Porini Camps Mammal Guide By Rustom Framjee Preface This mammal guide provides some interesting facts about the mammals that are seen by guests staying at Porini Camps. In addition, there are many species of birds and reptiles which are listed separately from this guide. Many visitors are surprised at the wealth of wildlife and how close you can get to the animals without disturbing them. Because the camps operate on a low tourist density basis (one tent per 700 acres) the wildlife is not ‘crowded’ by many vehicles and you can see them in a natural state - hunting, socialising, playing, giving birth and fighting to defend their territories. Some are more difficult to see than others, and some can only be seen when you go on a night drive. All Porini camps are unfenced and located in game rich areas and you will see much wildlife even in and around the camps. The Maasai guides who accompany you on all game drives and walks are very well trained and qualified professional guides. They are passionate and enthusiastic about their land and its wildlife and really want to show you as much as they can. They have a wealth of knowledge and you are encouraged to ask them more about what you see. They know many of the animals individually and can tell you stories about them. If you are particularly interested in something, let them know and they will try to help you see it. While some facts and figures are from some of the references listed, the bulk of information in this guide has come from the knowledge of guides and camp staff. I encourage you to ask questions and listen carefully, as the truly astonishing amount of information they hold goes beyond what I could fit into a guide. Enjoy your safari! Rustom Framjee 1 Images in this guide With thanks to the following for their photos: Rustom Framjee: Spotted Hyena, African Wild dog, Banded Mongoose, Maasai Giraffe, Cheetah, Bohor Reedbuck, Scrub hare, Common Eland, Coke’s Hartebeest, Southern Tree Hyrax, Bushbuck, Black backed Jackal, Lion, Serval cat, Zorilla, African Elephant Niels Mogensen: Aardwolf Samson So: African Wild Cat, Common Genet Jake Grieves-Cook: African Golden Wolf, Bat-eared fox, Kirk’s Dik-dik Nirmalya Banerjee: Side Striped Jackal, Impala, Reticulated Giraffe, East African Springhare, Klipspringer, Lesser Kudu Jimmy Lemara: Aardvark Matt Caldwell: Greater Galago, Rock Hyrax, Common Waterbuck, Striped Hyena Phil Edwards: Yellow Baboon, East African Civet Mo Scanlan: Unstriped Ground Squirrel, Fringe-eared Oryx Vicki Cooper: Steinbok Alan Dahl: Thomson’s Gazelle, Grant’s Gazelle Julie Roggow: Chimpanzee Senka Gavrilovic: Oribi *Magnus Manske: Honey badger *MC Schaeffer: White tailed Mongoose *Drew Avery: Crested Porcupine *Jacob Cutts: Jackson’s Hartebeest *Yathin S. Krishnapp: Slender Mongoose *Olivier Lejade: Suni **Photographer Unknown: Common Duiker, African Hedgehog, Marsh Mongoose © All other photos are copyright to Gamewatchers Safaris unless stated otherwise. *Image used according to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. **The author attempted to identify these photographers but was not successful. If identified, please e-mail the address below. For species with a camera icon we are looking for an alternate image. If you have one, please send an e-mail to [email protected] 2 Badges & Abbreviations This species is classified as endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Record Holder This species holds a record (official or unofficial) This species is rarely seen by visitors and sightings of it are considered lucky due to its behaviour or low population density Location Abbreviation Selenkay Conservancy SC Nairobi National Park NNP Olare Motorogi Conservancy OMC Ol Kinyei Conservancy OKC Ol Pejeta Conservancy OPC Naboisho Conservancy3 NC Species Big Cats Antelope 54. Common or Burchell’s zebra 1. Lion 24. Common Wildebeest 55. Grevy’s zebra 2. Leopard 25. Topi 3. Cheetah 26. Thomson’s Gazelle Small Mammals 27. Grant’s Gazelle 56. Aardvark Felids 28. Impala 57. Warthog 4. Caracal 29. Bushbuck 58. African hedgehog 5. Serval Cat 30. Bohor Reedbuck 59. Crested porcupine 6. African Wild Cat 31. Chanler’s Mountain Reedbuck 60. East African Spring hare 32. Common Eland 61. Scrub hare Hyenas 33. Common Waterbuck 62. Rock hyrax 7. Spotted Hyena 34. Defassa Waterbuck 63. Tree hyrax 8. Striped Hyena 35. Lesser Kudu 64. Ground squirrel 9. Aardwolf 36. Coke’s Hartbeest 37. Jackson’s Hartbeest Primates Jackals and other Canids 38. Common Duiker 65. Olive Baboon 10. Black/Silver Backed Jackal 39. Kirk’s Dik Dik 66. Yellow Baboon 11. African Golden Wolf 40. Suni 67. Vervet Monkey 12. Side Striped Jackal 41. Klipspringer 