It's a tough call - the cheetah should have their privacy at a time when the cubs are vulnerable but the tourists bring in the money desparately needed and this is part of what they are visiting the Mara to see........ On balance I would go for a restricted viewing given that she has already lost some of her cubs!
As a visitor I would like to see them - but would also respect any time limitations placed on me in order for that to be possible.

Due to being an environmentalist I support a stronger policy and it's implementaion a.s.a.p. I personally can't accept that tourist wuould put their experience first ahead of the well being of the cubs. This particular species is facing threats left and right and needs protection more than ever before. I would personally feel happy just to know that there are cheetahs with cubs and as a tourist wouldn't even necessarily have to see them so close by.

I think this is also a question of sustainable tourism and how people can be convinced of what is best for the species on a long term. Anybody who truly loves the nature would understand the limitations on viewing the animals at their most vulnerable stage..

The cheetah cubs are marvellous to behold and I think they should be protected. Most mothers would remember that visits to their newborn babies had to be limited too. So a fair number of people would understand & appreciate if you limited visiting hours to the cheetah cubs.

Limited viewing! One's trip to the Mara won't be a failure if you don't get to see cheetah cubs - It's unlimited viewinig that caused the death of these cubs. People can sure be idiots out there ;>)

I would say be very very careful. I have visited a few parks and I always have been irritated by voices of other tourists screaming. Tell visitors please to keep their voice down. Tell them they should be very quiet and absorb the magic of the world they are allowed to visit for a while.. Thank you so very much...

Don't limit the viewing. Instead focus on the peace and silence! I also think the proximity around the animals should be respected. Last time I was there, the drivers were aggressively crossing each other to get closer and closer to the animals, engines kept running and tour groups shouting across vehicles! Stricter policies should be in place and drivers/tour guides should be more mindful of their behaviour along with their guests' behaviour.

If the people are interfering with the cheetah then I believe it is time to follow more strict rules to insure that this endangered species survives. I think that all has to be done to insure that the cheetah doesn't fall prey to extinction. My views are quite frank if tourism is hurting the cheetah only one thing has to be done for the survival of the cheetah. It may hurt your guides etc. But are you in the mood to loose one of your biggest tourist attractions

What a damning testament is this to man's continued disregard to the world's remaing wildlife. We are greedy to "experience" the thrill of seeing Africa (and other nations) wildlife "up close" that we don't care what impact it has on the animals themselves. All of the animals are endangered that is one of the reasons we want to see them, but it is only for money that the companies operate, they don't give a damn as to the welfare of the wildlife. There must be an agreed limit as to the timing and viewing of the animals that very very soon will cease to be there at all for man's "entertainment" whatever form it takes.

I think alot of this obviously boils down again to RESPONSIBLE guiding. If the guides don't follow the 'rules' and the tourists don't know the rules this problem will never be resolved. The "Cheetah' vehicles can't be everywhere in the Mara. It's up to the responsible guides and tourists to take photos of the offenders, wrtie down the license plates on the cars, note the tour company's name and report this info to the Conservancy. These companies should be fined and banned from the Mara until they can prove they WILL follow the rules. I pay thousands of dollars each year to return to the Mara and I want to see the cheetahs, but not at the expense of harming them.

If animals lives are being endangered then viewing should definitely be restricted - once again this is a classic example of the minority spoiling it for the majority. The cheetah has a hard enough time raising its young without the constant attention of humans - we need to help give them as a much of a chance as possible and if this means stricter viewing times then so be it.

It is really nice to see that everyone is in agreement over the protection of cheetah cubs. Makes you feel good when everyone stands up for what is right.

YES - The viewing time should be limited AND should be allowed only after the cubs have reached a certain age.
There was a Cheetah mother 3 years ago which had 6 cabs close to Kichwa and as far as I know this family was cut off from any viewing for a certain number of weeks.
I would highly appreciate times to be e/limited whenever necessary.

