Mara

Mara river flows through the Maasai Mara/Serengeti habitat, beginning in Narok County and ending in Mara Region. It crosses the migration path of ungulates. The Mara River basin spans 13,504 square kilometers, with around 65 percent of it in Kenya and 35 percent in Tanzania. The river travels for roughly 395 kilometers from its origins in the Kenyan highlands to Lake Victoria, where it springs from the Mau Escarpment. In general, the basin can be divided into four land use and/or administrative entities.

Because the Mara river basin is one of ten drainage basins that feed into Lake Victoria, it is functionally and environmentally linked to the socio-economic activity in Lake Victoria and along the Nile River.

The river provides an important supply of water for the reserve's grazing animals. Although it may appear shallow during the dry season, it can grow to twice its regular size after heavy rain. This may cause river rapids, resulting in a food shortage for predators unable to cross the river to hunt.

Length: 245 miles (shared with Tanzania)