Cheetah population in Maasai Mara drops by 31% as number of lions rises – new survey
Lions' density and abundance in the Maasai Mara ecosystem have increased slightly while the cheetah population dropped by 31 per cent in the last two years, a recent survey shows.
The survey released by the Mara Predator Conservation Programme shows estimates for lion density, abundance, and sex ratio for those over the age of one year in the Masai Mara National Reserve and the surrounding wildlife conservancies measuring over 2000 sq kilometres on the upward trend.
The study covering an area of 2,581 sq Kilometers indicates an increase in lion numbers from 436 individuals in 2021 to 459 in 2022.
The 2022 survey period, which spanned from August 1 to October 31 last year indicates the lion’s density has increased by 0.9 per cent from 17.12 per cent in 2021 to 18.04 per cent in 2022.
“It is however important to emphasise that this is merely a fluctuation between two consecutive years and not a trend. All wildlife populations fluctuate naturally from year to year," the report released last week indicates.
What is noteworthy in the study is that almost all the Mara conservancies showed an increase in lion numbers while the 1,510 sq kilometres of Maasai Mara National Reserve and Mara Triangle show decreasing trends in the big cat numbers.
During the survey period, Enonkishu Conservancy scored highest with regard to lion density with a 30 per cent increase, followed by Olare-motorgi Conservancy (OMC) with 24 per cent and Lemek Conservancy with 23 per cent.
New cheetah figures
The report further indicates that new cheetah density has reduced from 1.2 per cent in 2021 to 0.88 in 2022. In the previous year, there were 32 cheetahs against last year's number of 22 during the study period last year.
“It is important to note that we are presenting numbers for resident cheetahs during the three-month survey period. Cheetahs can have enormous ranging areas and there are a number of individuals that come into the wildlife areas that are transient or spend most of their time outside the Maasai Mara protected areas, like the Serengeti,” indicated the study.
"This explains why we can record a higher number of unique cheetah individuals during some surveys than the estimated number of cheetahs within the Mara."
The current decrease in the Mara cheetah population could be attributed to the fewer cheetahs within the National Reserve and that because cheetahs live at low population densities and hence a small sample size, a sudden increase or decrease in cheetah individuals like a disease outbreak, killing through human-wildlife conflict, will cause large fluctuations within the population.
A 2018 study showed that cheetahs living in parts of the Maasai Mara with a high density of tourist vehicles raised fewer cubs than those in low tourist areas - a worrying trend for a species with only around 7,000 mature animals left in the wild.
