Big 5 Game Animals in Masai Mara
Big 5 Game Animals in Masai Mara
The Masai Mara Big 5 animals were traditionally named by African hunters as some of the mammals that were very hard, dangerous, and difficult to hunt or kill in the African jungle. They looked much more aggressive, both in size and actions; they could attack you from all angles as long as they had sensed danger, and their defensive mechanisms were through attacking the hunter.
The Masai Mara Big 5 (African Big Five) include: Lions, African Elephants, rhinoceroses, Cape buffalo, and Leopards. Masai Mara national reserve is one of the few national reserves in Africa that is lucky to host or habit all the big five Masai Mara, though seeing rhinos is as hard as getting gold.
Masai Mara has the best records on the African big five, as it’s one of the only reserves in the whole world where the population of elephants is increasing on an annual basis, as per the recently concluded Elephant census.
African Elephants like moving in groups, except the males, called the Bulls that are solitary, especially those who are adults and fully grown. The king of the jungle, called the lion, which is the biggest predator and the biggest in the cat family, has large prides in the Masai Mara. You don’t need to drive for a long distance to see lions in the Masai Mara; in fact, they are common, like the common antelope.
The rarest in the Masai Mara Big 5 is the rhino, easily spotted at a distance; that is why in some books they consider that the Masai Mara National Reserve has only the big four, not big five due to the rarity and difficulty of seeing the rhinos, but the reserve does have the white Rhinos.
The others, which are more dangerous to human beings, are the cape Buffalos in all the big five, and they are always in large groups except if one has been defeated by another and is chased away, and these form the most dangerous groups to humans. The dominant bulls are more aggressive in order to defend their territory and the crowd from any attack from others.
Unlike any other big five or big cats, leopards are very unique in their behavior; they are one of the strongest animals on earth, well-built, especially in the front, and this helps them to carry their food, which can even double their weight, up into the tree to eat in peace.
It’s among the deadliest animals in the Masai Mara, hard to see, and needs a well-trained and experienced guide. Sometimes guests call it luck to see them, and that is one of the big reasons why guests visit Masai Mara and other big five wildlife parks in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania: because they are more popular only they take more hours in hiding or resting than hunting; their up-tree hunting technique helps them time an animal at the base of the tree kill and take it up to eat.
