Animals in Samburu National Reserve
ANIMALS IN SAMBURU NATIONAL RESERVE
Animals in Samburu National Reserve : Samburu National Reserve is national reserve on the banks of the Ewaso Ngi’ro river in Kenya. Samburu National Reserve is 165km2 in size and is situated 350 kilometers from Nairobi, it also ranges in altitude from 800 to 1230 m above the sea level, and the reserve in located in Samburu county. Samburu national reserve is also the home of Kamunyak, a lioness famous for adopting Oryx calves.
Wildlife In Samburu National Reserve.
The Samburu National Reserve ecosystem is one of the most exciting in East Africa and is made of several national reserves, private ranches and communally-owned group ranches that are all interconnected. Famous for its large population of elephants and unique northern species of animals found only in this area of Kenya, Samburu National Reserve stands as unique, wildlife rich and diverse wilderness.
There is wide variety of animal and bird life seen at Samburu National Reserve, several large game species common to Kenya’s northern plains can be found in abundance here including the dry-country fauna; gerenuk, Grevy’s zebra, Oryx and restricted giraffe. All three big cats, the lion, cheetah and the African leopard can be also found here, as well as the elephant, cape buffalo and hippopotamus.
Other mammals frequently seen in the park includes the olive baboon, warthogs, Grant’s gazelle, Kirk’s dik-dik, impala and waterbuck. Black rhinoceros’ population has been re-introduced into the park after an absence of 25 years due to heavy poaching. And the Ewaso Ngi’ro river contains large number of Nile crocodiles basks.
On the other side also, the Samburu National Reserve has got various and different bird species minus the animals, there are also over 350 species of birds, these includes the grey-headed kingfisher, sunbirds, bee-eaters, Marabou stork, tawny eagle, Verreaux’s eagle, bateleur, vulture Guinea fowl, yellow-necked spurfowl, liacbreasted roller, secretary bird, superb starling, northern red- billed hornbill, yellow-billed hornbill and various vultures including the Palm-nut vulture.
Samburu National Reserve has all the three big cats like the lions, cheetah and the African leopard can be found in the acacia forest reserve as well as the elephant, cape buffalo and hippotamus. And also rare species of animals such as the Grevy Zebra, Somali Ostrich, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk and the Beisa Oryx. The reserve is also a home to a population of close to 900 elephants, there are some of the names by which we have come to know many of the families of the 66 families of elephants that live in the Samburu National Reserve and its surrounding ecosystem. Depending on the rains, these individuals can be joined by up to 500 more, coming together to socialize.
Samburu national reserve offers great wildlife viewing, and good densities mean that most safari animals can be seen within the couple of days, there are several habituated leopards, and sightings are not un usual, elephants are plentiful, and there is a variety of antelope, including both the greater and lesser kuku, with their impressive horns. Only rhino is absent from the Big five.
Several dry-country mammals that do not occur in most Kenyan parks can be found here. The reticulated giraffe has more striking pattern than the common Maasai giraffe, Beisa Oryx is particularly well adapted to arid conditions. The gerenuk, with its elongated neck, is able to stand on its hind legs to reach sparse leaves. Both the common Burchell’s zebra and the bigger Grevy’s zebra are found alongside each other.
other rare species like the leopard, the striped hyena, the African civet and African wild dog.
Encounter the Rare Samburu Five.
Here in Samburu national reserve guests have the remarkable opportunity to see the Samburu Five, the five rare and endemic animals to the Samburu ecosystem. They are the Gernuk, the Reticulated giraffe, the Somali ostrich, the Grevy zebra, the Beisa Oryx.
Kalama conservancy, the wildlife sanctuary where Saruni Samburu is located and which borders Samburu National Reserve, has an abundance of the hunting dogs, trained by the Lewa and the Northern Rangelands Trust, the Kalama rangers have been protecting this area for several years and have been reporting a steady increase in wildlife numbers and sightings. The waterholes built by Saruni and by the Kalama community, with water coming from Buffalo springs are bringing to the area a precious element that often missing from this arid part of Kenya.
The constant availability of water will make the Saruni area an un avoidable stopping point for all the wildlife of this large and still pristine area, where there are no roads, no people and no sighs of human civilization.
Best Time For Wildlife Viewing In Samburu National Reserve.
It does not rain much in Samburu so it can be visited in any month, but the most productive time of the year for watching wildlife is in the dry season (June to October). The vegetation really thins in the dry season, and the animals gather around the few remaining water sources. The wettest month is April, and rains at this time can make wildlife watching more challenging.
Samburu National Reserve has got the unique animals species that is the northern rare species and the big cats which are only found in this reserve and with the unique characteristics which one would not miss during the visit in Samburu National Reserve Kenya because it is amazing.
