Maasai Mara Game Reserve

The world-renowned Masai Mara National Reserve is undoubtedly one of Kenya’s most remarkable reserves and safari destinations as well as the country’s most sought-after tourist attraction.

A skyview of the Mara River and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve Landscape

Maasai Mara Game Reserve | Background Info

Mammals found in Maasai Mara | Birds found in Maasai Mara

The Masai Mara is a northern extension of Tanzania’s Serengeti, and is the site of the annual Great Wildebeest Migration which takes place from late July through to early October during which millions of wildebeest and thousands of zebra migrate from the Serengeti in Tanzania. The Masai Mara’s Great Migration is regarded as one of the greatest wildlife spectacles and natural wonders to witness first-hand. By far the most anticipated part of this journey is the dramatic Mara River crossings that occur between July and September as the animals enter Kenya.

Along with millions of wildebeest and huge herds of zebra, antelopes and other grazers, this jaw-dropping spectacle is a magnet for predators. There is no better place to witness lion, leopard, and cheetah in double-quick time, helped by the open terrain and the cats’ ease around vehicles. The Masai Mara National Reserve is therefore one of the best places in Africa for big cat sightings.

Experience Maasai Mara Game Reserve

Home of Safari

The Mara Game Reserve, as it was originally known, was established in 1961. Today, it’s one of the best-known wildlife areas in Africa, home to healthy big cat populations and an abundance of plains game, bolstered by the arrival of millions of wildebeest during the Great Migration. Visit at any time and you have a good chance of seeing lion, elephant, cheetah, Masai giraffe and buffalo, as well as varied birdlife, hippo and crocodiles along the rivers.

There’s a reason the Masai Mara National Reserve is so well known and popular with visitors. Point a camera and in one shot you might capture dazzles of zebra and a scattering of impala, wildebeest and gazelles, elephant marching in a line and lanky giraffe nibbling the acacia trees, all against a backdrop of distant hills and vast open plains.

The Mara Migration

Everything's big here: it’s a landscape of rolling plains and rounded hills, of groves of acacia woodland and dense thickets of scrub. The reserve is bisected by the Mara River and its tributaries, which are margined by lush riverine forest and the site of spectacular river crossings during the migration.

The reserve’s southern boundary is contiguous with Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, which shares the Great Migration herds. It has been developed on the lines of a national park, where, unlike in the bordering conservancies, human settlements are unable to intrude and game-viewing is restricted to game drives and horse riding safaris.

The annual Maasai Mara Game Reserve Wildebeest Migration trek takes place typically between July to end of August and involves dangerous crossings through crocodile-infested rivers. The 'Mara', as Masai Mara is also known, is among the best wildlife reserves not just in Kenya but also in Africa

Masai Mara now also comprises a number of conservancies and group ranches bordering the main reserve and is home to some of the most diverse species of African wildlife and is also the site of the annual Wildebeest migration, simply called the 'Great Migration'.

The Experience

Mammals found in Maasai Mara Game Reserve

Overview

The Masai Mara is one of Africa’s most famous parks. The wildlife viewing is superb throughout the year. The grassy plains and regular rainfall supports a huge population of herbivores, in turn attracting many predators. All three big cats are relatively easy to see. The yearly wildebeest migration coming through the park is one of the world’s most amazing wildlife spectacles.

The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is home to the annual wildebeest migration where 2.5 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelles follow the rains in search of new grass. They make their way from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara somewhere around July and August, and usually arrive in September. The crossing of the Mara River along the way is one of the highlights of this spectacular event. They slowly head back into Tanzania around October.

Mammal Checklist

Full List of Mammals found in Maasai Mara Game Reserve

Aard-wolf
African Bufallo
African Civet
African Dormouse
African Elephant
African Hare
African Palm Civet
African Wild Cat
Angola Free-tailed Bat
Ant Bear
approach the race robertsi with
Banana Bat or African Pipi-
Banded Mongoose
Bat-eared Fox
beeste
Black and White Colobus
Black Rhinoceros
Black-backed or Siver-backed
Black-faced Vervet Monkey
Blue Duiker
Blue or Sykes’ Monkey
Bohor Reedbuck
Burchell’s or Common Zebra
Bush Baby
Bush Duiker
Bush or Large-spotted Genet
Bush Pig
Bush Squirrel
Bushbuck
Cane Rat
Cheetah
Clawless Otter
Coke’s Hartebeest or Kongoni
Defassa Waterbuck
Dwarf Mongoose
East African Hedgehog
Eland
Epauletted Fruit Bat
False Vampire Bat
Genet
Giant Forest Hog
Giant Forest Squirrel
Giant White-toothed Shrew
Golden Jackal
Grant’s Gazelle Some examples
Greater Galago
Hippopotamus
Hollow-faced Bat
Hunting Dog
Impala
Jackal
Kenya Mole Rat
Kirk’s Dik-Dik
Klipspringer
Lander’s Horseshoe Bat
Large Grey Mongoose
Leopard
Lesser Ground Pangolin
Lesser Leaf-nosed Bat
Lion
Marsh Mongoose
Masai Giraffe
Mongoose
Monkey
Neumann’s or Small-spotted
Olive Baboon
Oribi
outward growing horns
Pale-bellied Fruit Bat
Patas Monkey
Porcupine
Ratel or Honey Badger
Red Duiker
Red-tailed or White-nosed
Roan Antelope
Rock Hyrax
Rousette Fruit Bat
Serval Cat
Side-stripped jackal
Slender or Black-tipped
Spectacled Elephant Shrew
Spotted Hyaena
Spring Hare
Steinbok
Straw-coloured Fruit Bat
strelle
Striped Ground Squirrel
Stripped Hyaena
Suni
Thompson’s Gazelle
Topi
Tree Hyrax
Unstriped Ground Squirrel
Warthog
White-bearded Gnu or Wilde-
White-bellied Free-tailed Bat
White-tailed Mongoose
Yellow-bellied Bat
Yellow-winged Bat
Zorilla

Birds found in Maasai Mara Game Reserve

Overview

The Masai Mara isn’t one of Kenya’s birding hotspots. However, with more than 500 bird species recorded, this isn’t a bad place to mark off a lot of Kenya’s savannah species from your bird list. The park is particularly rich in raptors with 57 species present. Bateleurs can often be seen soaring above the grassy plains and predator kills are a good place to find up to six species of vultures scavenging. Migratory birds are present from November to April.

Maasai Mara Game Reserve Bird list