I wanted to include this photo as it is not just animals that call the mara their home. This photo is of a maasai boy, around 12 or 13 years old. It is no longer necessary for him to attend the local school and he now has the job of minding the herd of cows that belong to the cheif of the local village. The number of cows a man owns represents his wealth and also his standing in the community, so this is a very inportant job. During the dry season when good grazing is hard to find the cows are allowed to wander into the reserve, this often causes conflict between the domesticated cattle and the wildlife. Preditors, especially if they are having trouble hunting will often see the cattle as an easy meal and it is the minders job to protect the cattle. As you can see from the photograph the only tools the boy has to defend himself and the cattle from predators is the two sticks in his hand.
They obviously have a good understanding of the wildlife as it is part of their lives, but I think they are very brave to share the same space as the big cats. We saw this boy keeping watch over a large herd as we returned from a day on safari, it was around 5pm in the evening. We called him over and with the help of our guide, who translated, we discovered he had been out alone since sunrise with no food or water and would not return to the village with the cattle until sunset. We were able to offer him sandwhiches, that we had left over from lunch and a bottle of water, he was very happy with this and was more than happy for us to take his photo, he was very proud of doing his job well.
The maasia people who are traditionally nomadic by nature, moving around to where there is good grazing for their cattle realize how much tourism benefits them, but they still need grass for their herd. Unfortunately this does sometimes bring them into direct conflict with the wildlife.
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