The Spirits of Namiri Plains

Cheetah Diaries    

Namiri plains is near to perfect cheetah habitat if not the perfect. In fact, Serengeti plains are the ideal cheetah grounds, the ideal cheetah breeding terrain. But, it is also the ultimate territory for lions and hyenas. The Serengeti eco system is a great example of Darwin’s theory – “Survival of the fittest”. These felidae’s and hyaenidae’s need to survive amongst each other in one of the biggest playgrounds of Africa.

During my last couple of visits to Namiri, I started learning more about the cheetahs around these beautiful and less explored “Namiri Plains”. I was very obsessed to learn about their ancestry and movements around this area. With the help of the Serengeti Cheetah Research Project I managed to get a few stories about the cheetahs within this area.

Amaretto with her two cubs (below):

Amaretto is a cub from Amarula. Amarula had a litter of 3 cubs, Amaretto (female), Bailey (female) & Mr. Birch (male) in September 2006. After three years, in roughly December 2009, Amaretto had a litter of 4 very cute cubs herself. She indeed managed to raise all four of them to independence with her impressive survival skills. The litter consisted of two males (Ouzo & Sambuca) & two females (Sheridan & Tia Maria). By the end of February 2011 she led her cubs (sub adults by than) to liberation. The two females are completely solitary and are still seen around the Namiri plains. The two males formed a coalition and were last seen around Seronera – Mukoma area.

Amaretto had her second litter of three cubs in June 2012, but unfortunately lost one cub to lions in December 2012. She did eventually manage to raise two female cubs – Pimms & Brandy to independence. Both sisters had their first litters in September 2014. Brandy managed to raise one cub and Pimms successfully raised three. It was great to see Amaretto with two cubs (photo below). With her success record, hopefully the two young cubs will survive and extend the bloodline.

Tia Maria:

Tia Maria was part of the litter of four cubs born in 2009 to Amaretto. Along with her sister Sheridan and brothers Ouzo & Sambuca, she got her independence in early 2011. The four youngsters stayed together as an adolescent group for a few months. Once a female cheetah reaches maturity, she will tend to part ways from the group. Tia Maria & Sheridan parted ways respectively by mid 2011. The male cheetahs will always (in most cases) form a lifelong coalition so that they dominance in a territory is more successful and hunting and fending for themselves becomes easier.

Tia Maria’s first litter in mid 2012 consisted of two cubs, Advocaat (male) & Aurum (female). The pair successfully separated from mum and hunted efficaciously on their own. Her second litter of two cubs was first reported to have been sighted in August 2014. Unfortunately, one cub was lost to Hyenas, and only one female cub made it to independence. She has been seen many a times around the Maasai Kopjes.

Tia Maria’s latest litter of four gorgeous cubs was only introduced three months ago (photo below) and the family is usually seen between Semetu Kopjes and the Namiri plains camp. Wishing the cuties abundant success.

Campari with her young cub (below):

This female cheetah with one cub seen a couple of times the last month around Kibumbu Kopjes up until Ngarananyuki is Campari. She is from the litter of Sheridan. Sheridan had two cubs, Campari & Curacao (male) who were first seen as little fluff balls in mid 2012. After which they were frequently seen around the Seronera area. They separated from Sheridan sometime between June and September 2013. Campari & Curacao were seen together a few times between September – December 2013, and then seen separated around January 2014. Curacao was spotted many a times around Namiri Camp area before he disappeared. Hopefully to a new territory. We haven’t seen him ever since.

The ‘spirits’ family of cheetahs around Namiri Plains flourish. Come visit Namiri Plains soon, who knows you might get to meet G&T or maybe Tequila in the near future!!

Akil Halai
September 2016

Many thanks to Dennis Minja - Serengeti Cheetah Project