Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

Mara Conservancy also called the Mara Triangle is the north-western part of the Maasai Mara Reserve. The Maasai Mara is the northern part of the Mara- Serengeti ecosystem situated in the south-west of Kenya in the Rift Valley Province approximately between latitude 0º45´ and 2º00´ S and longitude 34º45´ and 36º00´ E. The Mara Triangle covers a land area of about 520 km2 and is confined in the west by the Isiria escarpment (Oloololo escarpment) which rises to 1,850 m. In the east the Mara Triangle is limited by the Mara River and in the south by the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Annual rainfall is weakly bimodal. The short rains from November to December are followed by a shorter dry season and then the long rains in March to May. The dry period following the long rains is some five months long, from mid-June to mid-October. Average rainfall is 1200-1500mm annually (Sitati et al. 2003). The Mara River and its tributaries are of great importance to the wildlife as the major drainage system in the area (Broten & Said 1995).

Regulations exclude cultivation and livestock inside the Mara Reserve (Broten and Said 1995). Livestock is only permitted in the area at certain occasions when the herdsmen take their animals to the saltlick located in the conservancy[1]. Human habitation is restricted to national park personnel and tourist facilities.