Are there lions in Shaba National Reserve?
Are there lions in Shaba National Reserve? Shaba National Reserve is situated 130 square kilometres to the east of Samburu National Park and to the north of the Ewaso Ng’iro River. Robust, stunning, and mainly uncharted reserves in the vicinity of Shaba, Samburu, and Buffalo Springs make this place ideal for Kenyan safari tours. They offer an intriguing combination of starkly varied environments, ranging from harsh cliffs and boulder-strewn scarps to lush swamps and muddy sandbanks; and from bone-dry scrub to fronded riverine woods. The location is hot and dry, and during your safari tour, you’ll encounter the Gabbra, a native nomadic tribe, refer to it as “the Plains of Darkness” because of the heat-scorched scrublands that reach the jade-green waters of Lake Turkana.
Large prides of lion can be seen roaming the wild and breathtakingly beautiful Samburu, lush Buffalo Springs, and the wildly volcanic Shaba National Reserve (once home to Joy Adamson of “Born Free” fame) all offer practically guaranteed wildlife encounters. Elephants also roam in large herds and are best seen crossing the river at dusk. East of the Samburu and Buffalo Springs reserves lies the Shaba National Reserve, managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service, in the northern Kenyan county of Isiolo. The three reserves combined form a substantial protected area.
In the Shaba reserve, you may go on game drives and see striking scenery like riverbank woods, scattered woodlands, and parched grasslands crowned by the Shaba Hill volcano. The abundant wildlife in the area depends on the marshes and waterholes scattered throughout. Shaba is home to the rare Williams’s lark and the endangered Grevy’s zebra. Shaba was the setting for the Out of Africa film, the Born Free book and movie, and the reality television show Survivor: Africa. Visitors visit the reserve on a regular basis. An excess of visitors and a growth in the local population may cause ecological stress in the reserve’s surrounding area.
Shaba National Reserve
The Shaba National Reserve was designated as a reserve in 1974. The Isiolo County Council is the one responsible for the management of Shaba National reserve. It is located 70 miles (43 km) north of Mount Kenya and only a few miles (1.6 km) east of Samburu. The Ewaso Ngiro river flows 34 kilometres (21 miles) along the northern edge of the reserve. Rainfall varies ranging from 250 to 500 mm per year. The soil is most likely to be volcanic. The reserve is a vast semi-desert region with many springs and a few isolated hills. The reserve has its volcanic formations rising from the generally flat surrounding ground towards the south, Shaba Hill is 2,145 meters (7,037 feet) above sea level.
At the foot of the Shaba hill, there is a rugged terrain with several deep ravines. Compared to Samburu Reserve, Shaba Reserve is smaller and has more riverine forest areas that are home to doum palms and acacia trees. There is a variety of habitats along the river and beyond such as alkaline grasslands, an umbrella thorn acacia woodland, patches of grass and plants that are occasionally visible in open lava rock sections, and bush land that is mostly composed of commiphora.
While Shaba has more greenery than Samburu, it has less game animals, including as Masai giraffes and Grant’s zebras. There are several hyrax and klipspringer in the hills. Aardvarks, warthogs, and bat-eared foxes live in the domed termite mounds found in the shrub region. Common elands, impalas, grant’s gazelles (Bright’s subspecies), and gerenuks graze on the shrubs, while zebras, Beisa oryx, greater kudu, and lesser kudu graze in the grasslands. Shaba is known to be home to large prides of lions that slumber in toothbrush tree groves during the day. At night, predators such as the spotted, striped, and black-backed hyenas are active. Among the unusual creatures that live in the reserve are the reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, and endangered Grevy’s zebra. Among the other creatures are African leopards and elephants.
Shaba is a birding safari destination and its bird population is diverse, much like the bird populations in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves. Williams’s larks inhabit sections of rocky lava semi-desert with short Barleria bushes within the reserve. These animals are in the risk of becoming extinct. Shaba National Reserve is the only place where they can be found. A decreasing number of internationally vulnerable lesser kestrels travel through the reserve each year as they migrate from the Palearctic. Among the endangered birds that live in Shaba are the African darter, great egret, white-headed vulture, martial eagle, and yellow-billed Oxpecker (the latter of which is extremely common).
Home to Elsa Adamson
The park gained notoriety thanks to Joy Adamson and the lioness Elsa, who starred in the 1966 film Born Free. In January 1980, Adamson was assassinated in the reserve, and a monument now stands in her remembrance. The breathtaking environment and wildlife of the reserve are used in a number of TV shows and advertisements, including the film Out of Africa. In 2001, two thirds of the park were closed off while a CBS crew was filming episodes of the third season of the American reality television competition series Survivor: Africa. The residents, who struggle year after year to make ends meet, complained bitterly that CBS had not hired them while the show was in production.
What is there to see in Shaba National Reserve
Shaba is important because it is home to the rarely seen Williams’s lark and the diverse fauna of the Somali-Masai biome. At now, there is no threat to either the reserve or the lark’s natural habitat. Because of military drills, the region north of the reserve has substantial environmental damage. Grazing, hunting, and wood collecting are becoming more prevalent in the reserve’s surrounding areas, and on occasion, these activities cross over into the reserve itself. There is no strategy in place for managing tourists, and safari tours run the risk of driving visitor numbers up to unsustainable heights.
Samburu Culture
The administration of the Samburu is ageing. Because they believe they are cursed, the elders have a monopoly on marriage arrangements and the taking on of new spouses. The younger, single males who are the victims of this are kept in their teenage state longer, as their social development is halted until they become thirty. Gentlemen wrap a piece of material around their waist that looks like a Scottish kilt. It’s usually pink or black. Like other Maasai sub tribes, they adorn themselves with necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. Long hair braids that they eventually shave off are a common feature on the “warriors” of the moran age group. Colour it with red ochre if desired. Sometimes, their bodies are adorned with ochre as well.
In the past, the Samburu relied almost exclusively on their herds, although they also frequently traded and consumed naturally occurring foods with their neighbours. Before the arrival of the colonists, milk from sheep, goats, and cows was a daily requirement. Oral and written records suggest that small stock may have been crucial to the economics and nutrition at least as early as the seventeenth century. The Samburu economy and social structure still largely depend on cattle and other small animals, even in the twenty-first century. The Samburu people still consider milk to be a basic food item when it is available. Fresh or fermented milk can both be consumed, but “ripened” milk is often regarded as superior. Meat from cattle is usually provided during ceremonial events or when a cow unexpectedly passes away. Even though it is consumed more frequently, small-stock meat is still not eaten frequently.
