year, sitting out in the open in the middle of the day, and raking his claws on this log.