YES YOU HAVE TO LIMIT....... HAVE MYSELF BEEN IN SITUATIONS WHEN DRIVERS/GUIDES ALL DESCEND ON A SITUATION SO TOURISTS CAN VIEW CUBS....... YES MAKE GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT. LONG TERM WE ALL HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE PROBLEMS DISTURBING MOTHER AND YOUNG ONES, CAN DO FOR THE WELFARE AND ON GOING BREEDING OF THESE ANIMALS. I DO FEEL HOWEVER LIMITATION SHOULD BE TO ALL WILDLIFE........ LIONS, CHEETAHS,ELEPHANTS ETC ETC WE ALL NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE Mara ( and other Parks ) belong to the wild life not to us....... it is a problem, I undrstand that when people go on Safari , they just want to see every thing !!!! I HAVE LIVED IN AFRICA AND AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE WELL BEING OF THE W ILDLIFE........... THINK TOURISTS NEED TO BE A LITTLE MORE EDUCATED. THINK THE TOUR COMPANIES NEED TO BE MORE EDUCATED. TO ALLOW, THE WILD LIFE TO LIVE IN PEACE , OR EVENTUALY THEY WILL ALL BE EXTINCT.......... THEN NO SAFARIS.... SPEED RESTICTIONS IN THE PARKS ARE ALSO VERY IMPORTANT, i HAVE SEEN SO MANY TIMES, CARS AND VANS RACING AROUND THE PARKS CHASING BEHIND EACH OTHER, COS A DRIVER GETS A CALL TO SAY THERE HAS BEEN A SIGHTING. SO ALL DRIVERS CHARGE TO THE KNOWN AREA. 6/8 VANS. ALL ROUND CONFUSED ANIMALS. THIS IS NOT GOOD. HAVING SAID THAT , TOURIST'S PAY A LOT OF MONEY TO GO ON SAFARI AND JUST EXPECT TO SEE THE BIG 5. THAT'S WHAT THEY HAVE PAID FOR. BUT IT'S VERY WRONG, THEY SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS DOWN TO LUCK IF THEY GET TO VIEW/CLOSE UP WILD LIFE. THERE IS NEVER ANY GURANTEE, EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT. SAFARI'S HAVE GOT FAR TO COMMERCIAL. IT'S NOT WHAT A SAFARI IS ABOUT.

please limit viewing time on cubs and mothers . at the same time, make sure very few vehicles are allowed by the mother and cubs. and the cars must be a good distance away and never ever surround the mother at any time in order for her and her family to find a way out! i have been there and it's ugly! drivers should be fined if rules are not followed. and ban them forever if they choose to disobey again.

Limit as if there is a higher mortality there will be nothing to see in future

Guides responsible for Briefing of all Visitors at camps about park rules - No shouting - screaming - litter. RESPECT the animals

Ongoing training of drivers - reward the best - but punish offenders

Nigel

Hi, I wonder if someone could help me.

We were in the Mara last week and whilst watching the Marsh Pride we noticed that one of the cubs, aged about 4 months old, had a bite mark/wound on the side of him which resulted in him limping quite badly. Would anything be done for this little guy or will he be left in the hope that it clears up (I know how good a lion's saliva is for healing).

Many thanks :o)

Usually, KWS veterinarian is called into treat the animal when it is human-caused injury (eg: snare, spear wound, etc). The animals injured due to natural cause (eg: fightint, etc) is not intervened, except for endangered species such as black rhino, cheetah, etc.

Asuka, not the answer I wanted to hear but I appreciate you letting me know
I can only hope he heals and is okay.

I would advocate a more robust response to tourism vehicle presence. Disturbance is not only detrimental to cheetah, it has been shown to be so in case of other mega vertebrates, in particular rhinos and lions.

The species is lowest ranked among all the carnivores, so a female with young cubs should - in my view - be left alone by tourist operators. I think it would be worthwhile to call in all major operators and present them these wildlife disturbance cases in which continuous tourist harassment is the major causative agent. Given a good case, the tourist operators should take note ... if they do not, de-select or withdraw their licence.

