Animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve

Animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve are definitely the number 1 attractions in Maasai Mara National Park that bring loads of tourists every other year to this spectacular national park of Kenya. Maasai Mara National Reserve is one of the best safari destinations in Africa that tourists flock every year, and is definitely the best and most sought after of all the national parks in Kenya by tourists. The thriving wildlife in Maasai Mara National Reserve is the number one reason that tourists do visit the park, to engage in various activities in Masai Mara National Reserve like game drives, night game drives and the most anticipated annual wildebeest migration.

Elephants in Masai Mara
Elephants in Masai Mara

Animals are both herbivores and carnivores and with the variety of wildlife species and great vegetation cover of mainly dominated by open grassland makes both the herbivores and the carnivores survive just fine. With the open grassland cover, predators can easily spot their prey, and the prey too can sight the predator at a far distance and then act accordingly. Game drives in Maasai Mara National Reserve are amazing, given the various animals in the park as well as the open grassland which enables tourists to spot a number of wildlife in Maasai Mara National Reserve.

Maasai Mara National Reserve has over 100 animal species recorded to inhabit the park, in addition to the over 500 bird species that sing sweetly in the reserve and can even be spotted on the backs of animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve like elephants and buffaloes, a sight to behold. Maasai Mara National Reserve is home to the all sought after African big five animals which are abundant in the park, and is most famous for hosting the big cats especially lions and leopards, as well as cheetahs that are usually seen hanging at the ant hill moulds especially in the morning or evening hours.

While in Maasai Mara National Reserve, tourists re often times woken up by animal sounds as well as birds in the window panes of their rooms; lion roars, hyenas, are a common sight. The animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve are both migratory and permanent residents. Migratory animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve come from neighbouring Serengeti National Park of Tanzania usually during a wildebeest migration which is an annual natural spectacle. Most of the animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve are however permanent residents of the reserve given the great inhabitant that the reserve offers, and the presence of the Mara River which is a constant source of water to the animals thus their permanent residency in the reserve.

Animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve
Lions in Masai Mara

Animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve can be spotted all year round, on various activities in Maasai Mara National Reserve like night game drives that are usually organized by specific lodges, hot air balloon safaris, game drives, off-track horseback riding, among so many other activities there are in the reserve, sometimes even getting you up close with the animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve say the wildebeests and buffaloes.

Animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve include the African big five animals including lions, elephants, buffaloes, black rhinos, and leopards. Maasai Mara National Reserve is home to the highest number of lions and other predators, including cheetahs, hyenas, among others. Large prides of lions of at least 4-20 lions can be seen moving in the reserve, and the elephant herds recorded to be at least 30000 elephants freely roaming the reserve. Black rhinos that can be found in Maasai Mara National Reserve are some of the rear and endemic animal species that can be spotted in the reserve, by lucky tourists given the secretive and shy nature of the black rhinos. Wildebeests are the migratory animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve, which migrate annually to Serengeti National Park of Tanzania in what is known as one of the most spectacular natural world spectacle, the great wildebeest migration that sees over 1million wildebeests crossing the Mara River to neighboring Serengeti National Park.

Animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve
The Big 5

The wildebeest migration in Maasai Mara National Reserve starts from the month of July when the wildebeests cross the Mara River from the Serengeti National Park to Maasai Mara National Reserve. From the month of October however, the wildebeest migration embarks on a return from Maasai Mara National Reserve to Serengeti National Park. Watching the wildebeest migration is one of the most spectacular activities in Maasai Mara National Reserve that any traveller should experience while on a Kenya safari in the great Maasai Mara National Reserve.

Other animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve include zebras, hippos, crocodiles especially in the Mara River, gazelles, hyenas, baboons, wild dogs, bat-eared foxes, jackals, topi, among so many others. Book yourself a Masai Mara wildlife safari tour and get amazed by the amount of animals in Maasai Mara National Reserve.

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