Stood in the Maasai Mara

Bahati the Eland. Bahati, meaning ‘lucky’ in KiSwahili, was found by young Maasai boys hidden away in some bushes. They - possibly wrongly - assumed she had been abandoned by her Mother and so brought her down to Oloololo Gate where she was looked after by the rangers. Bahati became one of the most photographed elands in the Maasai Mara and probably one of the best fed, as guests from the camps and lodges would bring her a little something from their breakfast spread. Bahati developed quite a taste for freshly baked croissants. Eventually, after a year or so, she started to wander and I occasionally received phone calls from angry camp managers who were trying to shoo away an over friendly eland away from their breakfast tables (it’s very hard to shoo an eland with fully developed horns). One morning however she disappeared forever and the rangers told visiting guests who knew of Bahati that she had most likely gone in search of a mate. The Assistant Warden later told me that she had in fact been taken down by a couple of male lions who found her to be rather sluggish and very easy pickings. Her bahati had run out. 

A young Bahati.

Bahati on NTV Kenya.