When visiting as a tourist in the Mara I have felt frequently very disturbed and ashamed when in a party that is hawking and fully surrounding e.g. a lion pride with 15 vehicles inside their 10-5 mtr. perimeter ... It is not good and does not reflect well on responsible eco-tourism.

I t is quite controvertial. Tourism is the main source of income for the park to be run, but of course tourists and the guides and drivers should behave according to the park rules. The issue is that there is no resources enough to mantain parkrangers watching everywhere for rule enforcement. Not only the cheetah but all big cats are subject to crowds of touristsbeing around. this year, inparticular, I found that the vehicles are approaching toomuch closer of the big cats than in the other years. as a good example: last year in October, BBC was filming the BigCat Live and Shakira with her tiny cubs were a big attraction, but the cars kept alwaysa good distance from her and the cubs, but I think that was due to the fact that the guides had been instructed to keep away and give space for the filming crew do their jobs. This year there was no filming crews and therefore this policy seemed no longer valid...The park should promote a campaign to re-educatethe camp managers and guides to recall them about the good game drive practices, but I am against totally blocking the access to the tourists, that would be very frustrating for the good behaved ones...

The management of Mara conservancy has done a lot to conserve the Wildlife i.e Zoology & Botany. In the few years ago the company has tried to stop offroad driving & declaring no offroad completely in the high use zone including the clossure of unneccessary tracks. This has allowed the grass to recover.

At the beginning it was not easy to deal with harsh Tour guide (drivers) & some of the clients but after raising the fine from two thausand Kenya shillings to ten thausand Kenya shillings & even banning some of them from entering the Mara triangle for a certain period including giving them the leaflet when they enter the Mara triangle, the information has been passed to at least every guide (driver) even those who have not been to Mara triangle since the introduction of the new park by-laws.

This year 2009 we had so many clients at Serena lodge most of them being professional photographers. They book the hotel for ten or more days. Photographers like taking photos for a length of time upto one or more hours in one group of one of the big five hence making it hard to maintain rule No. 5 which says no more than five vehicles near one of the big five.

Currently we have very few Cheetahs in the Mara triangle. It is true that in 2007 We had four cubs near Oloololo gate whom they lost their mother & they were taken care of til they were able to hunt for themselves but they later cross Mara river to the other side of the Mara (Narok).

During the month of August 2009 We had four elderly cubs with their mother around Purungat bridge whom they also crossed to the other side of the Mara (Narok).

Towards the end of August 2009 I had confirm two Cheetahs staying separately around the salt lick area one being male & another one being female with three young cubs less than one month.

The female with young cubs lost its two cubs mysteriously. In the real sense the cubs & their mother were being viewed from morning to evening . This might have cause her to hunt at night leaving the cubs lonely hence eaten by Hyenas or other rival of the cat family We need to conserve and improve the number of the Cheetahs in the Mara triangle than We are doing because currently We have few & whenever the Cheetah is spoted all the vehicles from the lodges within Trans mara side have to see it. You can imagine what kind of harassment will the Cheetah experienced and this will make it starve.
WAYS OF CONSERVING & IMPROVING THE NUMBER OF CHEETAH:
(a) A part from the three vehicles we have i.e Cheetah one, two & three. We should also have one more mainly to monitor the movement of Cheetah.
(b) Whenever the Cheetah give birth, the vehicle assigne to Cheetah should monitor it for the whole day. (c)Whenever we have the cubs viewing should be restricted to half day, either from morning to noon or from noon to 6:30 pm so that We may allow time to hunt.

I think being able to view the cubs is a privilege, not a right as a tourist. I certainly hope that anyone visiting the park would understand this conservation effort and respect the Conservancy's efforts by obeying the rules regarding the conservation and welling being of all the Mara wildlife.

I agree with what everyone else has commented: the Mara is an incredible place because of the abundance of wildlife life that live there. As more and more people come in to the area to view these animals, it is a sad, but probably necessary fact that more rules will have to come in to play. As another commenter said, seeing these animals is a privilege, not a guarantee or a right. Protect the flora and fauna first and worry about tourists second. They will keep coming even with scaled back viewing hours.