Simon Thomsett

Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Sep 02 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

by Laila Bahaa-el-din

We joined the Peregrine Fund’s Munir Virani and University of Swaziland’s Ara Monadjem at Lake Naivasha to see how the Fish Eagles are doing with the receding of the lake. We spent a lovely morning on the lake throwing fish out for the eagles and watching them swoop in. From there, we went to the Mara to get back to the vultures. Simon climbed up into the nest of that Lappet-faced vulture chick we had put the GSM tag on a couple of weeks previously to check on it. It seemed to be doing well and was just about to fledge. We also spent some time with Corinne again, catching a few more vultures for GSM tags.

Lappet-faced Vulture chick in the nest

Ara, Munir and Simon putting a satellite tag on a Ruppell’s Vulture

We spent one enjoyable early morning with a lioness and her three small cubs before the day got warmer and she took them into cover. We were on our way to join the vulture capture team when we stopped to watch the interaction between a big male lion and a lioness. She seemed very nervous as the male approached and lashed out at him when he got near. Then we saw three more big males poke their heads up over the long grass and as we watched, the four of them started to chase the terrified female from the area. They looked like they had murder on their minds so we were relieved when the female finally managed to lose them a few kilometers on. We wondered what reason these males might have to chase off this one female and the guides told us she was not a female from that pride.

Lioness defending herself

Often called the seventh wonder of the world, the great wildebeest migration from the Serengeti into the Mara happens around this time every year. Tourists flock to the Mara to watched hundreds of thousands of animals make the treacherous crossings of the Mara River. Panic-stricken animals usually make a mad dash across rivers, hoping to avoid land predators waiting in ambush on the banks and the hungry crocodiles waiting in the waters. Luckily for the wildebeest, but not so lucky for the crocodiles, the Mara River is very low this year, making it easier for the animals to get across safely.

Zebras and Wildebeest safely crossing the shallow Mara River

Corinne and Munir managed to see from the satellite information that one of the tagged Ruppell’s Vultures hadn’t moved in four days. Concerned, Corinne went to check the area to find that the vulture was on the ground, unable to fly very well. After four days of being on the ground like that without food, it must have been near starving. We joined them and, knowing that it wouldn’t survive, caught the bird. It was kept overnight in a shed at Intrepid’s Lodge and then Corinne drove it to Naivasha the next day where it is now being taken very good care of by Sarah Higgins in a shed next to Rosy and Girl.

Tags: lake naivasha, mara river crossing, peregrine fund, sick vulture

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