Masai Mara National Reserve

Masai Mara National Reserve is a large game reserve in Narok County, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Mara Region, Tanzania.

 Masai Mara National Reserve is a large game reserve in Narok County, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Mara Region, Tanzania.

It is named in honor of the Masai people (the ancestral inhabitants of the area) and their description of the area when looked at from afar: "Mara," which is Maa (Masai language) for "spotted," an apt description for the circles of trees, scrub, savanna, and cloud shadows that mark the area.

It is globally famous for its exceptional population of lions, leopards and cheetahs, and the annual migration of zebra, Thomson's gazelle, and wildebeest to and from the Serengeti every year from July to October, known as the Great Migration.

The Sand, Talek River and Mara River are the major rivers draining the reserve.

Wildebeest, topi, zebra, and Thomson's gazelle migrate into and occupy the Mara reserve, from the Serengeti plains to the south and Loita Plains in the pastoral ranches to the north-east, from July to October or later. Herds of all three species are also resident in the reserve.

All members of the "Big Five" (lion, leopard, elephant, cape buffalo, and rhinoceros) are found here.

 

Hippopotami and crocodiles are found in large groups in the Mara and Talek rivers.

Hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, and bat-eared foxes can also be found in the reserve

Antelopes can be found, including Grant's gazelles, impalas, duikers and Coke's hartebeests.

 The plains are also home to the distinctive Masai giraffe. The large roan antelope and the nocturnal bat-eared fox, rarely present elsewhere in Kenya, can be seen within the reserve borders.

More than 470 species of birds have been identified in the park, many of which are migrants, with almost 60 species being raptors.

Birds that call this area home for at least part of the year include: vultures, marabou storks, secretary birds, hornbills, crowned cranes, ostriches, long-crested eagles, African pygmy-falcons and the lilac-breasted roller, which is the national bird of Kenya.