Lion Guardians

Category: life in camp | Date: Nov 06 2009 | By: lionguardians

Last night the Lion Camp received yet another visit from some naughty elephants, though they didn’t cause too much destruction this time, only knocking over the water container. We are also still getting regular nightly visits from our friend the genet..

..and this morning the lion camp had even more animal visitors in the kitchen - this time it was mice in the oven!

We haven’t quite worked out how these two mischievous mice are getting into the oven yet, but they will certainly get a shock when we start cooking!

Any ideas for a humane way to remove these pesky little guys from our kitchen?

Tags: Kenya, kitchen, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, mice, mouse

2 responses so far

Category: Donations received, ways you can help | Date: Nov 05 2009 | By: lionguardians

If you have bought any Lion Guardians Christmas cards, please note:

You MUST make a written order for the cards by posting a comment on the blog after you have donated. This is the only way that we can get access to your email address, and find out the postal address you would like the cards to be sent to. For security reasons we do not have access to any of the details you use to donate to us.

Delineations, Joyce N, Cindy C and Sarah A (and Ruth K if your donation was for Christmas cards) please add a comment as we need your email address in order to send you the cards!

THANK YOU!

Tags: christmas, christmas cards, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, season's greetings

6 responses so far

Category: ways you can help | Date: Nov 03 2009 | By: lionguardians

I would once again like to remind all our readers that you can buy lovely Lion Guardians Christmas cards right here on the blog! All the profits go to the Lion Guardians, so please, wherever you are in the world, buy as many as you can and tell all your friends about them too! Maybe you could even buy a stock, and help us by selling them at your school or place of work?

There are 3 designs, one is of Lion Guardian Olubi tracking lions, the second is a female lion in Nempakai’s pride with her cub, and the third design is a young Maasai girl from one of the communities that the Lion Guardians program works with. The cards are high quality glossy laminated and the message inside reads ‘Season’s Greetings’.

The cost is $22 (that’s approx £13) for 12 cards (4 of each design), and this includes airmail postage and packing of the cards (and envelopes) to your address. Just put a number in the QTY box next to ‘Christmas card pack’ to say  how many packs you would like to purchase, and click on DONATE.

Please Note
As well as making your donation for the cards, you MUST also write a request for the cards on this blog by adding a comment so that we can trace you to obtain your address for postage. We cannot trace you from the donation box alone. Thank you!

We hope you like the designs, and we hope we can raise a lot of money for the Guardians, so please buy some now, and spread the word!!

THANK YOU! Your support is helping save the remaining wild lions in Kenya.

Tags: cheetah, christmas, christmas cards, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, season's greetings

One response so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports, Meet the lions | Date: Nov 02 2009 | By: lionguardians

The Lion Guardians team was out on Eselenkei Group Ranch looking for the Tara pride when we received information that the wandering group of 4 male lions that we had been monitoring for the last week had visited several bomas the previous night and left death and destruction in their wake. They had killed 5 donkeys, and critically injured 2 and killed (but left intact) 4 goats that had got lost in the bush. What a disaster! Here is one of the young male lions that had carried out the attacks.

We mobilized several Lion Guardians and together with some game scouts from nearby Amboseli Porini camp (Selenkay Conservancy), they were thankfully able to prevent the agitated community members from any revengeful attacks against the lions. After successfully calming the community, the Lion Guardians team proceeded to get things ready for a potential collaring later in the evening, and started the process by doing a ‘call-in’ near to the place where the attacks had happened. This involves playing the sounds of lions roaring, or other noises that might attract lions, such as a dying prey, through loud speakers. Out of the darkness came the lions. They strolled past the car and disappeared again; this marked the start of a long game of ‘hide and seek’!

After a search that lasted more than 3 hours, one of the lions was finally collared, and the Lion Guardians that were present named the male lion ‘Sikiria’, a Maasai name meaning ‘He of the donkey’. This is the first male to be collared on Eselenkei Group Ranch. Young, big and very strong, Sikiria comes from a group of 4 lions that seem to be moving far and wide searching for everything from prey and territory to females. Here I am with Sikiria, at his collaring.

Now that the Lion Guardians can keep close eye on their locations, we hope that they will be able to prevent any more disasters from happening, by alerting community members of their whereabouts as a way of preventing human-wildlife conflicts. We will keep you posted on the activities of these rambunctious male lions!

