Lobo Valley

The Predator Circuit: The Three Kings

Lobo is one of the few places in East Africa where you have a realistic chance of spotting all three large African cats in a single outing:

• The Lobo Lion Pride: This is the second-largest pride in the entire Serengeti, numbering approximately 26 individuals. During the heat of the day, they are famously seen “catnapping” on the smooth granite kopjes, silhouetted against the sky.
• The Riverine Leopard: The yellow-barked acacia trees lining the Lobo Springs are the preferred haunt of leopards. These elusive hunters are residents here year-round, preying on the valley’s abundant impala and gazelle.

Migratory Cheetahs: While lions and leopards are permanent residents, cheetahs move into the valley during the dry season, following the migratory Thomson’s gazelle.

The Elephant Stronghold

Lobo Valley holds the largest remaining concentration of elephants in the Serengeti. In the 1990s, nearly 38% of the ecosystem’s elephants were found here. These populations have rebounded remarkably since the 1989 ivory ban, with over 2,000 elephants now calling the Serengeti home.

Unlike the wildebeest, elephants in Lobo follow a “reverse migration,” moving into the valley during the green season and dispersing during the dry months. They live in tightly-knit matriarchal groups where the oldest cow’s memory serves as the herd’s defense against drought.

The Fierce Bulls of the North

The elephants of the Northern Extension are noted for their formidable temperaments. Explorer Myles Turner captured their intensity in his 1966 writings:

“The Northern Extension of the Serengeti was the home of some of the fiercest elephants I have ever encountered… Why they are so evil tempered has never been satisfactorily explained. Whatever the reason, more often than not, they would charge at the slightest excuse, either singly or in a mass attack, screaming and trumpeting, a solid phalanx of living flesh bearing down in a cloud of dust.”

While “mock charges”—marked by head-shaking and ear-spreading—are common, the sight of a multi-ton giant bearing down in a cloud of dust remains one of the most adrenaline-pumping experiences in the valley.