What is Masai Mara?
[[File:1993 158-11A Masai Mara sunset.jpg|thumb|right|Sunset on the Mara]] [[File:Kenya_Provinces_Riftvalley.png|thumb|right|Location within Kenya: shaded area is Great Rift Vally; SW part is the Mara.]] [[File:Mara_River_Massai_Mara.jpg|thumb|left|View of the Mara River]] [[File:Hindrek Lootus 20200228 162331.jpg|thumb|left|Safari]] '''Masai Mara National Reserve''' <ref>Also called Maasi Mara Game Reserve, and other variations.</ref> is a [[National Park]] in [[Kenya]], [[East Africa]]. It was established in 1948 as a wildlife sanctuary, and has been made larger since then. Masai Mara is a [[game reserve]] type of park, meant to protect the animals on the [[savannah]] of the [[Serengeti]]. It is named after the [[Maasi people]], who are the traditional people of the area. Big as it is, the Masai Mara National Reserve is only a fraction of the Greater Mara [[Ecosystem]]. The Mara is effectively the northern continuation of the [[Serengeti National Park]] game reserve in [[Tanzania]]. == The Great Migration == This natural event is famous for involving a great population of large [[mammal]]s. Huge numbers of [[herbivore]]s [[migration|migrate]] each year, followed by the big cats. The Grant's zebras, [[Thomson's gazelle]], [[Blue wildebeest]], Common elands, [[African buffalo]]s, Masai giraffes, [[african bush elephant]]s, and larger white rhinoceros, or Black rhinoceros, and others arrive to eat fresh [[grass]] after the rain, and later move on. [[Lion]]s, [[leopard]]s, East African cheetahs, follow, and also [[vulture]]s and [[Spotted hyena]]s. [[Hippopotamus|hippos]] and [[Nile crocodile]]s are in the rivers. It is called ''The Great Migration''. The Great Migration is one of the most impressive natural events worldwide. Taking part each year are some 1,300,000 Blue wildebeests, 500,000 Thomson's gazelles, 97,000 Topi, 18,000 [[eland]], [[Thomson's gazelle]], 400,000 and 200,000 Grant's zebras. These plant-eating migrants are followed along their annual, circular route by hungry predators, most notably hun