Kisaru, the greatest cheetah mum ever

A very rare sight – 7 cheetah under a tree! Kisaru in front of her six cubs.

Good viewings of cheetahs always add enormously to the safari experience. Over the past twelve months, with so much time at our Mara home in Enonkishu, we’ve had the privilege of regular sightings of one female who has defied the odds and raised six cubs through their first year. Typically, cheetah mothers lose many of their young. But Kisaru, fast becoming our local mascot, has become so adept in her hunting of gazelles and impala that she has kept her brood of six alive and well. 

In December, we had the excitement of observing this cheetah family from our rooftop as Kisaru chased some antelope into the nearby bush. Since then she’s made regular appearances nearby, providing wonderful viewings for those of us lucky enough to call this paradise home; I only wish I could be sharing it all with guests who would have been on safari with me over the past couple of months! At least some good friends from Australia enjoyed a visit in February before the pandemic, and got to see our resident cheetah family enjoy a big meal after Kisaru made a swift, successful hunt of an unsuspecting impala.

Kisaru and one of her 1-year-old cubs in Enonkishu in July.
Kisaru and the cubs rested just in front of our house back in January.
One of Kisaru’s cubs. Now almost 14 months old, they are just about fully grown, and Kisaru is about ready to leave them.

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