Masai Mara Animals - A guide for a Photographic Safari in the Masai Mara

What to say about the King of Animals, other than they are a common sight in the Masai Mara National Reserve and -together with wildebeest- probably its most famous resident? Lions, "Simba" in Swahili, are quite easily seen in the reserve -even several times in a single photo safari session- and nevertheless, each encounter is a breathtaking, unforgettable experience.

Like other cats, lions have superb night vision that makes them more effective at night, thus performing many of their hunts at night. However, they do hunt at daytime, early in the morning or at dawn, when temperatures are cooler, which makes the best hours to spot them in action.

The largest and most powerful living felid with the exception of the tiger, lions are predatory carnivores who live in family groups, called prides.

The male lion, easily recognized by his mane, may weigh up to 250 kg (550 lb); females are much smaller, weighing up to 150 kg (330 lb). In the wild lions live for around 10-14 years, while in captivity they can live over 20.

The family consists of related females, their cubs of both sexes, and one or more unrelated males who mate with the adult females. Females are the basis of lion society: they do most of the hunting and rear the cub. As a rule, all of the females of a pride are related (grandmothers, aunts, mothers, sisters).

Both males and females will defend the pride against outside intruders. Typically, males will not tolerate outside males, and females will not tolerate outside females. Males are expelled from the pride or leave on their own when they reach maturity. When or if a male coalition takes over a pride and ousts the previous coalition, the conquerors often kill any cubs even if they did father them.

Lions are the only social hunters among cats, which allows them to take preys that would otherwise be too large and dangerous to overpower singly: adult zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, hippopotami, and even sub-adult elephants. Females will do the hunting (however it's now known that males contribute much more to hunting than the amount for which they had been previously given credit), working in teams to stalk, surround and kill the prey. Singly, a lion kills with the neck bite that breaks the neck or severs vital blood vessels; several lions may pin a large prey animal while another delivers the lethal neck bite or suffocates the prey by covering the victim's muzzle, preventing breathing.

Lions are not averse to scavenging, and they frequently drive off smaller or outnumbered predators from kills and take the prey. 80% of the food lions eat, come from these raids. Lions too can be driven off from prey by such competitors as hyenas and African wild dogs in overwhelming numbers. When eating, the males will eat first, then the females and lastly the cubs. Lions can sleep as many as 20 hours in a day to save their energy for their next kill.

A lions roar can be heard up to 8 kilometres away. This is to warn off any intruders. Whilst female lions will mostly stay with the pride all their life, a male will usually leave after a year or 2. If another male comes into the pride, he will fight the leading male lion for head place of the pride. Then he will kill all the cubs, so that his cubs are the only ones in the pride.

Most prey animals remain calm if they spot a lion beyond a certain distance; the lion lacks the stamina for a sustained chase, in contrast to wild dogs. Natural enemies include such competitors as crocodiles, hyenas, and wild dogs, but especially other lions. Some of the prey animals (zebras, hippopotami, and elephants) can deliver crippling or killing blows by kicking or stomping.

Females give birth to 1-5 youngsters, after a gestation period of three months. However, you will mostly only see 2 cubs with a mother. This is because 1 or 2 of them will die and the 3rd is too weak to travel around with the mother. The cubs can suckle for as long as 18 months but are normally weaned by 8 weeks. They face a high mortality rate from starvation, attacks by other large predators, and especially by male lions killing the younger.