The Narok Pride

 Narok

Although there are several sets of lions in Loisaba, the Narok Pride is the most like everyone’s perception of a proper pride of lions; several females and their cubs and a ruling male – or in this case a coalition of two male lions. The pride is named after their legendary matriarch, Narok, who has been one of the most successful lionesses in terms of hunting, producing and protecting her cubs of all time; she is fierce and fearless. She is thought to be about eighteen years old, a mother and a grandmother, and her pride actually consists of a total of twenty-one lions – eight females, the two males and eleven cubs varying in age from two to eighteen months. She is believed to be the oldest lion on Loisaba and she is certainly the most photographed.

Her territory is in the South-West of Loisaba, from Loisaba Tented Camp and White Rock down to the Ewaso River, and outside the conservancy into the Koija Community; the collar enables security to forewarn the community that the pride is in their area and therefore to avoid taking their livestock in their direction. Narok was first collared in 2010 but this was updated in 2017 by the Landscape for Lions organisation. Since then it has been easier to keep track of her although the pride can still be very elusive; a sleeping lion can resemble a plain flat rock in no time at all. Fortunately Moses knows the pride well and the vast territory that they explore which extends some forty-five kilometres in one direction alone.

“Earlier this year I was told by our patrol team (or BNN as I call them – Bush News Network) that Narok’s pride was in the vicinity of White Rock and so I took my guests in that direction to see if I could find them. The conditions were right for a hunt and so we hurried down to the rock."

“Sometimes it is hard to distinguish the round shape of a lion’s ear from that of the rounded stems of the Opuntia Cactus or other LLT (Lion-Looking Things) but on this occasion I detected a small movement from behind the bush. Suddenly we came across four of the Narok Pride’s older cubs who sat up to watch us as we switched off the engine and waited to see who else might be about. One by one the older females walked across behind the cubs and set off slowly down the hill where they had a vantage point over the dam. They appeared to be calm but ever-watchful for an opportunistic meal. Slowly they gathered in the shade below us and eventually the cubs went off to join them as a family group. After some squabbling they settled down to rest and we just sat still, looking at them and taking in their natural beauty.”

“In my wing mirror I suddenly caught site of a familiar figure, Narok, solid in stature and supremely confident. I alerted my guests to the fact that she was there and watched as her magic worked on them also. We sat quietly while she came up within feet of the truck and sat down on her haunches as if to admire the same view as us. Her wide collar sat under her chin but her head was still regal as she stared down into the valley and seemed to pose for our photographs, turning her head from one side to the other. Eventually she lay down with her head raised about her huge paws and yawned before lying flat out on her side, seeming to become at one with the earth and the rocks.”

“After a little while I started the car and we rolled slowly down the hill trying not to disturb Narok or her family who were all asleep by now under the bushes. Once we got to the bottom of the hill and looked back up it was impossible to distinguish the lions from their environment. It is encounters like these that are so special and leave everyone very aware of their own mortality.”

“In my Samburu culture we believe that to hear a lion roar in the morning is a good sign of hope that there will no bad droughts. It certainly worked last year because it rained on and off for nine months and sometimes we can go years without rain!”