Masai Mara also known as The Mara is one of Africa’s top visited safari destinations famous for the great wildebeest’s migration and exotic wildlife. The name Masai was derived from the local Masai pastoralists’ people who live around the area and the name Mara is also from Masai language translated to mean dotted or spotted due the nature of the reserves topography.
Masai Mara supports a habitat for various wildlife like lions, leopards, rhinos, buffalos, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, hartebeests, Thompsons and grants gazelles, topis, impalas, elands, bush bucks, waterbucks, klipspringers, oribi, reedbucks, spotted hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, genets and many others. Masai Mara National Reserve is also a birders paradise boasting with over 500 species of birds recorded at the reserve.
Elephants in Masai Mara
Elephants in Masai Mara are one of the African big five animals that can easily be spotted while at Masai Mara national reserve. There are over 2500 African bush elephants found at the reserve. There used to be over 167000 elephants in Masai Mara national reserve in the 1970s but numbers were greatly decreased to only 20000 individuals by 1990.
Masai Mara national reserve is the only conservation area where elephants are rapidly growing. All this is because of the conservation efforts by rangers and the community. The reserve saw the increase of elephant populations to 30000 individuals by 2015 census. The number have kept growing by 72%.
Mara Elephant Project situated at the reserve has also helped in the conservation and protection of elephants. Tourists to Masai Mara can visit the Mara Elephant Project and get a glimpse of their great work. Elephant aware created in 2008 with a mission to protect elephants. And other wildlife have prevented a lot of human-wildlife conflicts in Masai Mara areas.
African bush elephants live in families of several numbers led by matriarchs. They are usually the oldest and biggest in the group. Female elephants reach sexual maturity from the age of 25 to 45 years. While males reach sexual maturity at 20 years, the gestation period after conception is 22 to 24 months.
African bush Elephants can eat up to 150 kilograms of vegetation in a day. Consuming grass, bark, fruits and roots, they can also drink over 40 litres of water daily. Elephants make use of their tusks to manage several things like for eating, defence. Drinking water, bringing down trees and so much more.
Plan for the great wildebeest migration by contacting our migration safari companies or inquire with us below to plan for your safari tour with us.
