The region is in the grip of a post-lockdown baby boom. Lion cubs leap across the rapids in their first stab at independence. Hyena cubs nibble the Landcruiser’s tyres, downy pelts and liquid eyes belying their wild and voracious nature.

A leopard cub born at Great Plains Conservation’s Mara Plains Camp has moved on to more suitable pastures; his mother gave birth on a tent roof flap not long ago; the human occupants were swiftly relocated and the “birthing suite” closed until further notice.