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African lion cub
Panthera leo nubica
-1.51093, 35.1816
Field Notes
Description:
This African lion cub was spotted in the Masai Mara enjoying a lazy morning in a bush hide with his pride and a well hidden fresh kill. The cub was part of a pride of 4 females and 2 cubs. See some tender family moments in the extra shots. There were no adult males around at the time.
Habitat:
Savanna grasslands with scattered Acacia trees for shade. Most African lions are now found in Eastern and Southern Africa. They are a vulnerable species and their numbers are unfortunately still decreasing, with estimated 30–50% decline over the last two decades.
Notes:
A second cub can be seen behind the lioness in the 5th shot. Their kill is hidden right behind them. The shots were taken from a distance of about 10 m. At the time lions were eating every day in the Mara, as recent rain resulted in large numbers of wildebeests still hanging around.
If you find yourself in the Northern Mara Conservancy and nearby parts of the Mara, you can submit your lions sightings to The Mara Predator Project (http://livingwithlions.org/mara/). The project's website provides an ID guide to IDying individual lions, to help researchers track prides (unfortunately this spotting was in a different part of the Mara). I found out about this site in the following BBC article on nature apps, where Project Noah is also discussed:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13454621
or read about it under the Press section on this site.
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