| The future of Masai Mara game reserve and the | | | | and have always been seen to drive away other |
| continuous existence of the abundant game inside | | | | predators from their kills. |
| it is directly dependent on the Masai communities | | | | Cheetahs do their hunting in the daylight, catching |
| living around it. The pastoralist Masai community | | | | their prey after a high speed chase preceded by |
| keep herds of cattle, sheep and goats as a pride | | | | a slow stalk. They hunt in the grasslands |
| of wealth and their main source of daily livelihood. | | | | camouflaging in the grass and open woodlands. |
| They also keep donkeys as beasts of burden. | | | | However they cannot sustain this very high speed |
| Their large herds of cattle can graze up to some | | | | longer than a few hundred meters away. Like in |
| interior parts of the reserve. If no care is taken, | | | | Masai mara, cheetahs take Grant's gazelle,impalas |
| this can prove to be a threat to drive away the | | | | and hares. During the rainy seasons when the |
| wild animals, making them difficult for tourists to | | | | grass grows very tall, they often use termite |
| see. | | | | mounds as vantage points to sport their prey. |
| Large predators like the lion, leopard, cheetah and | | | | Cheetahs only eat what they kill themselves, and |
| spotted hyena that inhabit the Masai mara plain | | | | don't scavenge like other predators. |
| are able to do so because of the large abundance | | | | Leopards are very shy and quite elusive animals. |
| of herbivores. Most predators like the lionesses | | | | They are very good at camouflaging and are |
| stalk the prey by taking advantage of any | | | | solitary animals.they feed on different species of |
| available cover and seek to knock down their | | | | herbivores such as thompson's gazelle, dik-dik, |
| quarry. When it comes to other smaller game like | | | | reedbuck, warthog and the young of topi. They |
| antelopes, the attack will always land on the neck, | | | | hunt at night after a slow stealthy stalks to within |
| along grip that maims the spinal column of the | | | | a few meters to their prey. They keep their meal |
| prey. The larger preys like buffalo or zebra, a | | | | in the fork of a tree where it is safe from other |
| throttling hold over the mouth or nose will end the | | | | scavengers. |
| hunt through suffocation. lions are very aggressive | | | | |