Shaba was made famous by the late Joy Adamson and her lioness Elsa which and is often referred to as the Born free country. Compared to Samburu National reserve Shaba National Reserve is much smaller but with a greater occurrence of riverine forests with acacia trees, Doum plalms and dramatic landscape. Although greener than Samburu, it offers a lower frequency of game spotting. It’s also home to the gravy zebra, the Somali ostrich, gerenuk, the reticulated giraffe, gazelles, the lesser kudu, leopard, plenty of lions, herds of elephants,bird life and other small game.