Tags: amboseli porini, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, selenkay

7 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Oct 30 2009 | By: lionguardians

An article about the Lion Guardians has been published on the website Ecoworldly.com. The article explains the project and features an interview from Lion Guardians Director Leela Hazzah, who talks about the challenges and goals of the project. Click here to visit Ecoworldly.com and read the article by Rhishja Larson.

Tags: ecoworldly, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, rhishja larson

No responses yet

Category: Donations received | Date: Oct 29 2009 | By: lionguardians

Thank you so much for your purchase of Lion Guardians Christmas cards! So that we have your email addresses, and can email you to find out what address to send the cards to, please make a comment on the blog. This is the only way we can get your contact details, as we do not have access to any of the information regarding your online donations!Thank you very much, from the Lion Guardians team!

Tags: christmas cards, donations, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai

2 responses so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports, lion research fieldwork | Date: Oct 28 2009 | By: lionguardians

A few days ago, one of our Lion Guardians in Eselenkei was out on his lion monitoring duties when he saw the tracks of some lions. After following them a few meters, he found their kill; 2 zebras and a lesser kudu. He called Lion Guardians HQ immediately and we responded in no time. After following the tracks we found 3 female lionesses 2 of which are collared Selenkay and Narika. They were with Elikan, an un-collared lioness, and were all lying under a tree, oblivious of the new visitors. Here is Elikan.

I insisted that their tracks revealed 4 lions, rather than just 3, one of which must be a big male. We then conducted some ground tracking and after following his tracks for a few kilometers, we found the male lion. A closer look revealed his unmistakable identity - it was Lomunyak. The beautiful male lion from Eselenkei Group Ranch was probably up to something none of us knew, but he kept the secret to himself and kept a great distance between himself and the females, thinking really hard. He was probably deciding his schedule for the next few weeks before the rain comes. Respecting his decision-making process, we headed back to camp for our Lion Guardian meeting.

Tracking using telemetry equipment a few days later, we headed towards the direction of the signal and found Lomunyak with Selenkay doing some serious business! With snow-capped Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background, truth be told, Lomunyak is clearly a beauty to behold.

Another visit a few days later and we found him again seriously mating with another lioness, Elikan!

Lomunyak seems to have a great vision of the Tara pride Empire. He has carved up a territory spreading across three Group Ranches bordering Amboseli National Park. No other male lion seems willing to risk coming into this territory or else! With a pride comprising five cubs and five females to boot, one does not have to be a rocket scientist to see Lomunyak’s expansionist dream, given the right conditions. It’s these right conditions that the Lion Guardians team is trying to facilitate. We went back to camp strongly convinced that Lomunyak’s schedule before the onset of the rains will yield good results in the future.

Tags: eselenkei, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, lions mating, Maasai, masai, selenkay

3 responses so far

Category: life in camp | Date: Oct 27 2009 | By: lionguardians

Not far past midnight, Project Biologist Kylie was roused from her dreamy slumber by the sound of cracking timber and the tearing of metal sheeting. Believing it to be an elephant, the usual culprit of camp destruction, Kylie armed herself with a big Maglite torch and marched towards the source of the racket, determined to chase the elephant away. However, upon rounding the final shrub she was surprised to find a smaller creature - a honey badger, clawing its way into the beehive and stealing all the honey! The fury creature seemed unperturbed by the angry bees whom were less than impressed with their new home renovations!

The honey badger wasn’t terribly bothered by the torchlight from a distance but soon retreated into the shadows when Kylie moved in closer, disappearing before a photograph could be taken. However, here’s some shots of what he did to the beehive!

Tags: beehive, honey badger, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai

2 responses so far

Category: ways you can help | Date: Oct 25 2009 | By: lionguardians

Just another reminder about our fantastic Christmas cards! Make a donation of $22 (or more!), remember to add a comment saying you would like some cards, and we will send them to you, wherever you are in the world!

Every donation made through this blog goes towards helping the Lion Guardians project conserve wild lions.

Thank you for your support.

Tags: christmas card, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai

No responses yet

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Oct 24 2009 | By: lionguardians

We have heard that the piece on the Lion Guardians filmed by Reuters a few weeks ago has now been shown on television across the world! Blog reader Brenton reported that it was shown on Australian TV, Pauline says it was on the BBC, and we have also heard that is was shown in Kenya. Did anyone else happen to see the piece?If not, you can view it here!

Thank you Reuters, for bringing the important work of the Lion Guardians to the attention of the world. We hope this publicity will bring in some much needed donations, to help the project!

Tags: Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, TV, youtube

3 responses so far