On the 29th of June, I received word from one of the resident driver guides in Samburu that he had seen 3 little lion cubs 2 days ago! Some background: The last time we had cubs in Samburu was in May 2006. Since then, Nashipai, Nabo and Uni have mated often with the 3 resident males but no cubs. I was getting a little worried about the situation especially since I have recorded a drop in the resident lion population. So, when I received this news, I was sooo excited and couldn’t wait to see the cubs and identify which female had given birth.
Ntito’s 2 cubs in 2006 -the last time there were cubs in Samburu
On the 4th of July, I headed out to try my luck at finding the cubs. They hadn’t been seen since the 27th of June. At about 2pm, we spotted Uni and Nashipai in the river, looking very full and content lying in the dry river-bed. I looked around hoping to see more signs of lions, but nothing. After a few minutes we did see a fresh impala carcass. It was clear that the lions had killed in the morning. We also passed a resident driver from one of the nearby lodges who said that he had seen the female and 3 cubs with 2 other lionesses feeding on the impala earlier that day. We continued our search for the other lions…
As we headed towards the main hill of Koitogor, we saw tracks of a female. I backtracked and suddenly realized I was not only seeing tracks of a female, but also smaller ones! These were the 3 cubs. I whooped with excitement and followed the tracks until we came to an area of thick Salvadora bushes on the tip of Koitogor hill. My Samburu friends whispered “the cubs are in here for sure”. We waited for a while and then saw many Superb Starlings congregate and chirp away on top of one of the Salvadora bushes. The birds were seeing something that we were unable to see and as had happened on many previous occasions, I wished I was a bird to hover above and see what was there. We left the area as I did not want to disturb the cubs too much, with the hope that I would catch a glimpse of them the following day.
We left camp at 5 45am on the 5th of July and headed straight for the Salvadora thicket. I turned off the engine and listened. We heard crackling of bushes and at one point it sounded as if something was being eaten. We poked our heads out of Gypsy’s roof hatch and then we saw them! 3 tiny little ones aged at approximately 8-9 weeks, playing in the Salvadora bushes. At first I wasn’t sure if the cubs were alone or not but then we saw the cubs pull at what appeared to be an adult lion’s tail. The mother was there. We then saw her ears and at this stage I knew immediately this was Nabo. I hadn’t seen Nabo since March and had already suspected that she may be the mother. It appeared that Nabo was chewing on something; possibly something she had killed during the night. The cubs were playing and running around each other. We could hear them nursing and every few minutes one of the cubs would come tearing round the bushes chasing another. We left the cubs and Nabo after a while.
First glimpse of the cub
Nabo coming out of the bushes
This was a very special moment. I was so relieved to see that Samburu finally has cubs once again. Watching Nabo look after them and witnessing their playful behaviour was definitely the highlight for me and I couldn’t be happier.
Since then I have seen the cubs a few more times. The wardens, rangers and resident drivers are all so excited and stop me each time on the road to say “Have you seen the cubs?”. Also, a few days ago I received a text message from another resident driver that he had seen another female with 2 cubs! I am currently in Nairobi doing some administration but am so excited to head back tomorrow to see who else has shown up with cubs. The lions of Samburu are back….and we couldn’t be happier.