Habari yanu.....

Hey everyone I’ve been out on a game drive and have a bit of an update for you all!!

The mara is doing well and with the rains starting to come early there is a mood of change in the air!!! The wildebeest have almost all gone with stragglers still north of sand river but most having crossed to Tanzania by now…..

Yesterday I went out with the BBC to do a bit of a look see and find out what all our Big Cat Live characters are up too!!! First I headed to the North to find the Marsh pride, we found Red and White eye, with lots of cubs the pride has split into two as food is low on the ground again but red looked good and healthy and so did her cubs!! The 5 males with their Father, Notch, have headed west across the Mara River and are doing well with reports of them killing a Hippo last week!! A very difficult and dangerous prey for Lions!! I didn’t see the other half of the Marsh pride but I will keep my eyes out for them and I will tell you all as soon as I see them.........

Shakirah sits out some of the seasonal rains with her little ones

Shakirah is still living wither cubs in dangerous zones!!! She still has three little ones but she has to watch he back non stop!!! Recently she was chased by 20 hyenas she managed to draw them away from her little ones who ran for cover in long grass and after pulling the hyenas away she climbed a tree and had to wait it out!!! She also encountered another female cheetah and chased her off as there is strong competition between cheetahs of the same sex!!! But Shakirah’s girls are going well!! And we will keep watching them and have any news of her to you as soon as we can….. She is however heading further and further east and may soon leave the park where new troubles may await!!!

Olive

My 5 beautiful leopards!!! I found 3 of the 5, Olive, Ayah and Kali, who were all relaxing in a small grove of trees, when suddenly “Big Boy” father to Ayah and Kali came out the trees and stared to roar!! Young kali lived up his name and got into a spot of trouble with Big boy, who chased him through a small grove of orange leaved croton before Kali could out manoeuvre him with the help of Olive cutting his path, and Kali rushed off into thicker cover on the steep banks of the Talek………..

Lorian rest on a tree in the early evening sun

I also found one of our other leopards called Lorian, she is a young female who lives on a small river called Rongai about 20 minutes south of the Talek river!!! She is a beautiful Leopard with a great golden coat!!! She is very relaxed with us when we spend time with her and although not part of BCL Jackson 5 she is one of my favourite and you will be hearing more about her over the coming months!!!

As for our Hyenas and Jackals o haven’t seen the ones we filmed but there are great numbers of jackal pups coming to the surface from their dens and playing on the open plains!! And we’ll get you an up date on them soon too!! Hyenas are ever prevalent and a few personal experiences of them stilling a pair of boots from one of our staff in camp so they are just as naughty as usual!!!

Last but by no means least are Honeys boys who are doing well and when we say them yesterday they had just successfully brought down a wildebeest !!! But as always they are roaming the Mara and making a lot of trouble!!! For now all the best and thank you for your support and I look forward to hearing from you all.........

Jackson Looseyia

Habari!

Hi everyone I am finally up and running and its so good to see all the support you are giving me!!!! I cant wait to start answering all your questions and but for now here is a quick up date on the Jackson 5....

Now we have finished the filming live with the BBC its back to my camp on the Talek River, leopards have been roaring along the river banks around camp over the past few nights, although not confirmed we feel it must be Olive asserting her territory, as we have seen her stalking and then successfully killing a young warthog, only a few hundred meters away from our camp on the river bank.

I will start to answer all your queries and adding more and more stories and photos as soon as I can but I am still new to this so pole pole!! Asante sana....

Jackson Looseyia

Note from admin

Hi - we're still in the process of setting this blog up - schedules and plane flights have delayed things a little - but keep checking and hopefully Jackson will soon be blogging regularly.

Big Cat web team (helping out)

Jambo!

My name is Jackson Looseyia. I was born in 1967 in the heart of the Masai Mara, so grew up surrounded by wildlife. From an early age I found it a source of inspiration, and tracking wild animals is in my blood - I come from a long line of master hunters and trackers.

At this moment I'm still working on the BBC's Big Cat Live and the Big Cat Raw webcast that occurs straight afterwards. But, because I've enjoyed the experience so much, I've decided to create this blog to keep all my new friends posted on the cats and other characters of the Masai Mara.

This blog might be a bit rough and ready, but stay with it - the Big Cat web team set it up for me in minutes. So, I haven't had time yet to see how it all works, but together I'm sure we can work it out.

Jackson