A “BLACKLEG” AMONG LIONS

Perhaps we shouldn’t call him Blackleg. He is certainly no con artist or trickster. But he is a marked lion nonetheless. From the day he was born the fur over the entire length of his inner right foreleg from under the chest to paw, has been uniformly pitch black. She is one of the four cubs raised on the eastern fringes of Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. At first it was thought to be a plastering of mud on her leg or an unimaginable injury sustained as a result of fighting. Blackleg though has never shown any sign being inconvenienced by this puzzling anomaly. Indeed he was-from the outset- the dominant cub always boisterous and spoiling for a fight with his siblings. The latter comprising of two females and one other male has no such distinguishing black marks. After all Blackleg’s peculiarity must simply be a birthmark.

Some facts about the big cats

• The cheetah is the world’s fastest land mammal. It can run at speeds of up to113 kilometers an hour.
• An adult lion’s roar can be heard up to eight kilometers away.
• Long, muscular hind legs enable snow leopards to leap seven times their own body length in a single bound.
• A tiger’s stripes are like fingerprints—no two animals have the same pattern.
• The strongest climber among the big cats, a leopard can carry prey twice its weight up a tree.
• The Amur leopard is one of the most endangered animals in the world.
• In one stride, a cheetah can cover 7 to 8 meters.
• The name “jaguar” comes from a Native American word meaning “he who kills with one leap.”
• In the wild, lions live for an average of 12 years and up to 16 years. They live up to 25 years in captivity.
• The mountain lion and the cheetah share an ancestor.
• Cheetahs do not roar, as the other big cats do. Instead, they purr.
• Tigers are excellent swimmers and do not avoid water.
• A female Amur leopard gives birth to one to four cubs in each litter.
• Fossil records from two million years ago show evidence of jaguars.
• Lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides. Every female within the pride is usually related.
• The leopard is the most widespread of all big cats.
• Mountain lions are strong jumpers, thanks to muscular hind legs that are longer than their front legs.
• Tigers have been hunted for their skin, bones, and other body parts, used in traditional Chinese medicine.
• Unlike other cats, lions have a tuft of hair at the end of their tails.
• After humans, mountain lions have the largest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere.

ETT-Kenya Safaris Desk

Etton Travel and Tours

Home of the tree climbing lions

Your first view as you approach Lake Manyara National Park is spectacular, regardless of direction. When you approach it from the east the Rift Valley escarpment looms on the horizon forming an impressive backdrop to the lake. If you come from the west and pause at the top of the escarpment, the Park lies in a green strip below you, the lake glistening in the sunlight.

You can easily pick out the mosaic of the Park’s different habitats. In the tall trees of the ground water forest monkeys leap from branch to branch; on the slope of the escarpment elephants stand in the shade of a baobab. In the acacia woodland lions lie draped along the branches of umbrella trees; in the pools along the lake shore the hippos wallow; and in the lake itself wade colorful flamingos.

The large variety of mammals, reptiles and birds in the Park and the different types of vegetation, all within a small area, make Lake Manyara a diverse and particularly memorable place to visit.

As you approach the village of Mto wa Mbu (Mosquito Creek) from the direction of Arusha, the outstanding landmark is the spectacular rift wall. Here where the Maasai plains give way to the cultivated uplands of Mbululand lies Lake Manyara National Park, nestled at the base of the escarpment.

The Park derives its name from the Maasai word “Manyara,” which is the name for the plant Euphorbia tirucalli. The Maasai use this plant to grow livestock stockades. Eventually Manyara will produce a stock proof hedge that is more durable than any made of cut thorn branches. There is a specimen of Euphorbia tirucalli at the entrance gate.

The Great Rift Valley is part of a fault in the earth’s crust that stretches 8,000 kilometers (4,971 miles) from Turkey to the mouth of the Zambezi River in Mozambique. The fault is so massive that when astronauts landed on the moon, the Rift Valley was clearly visible to them. In the Manyara area there is no eastern wall to the Rift Valley as there is in Kenya. Here the flattish country falls very gently into a depression, while in Kenya the valley has walls to both east and west.

The types of vegetation that occur in the Park are related to the geology of the area. The northern part of the Park, nearest the entrance, is composed mainly of volcanic rock which, being porous, allows many streams of clear water to flow out of the base of the rift wall. Further south, around Msasa River, the volcanic rock gives way to ancient crystalline rock, which is hard and non-porous allowing fewer springs and streams to emerge. Those that do-the Ndala, Bagayo and Endabash-cascade down the entire face of the wall when flowing.

Despite the fact Lake Manyara National Park is only 330 square kilometers (127 square miles) in area-of which about 230 square kilometers (89 square miles) are lake-it contains a large variety of habitats: the rift wall, the ground water forest, acacia woodland, areas of open grassland, the lake shore, swamp, and the lake itself. Due to the variety of habitats the Park is able to support a large number of species. Over 380 species of birds, some migratory, have been recorded in the Park.

Lake Manyara National Park is an ideal size for a day trip. You can leave camp or the lodge early, picnic at one of the sites, and then return towards evening. The Park roads are suitable for two-wheel-drive vehicles, although some of the tracks are for dry season use only. (The long dry season is usually from June to September and the short one from January to February.) In order to get the most from your visit to Manyara, drive slowly, take some of the loop roads and spend time looking at the different types of trees and watching animals. It is recommended that you take a guide with you, because they know the roads well and where the wildlife is at any particular time. They can therefore plan an exciting game drive. Surprisingly enough, it is easy to drive past a tree full of sleeping lions unless you are trained through constant practice to spot them. There is only one entrance to the park, and so all trails start and end at the gate.

ETT–Kenya Safaris Desk

Etton Travel and Tours