2011-06-27 – Masai Mara N.R.

This morning both the Olare Orok and the Talek rivers were completely full, impossible to cross. Nonetheless it was a great day for me, with a beautiful sighting of Olive and all her three cubs, of different ages. I found them around a Warthog kill stashed on a lone tree on top of a hill, unfortunately I don’t know who actually made the kill, if it was Olive or Ngayoni, her oldest son. When I came the younger female cub, 8 months old, Bahati, was on the tree looking down. Ngayoni climbed the tree, followed by Olive soon after. Ngayoni went to the side of the tree where the kill was and started snarling and hissing towards Olive and Bahati. The little cub descended quickly, Olive stayed on as Ngayoni took possession of the kill, and fed on it for a while. Meanwhile Pacha, the other 23 months-old male cub, appeared under the tree. As Ngayoni finished eating and descended, Olive went to eat and she dropped the kill to the ground. She continued feeding on the ground, and after she finished, it was Pacha’s turn. She initially snarled at him but she then gave up and went up the tree with Bahati to relax. Unfortunately, from a photographic point of view, Pacha dragged the kill to deep into a nearby bush, away from view. At around lunch time Olive went away to rest on another tree some distance away. Pacha and Bahati went to sleep near the kill, while Ngayoni was away. Pacha continued feeding in the late afternoon, while Bahati was around playing with branches and twigs, and Ngayoni rolled repeatedly on the ground like a big housecat. Overall, a beautiful and unusual day, surrounded by Leopards.