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60 minutes visit us, and are offered lion claws and teeth!

Category: Lion Guardian reports, Lions killed | Date: Nov 24 2008 | By: lionguardians

This week the Lion Guardians have been busy with another film crew. CBS and their presenter Bob Simon are here to film a piece for their program ‘60 minutes’. They want to find out more about the poisoning of lions and other carnivores. They came at the right time - just after an attempted poisoning case. We took them to the market in Kimana, south of our ranch and close to Amboseli National Park. CBS wanted to film people selling the poison Furadan, an agricultural chemical, which people say is increasingly being used to bait carcasses and kill carnivores.

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As usual there were many women trying to sell Maasai ornaments to tourists, and my group was not spared. I was acting as a go between, negotiating between the two parties because of the language barrier. At one point a woman approached me, and held out her hand with something inside for me to look at. I couldn’t believe it when I saw lion claws! I was even more shocked when I examined them closely and found that they were new, fresh claws.

I asked how much we would have to pay for them and she said 60 US dollars. I told her that if she reduced the price I would take more, to find out how many she had. It was then that I discovered she didn’t just have claws, but lion teeth too! She offered the claws and teeth to me at 15 US dollars less the original price. We asked her where she got them from, and she said that someone dropped them.

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It is clear that lions are now facing a new threat that never used to exist: their body parts are being traded. It is so hard to believe that tourists in Kenya that come to see the beautiful animals here would buy the claws and teeth of lions. But we have seen with our own eyes that it is happening, and if nothing is done to stop it, the few prides of lions we have here will disappear forever.

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We need Lion Guardians to start working in other places, especially Olgulului ranch, near to Amboseli, where the last lion killing happened. Something needs to be done and we are calling out loud for help!

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7 Responses to “60 minutes visit us, and are offered lion claws and teeth!”

Amy, on 24 Nov 2008

That’s great that 60 Minutes was there. It’s an institution on US television and Bob Simon is an excellent reporter. Several years ago Simon did a wonderful story on the Sheldrick elephant orphanage, so your story will be in good hands.

Dana, on 24 Nov 2008

Antony - I second what Amy said about 60 minutes. This report (which I hope will air soon) is the kind of exposure you all need.

Absolutely appalling that one can buy the lion claws and teeth so openly in a market. Was the camera crew filming this? Did any buy the ‘goods’? Did you tell this women that these items are illegally from a lion that more than likely was poached?

This make my heart very sad!

Hashi Hanta, on 24 Nov 2008

60 Minutes is respected media. This is great news! I hope that they include what people can do to help and where they can send money!

The selling of lions teeth and claws puts them in the same danger as elephants. If this chemical poison is used for agriculture (I assume for insects or rodents), I would think it would not be good for humans eating the crops. In the USA many chemicals, which have been used for years, have now been banned because of danger to humans. Unfortunately, if the chemical was banned, they would probably find some other poison to use.

People living in poverty probably only think of feeding their families and are not concerned about the suffering of a lion, or the great loss to everyone when a lion dies. Something needs to be done to give long jail sentences and huge fines to anyone found selling endangered animals or their parts. Maybe rewards could be offered to anyone turning them in.

In the USA it is illegal to sell such things. I came across a man selling Eagle’s feet (Eagles are sacred to our Native American culture). I called the police and they took a report, but wouldn’t arrest him. I was furious. Then, later, I found out that the girl helping the man sell, was actually working undercover for the government. The man was heavily fined, put on probation and his big, expensive motor home was taken from him, because he used it to commit a crime (he was selling Eagle parts out of his motor home).

Thanks to the Lion Guardians for all you do. I truly believe the lions could not survive without you.

Hashi Hanta
Choctaw Tribe
USA

sauwah, on 25 Nov 2008

i totally agree with dana, amy and hashi hanta. little education to the public may go a long long way especially the negative effects on those who make a living on tourism in kenya and its wildlife.

lionguardians, on 26 Nov 2008

Thanks you for all your comments. We are so sad that this is now a real threat to lions here in our area. The woman ran off before we were able to talk to her more, but she was not willing to give us any information about where the teeth and claws came from.

I will let you all know when the 60 minutes piece will air. I am glad it will bring awareness to many people in the world.

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[…] taken to sell at the market, as it was the day before Kimana market day, and this was where we were offered lion teeth and claws a month […]

Lion Guardians » Watch 60 minutes this Sunday!, on 27 Mar 2009

[…] after. The program is all about wildlife poisoning, and Bob Simon and his team came to the Chyulu Hills to find out about lion poisoning in our area and how we work to stop wildlife being […]

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