The Maasai Mara National Reserve (also known as Masai Mara and by the locals as The Mara) is Kenya’s most popular holiday destination.
It’s located in Narok County, Kenya and links up with the Serengeti National Park in Mara Region, Tanzania. There are some interesting facts you might not have known about the Mara.
Here are some of them:
1. The BBC Television show titled ‘Big Cat Diary’ is filmed in both the reserve and conservation areas of the Maasai Mara.
Image: bbc.com
2. Unlike most other National Parks in Kenya, the Maasai Mara National Reserve is not administered by the Kenya Wildlife Service, but by Narok County government.
Image: sleepout.com
3. The Maasai Mara is a major research center for the spotted hyena since it’s the only place where they are concentrated in large numbers.
Image: Nat Geo
4. There are four main landscape sections in the Mara: Ngama Hills, Oloololo, Mara Triangle and Central Plains.
Image: Gil Gofer
5. More than 500 species of birds have been identified in the park, many of which migrated to the area from other places.
Image: Nat Geo
6. The wildebeest are the dominant inhabitants of the Maasai Mara.
Around July of each year, these ungainly animals migrate north from the Serengeti plains in search of fresh pasture, and return to the south around October.
Image: Burrard Lucas
7. The Mara River is filled with Hippos as well as very large Nile crocodiles.
Photo: AfroTourism
8. All distinguished members of the “Big Five” (lion, leopard, African elephant, cape buffalo, and black rhinoceros) are found n the Mara.
Popular species like zebra, giraffe, hyena, cheetah, eland and gazelle are found there too.
Photo Credit: Nicole Cambre/REX/ShutterStock
9. The National park stretches 1,510 square kilometers (580 square miles) and raises 1,500-2,170 meters (4920-7120 feet) above sea level.
Image: go2africa.com
10. The word “Mara,” is actually Maa (Maasai language) for “spotted,” an apt description for the circles of trees, scrub, savanna, and cloud shadows that mark the area.
Photo: Wikipedia
11. It’s the only place where elephant numbers are increasing.
The elephant population declined from 167,000 in 1973, to a staggering 20,000 in 1990. But, by 2015, numbers had climbed to 30,000 and are still increasing.
image: Benh Lieu Song/Flickr.
12. The Mara River provides the lifeblood to the surrounding ecosystem.
Without the essential water it provides, there would be no wildebeest migration and the ecosystem would look very different.
Photo: Amizade.org
13. The Maasai Mara National Reserve is only a fraction of the Greater Mara Ecosystem, which includes the following Group Ranches:
Koiyaki, Lemek, Ol Chorro Oirowua, Olkinyei, Siana, Maji Moto, Naikara, Ol Derkesi, Kerinkani, Oloirien, and Kimintet.
Now that you have learned a thing or two about the Mara, you might also want to check out some facts about the Maasai people.
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