Lions in the Masai Mara, Kenya

The Lion is said to be the king of the jungle.  In the Masai Mara there are only about 30 prides left to roam the Mara and many issues face their survival.  In our travels one morning we came upon 3 cubs, see first gallery below, and mom was with them, but walking away and not looking very healthy.  Two days later we came upon the same cubs and mom was no where to be found.  We monitored the cubs again in the late afternoon and saw no mom.  It appeared that she had either met her fate or left her cubs.  One cub was blind in one eye, we named her Mocha: one had an injured back leg and one seemed healthy.  We knew they were hungry and not moving around too much.  Our guide, Henry, contacted the park rangers and together they went back in the evening to make a kill for the cubs.  They were truly starving and the next day the park rangers darted the injured cub and repaired her leg.  We were told that the park rangers will monitor their progress because there are too few healthy lions left in the Mara to not help when it is possible. We received an update from Henry a month after we came home, Mom had returned and all were doing well.  It was one of our greatest moments in Africa.

LIONS OF THE MASAI MARA LN1-101: Precious LN2-101:Snuggles LN3-101: Regal