68. Sykes’s/Blue Monkey 13. African Wild dog 42. Gerunek or Wallers Gazelle 69. Patas Monkey 14. Bat Eared Fox 43. Steinbok 70. Large Eared Greater Galago or 44. Fringe eared Oryx Greater Bushbaby Mongooses and Mustelids 45. Oribi 71. Senegal Galago or Lesser Bushbaby 15. Banded Mongoose 72. Common Chimpanzee 16. Dwarf Mongoose Large Mammals 17. Marsh Mongoose 46. Elephants 18. Slender Mongoose 47. Cape Buffalo 19. White Tailed Mongoose 48. Hippopotamus 20. Common Genet 49. Black Rhinocerous 21. East African Civet 50. Southern White Rhinocerous 22. Zorilla or Striped Polecat 51. Northern White Rhinocerous 23. Ratel or Honey Badger 52. Maasai Giraffe 53. Reticulated Giraffe 4 Lifespan: 15 to 20 years Weight: Males 190 to 225 kg (420 to 500 lb), Females LION 110 to 135 kg (250 to 300 lb) Panthera leo Height: 1 to 1.2 m (3ft 4in to 4ft) Swahili Name: Simba Length: 1.5 to 2m (5ft to 7ft) Maasai Name: Olng’atuny, Olouwaru Gestation: 3 ½ months Number of young: 2 to 4 (cases of up to 6) Habits: Lions live in large groups called prides. The females in the pride are usually related and they are the primary hunters. Males will assist with large prey, though they mainly focus their efforts on defending their territories from other males. Males are very territorial and the main cause of male deaths is as a result of fights and being displaced from the security of the pride. They sleep for many hours in a day and are active only when hunting. Young males are made to leave the pride to prevent leadership challenges and inbreeding! Food: Opportunistic carnivorous feeders and will take any prey that they can catch and overpower. Although they are apex predators they often scavenge and steal kills from other predators. Reproduction: Cubs are born blind usually away from the rest of the pride. Their eyes do not open until roughly a week after birth. Lionesses often synchronise birthing and share parenting duties with cubs suckling from any of the nursing females. This allows pride cubs to be of equal age and size which increases survival rates. Location: NNP, OPC, SC, OKC, NC and OMC. Did you know? If new males take over a pride they will typically try to kill all the cubs. Your guides know most of the lions family history and can tell you exciting stories 5 of pride wars! Lifespan: 12 to 15 years Weight: Males 50 to 80 kg (110 to 180lb), Females 35 to 55 LEOPARD kg (70 to 120lb) Height: 60 to 70cm (2ft to 2ft 4in) Panthera pardus Length: 1.2 to 1.8m (3ft 10in to 5ft 10in) Swahili Name: Chui Maasai Name: Olkinyia lasho Gestation: 3 ½ months Record Holder Number of young: 2 to 4 Strongest Habits: Mostly nocturnal and solitary, leopards are excellent at camouflaging themselves and stay close to areas with trees. Food: Highly adaptable on account of prey availability, leopards stalk, usually at night, and kill their prey before carrying it into a tree where it will be out of reach of lions and hyenas, if it is too large for them to consume immediately on the ground. Reproduction: Cubs usually remain hidden for the first two months of their lives, and will rely on their mother’s milk during this time. Once they begin to venture out they will start to eat meat and are weaned at 3 months. Did you know? Pound for pound they are the strongest of African big cats. If you hear a noise around the camp at night, like someone sawing wood, it’s probably a leopard. There are probably as many or more leopards in the Location: NNP, OPC, SC, NC, OKC and OMC. conservancies as there are cheetahs, however leopards are more difficult to see as they are shy. More recently, the leopards around Porini Lion have got much more used to people and sightings are very regular. When a leopard is not hunting, it can walk through herds of herbivores without disturbing them as it raises its tail over its body to expose the white underside which the prey species see as unthreatening 6 behaviour. Lifespan: 10 years CHEETAH Weight: Males 41 to 57 kg (90 to 125lb), Females 36 to 45 kg (80 to 100lb) Height: 70 to 80cm (2ft 4in to 2ft 8in) Acinonyx jubatus Length: 1.2 to 1.4m (4ft to 4ft 8in) Record Holder Swahili Name: Duma Fastest Maasai Name: Olowuara keri Gestation: 3 months Number of young: 2 to 4 (cases of up to 6) Habits: Cheetah like to find high vantage points from where they can see potential prey and predators. Males are often social, and brothers will stay together and hunt together whilst females generally live on their own unless they have young cubs. Food: Cheetah usually eat small to medium size antelopes as well as young wildebeest. They stalk prey and break into a fast sprint which uses lots of energy and only has a 50% success rate.