Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs: Kenya’s Big Three and When to See Them

By Safari News — Africa Calling Safaris, Partner desk, Nairobi · 03/10/2025

Updated 23 October 2026

Kenya remains one of the few destinations where travellers can realistically see lion, leopard and cheetah on a single trip, but the three species rarely overlap. Africa Calling Safaris, GTour’s partner in Nairobi, reports that lions concentrate in the Masai Mara, Tsavo and Laikipia, with the greater Mara ecosystem alone holding an estimated 800-plus of Kenya’s 2,000 to 2,500 lions. Peak-season drives there average 4.2 lion sightings over three days, with dawn and dusk the most productive windows, though full-day drives occasionally catch prides hunting at midday.

Leopards, by contrast, are solitary and nocturnal, and best found in Samburu National Reserve and the private conservancies of the Laikipia Plateau, where guides track individual animals by name and territory. Data from more than 2,000 guided drives between 2020 and 2024 shows morning drives (6-9am) nearly doubling afternoon success rates for leopard sightings, 34 percent against 19 percent. Night drives, permitted only on private conservancy land, further improve the odds.

Cheetahs hunt by sight on open ground, making the short-grass plains of the Mara and Amboseli their stronghold; Kenya holds roughly 900 of the global population of 7,100 adults, a species the IUCN lists as Vulnerable. Female cheetahs with cubs are regularly reported around the Talek area. Travellers from Europe or the Caucasus typically connect via Nairobi, with onward charter or road transfers into the Mara taking two to four hours. Conservancy fees, partly funding anti-conflict compensation schemes, have helped cut lion mortality in the Mara network by 61 percent over five years.

Based on reporting by Safari News, the travel desk of Africa Calling Safaris (Nairobi), GTour’s partner for East Africa. Read the original there.