Ewaso Lions

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A Taster of Shaba

Category: Reserves | Date: Oct 10 2008 | By: ewasolions

I journeyed to Shaba a few weeks ago for 2 days. It had been many months since I had last visited Shaba and I was really excited to go.

Shaba is a stunning reserve, East of Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves. It is larger than Samburu and Buffalo Springs and has many more swamps and springs to attract wildlife, especially large herds of buffalo. The Ewaso Nyiro flows through it and there are beautiful sites all along the river to visit.

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Stunning scenery in Shaba

Another important difference – lions. There are many lions in Shaba but no estimate has been acquired as yet. The lions are also bigger and stay in their prides. And it appears that their main prey is buffalo!

Shaba is also home to big bull elephants, Grevy zebra, tons of buffalo, the big cats and much more. It was also the home of Penny, the leopard, who was raised and released by Joy Adamson in the late 70s.

We drove around for 2 days and I was thrilled to come across 7 lions hunting buffalo. It has been ages since I have seen such a large number of lions together. I managed to get a few ID shots of them and this was the beginning of my Shaba lion identity database.

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First lion in Shaba to be identified

This was just a small taster of what’s in store in this dramatic landscape. I hope to spend 3-4 months in Shaba to census the lions and get a detailed understanding of lion ecology in this area. One thing I know for sure is that there are exciting times ahead and I can’t wait.

5 Responses to “A Taster of Shaba”

Zack, on 10 Oct 2008

It’s unusual for lions to go after buffalo right? So why do some do it but others don’t? Is it about availability of other prey (or lack of)?

ewasolions, on 11 Oct 2008

Hi Zack,
In many places it is common for lions to go for buffalo, for example in Tsavo National Parks. When the lions stick together in their prides, they tend to go for larger prey so there is enough food for each lion. In Shaba - buffalos are the most plentiful prey and the lions stick together in large prides (different to Samburu). So they will go after buffalo. In Samburu - the lions are often in only pairs or even alone. Impala is the main prey here and this medium-sized antelope is perfect for a few lions who stay together.
So, its all about lion structure and what prey is available for the lions.
Shivani

sauwah, on 13 Oct 2008

shaba is so beautiful! i envy you so much and i do miss being in africa and the african safari thing. i am terrible when it comes to location. the area you are now in is in the northern kenya? i only have been to the south. you know the usual tourist places like masai mara and amboseli. why do lions in samburu only work in pairs or by itself? prey is small or rare there?

Shivani Bhalla, on 17 Oct 2008

Hi Sauwah,

Yes the area I am in is in Northern Kenya. Its in an area called the Northern Frontier District and is about 7 hours North of Nairobi.

Its a much tougher environment for lions here. Prey is not as plentiful and the most common prey are impala. If the lions stayed in large prides in Samburu, and killed an impala, each individual lion would get very little to eat. However, in Shaba, where large prey such as buffalo are plentiful, the lions stick together to be able to bring down buffalo.

I will write more soon,

Shivani

Annie, on 20 Oct 2008

Beautiful pics!

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