Lion Guardians

Category: Meet the lions, lion biology, lion research fieldwork | Date: Mar 21 2008 | By: admin

Today I received a great birthday present; I was blessed with the sighting of
Nemasi and her cubs. Nemasi was resting under a tree when we found her. She had her cubs well hidden in the long grass. She was an attentive mother, constantly making sure that they were safe. After a while, she led them out into the open where we got a good look at them. They all seemed healthy as did Mama Nemasi.

These cubs are believed to have been sired by Sangale as Nemasi was seen mating with him a few months before his death. Now, we know that Lentim is in the area of Nemasi and her new cubs, approximately ten kilometers away. Infanticide has been observed in lions before (when a male lion kills other male’s cubs so that the female comes into estrus quickly, then he can mate with her and sire his own cubs). Our fingers are crossed that these cubs survive to carry on the great genes of Sangale.

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Category: lion biology, lion research fieldwork | Date: Dec 12 2007 | By: admin

Ernest and I have just returned from an extended field-trip, tracking lions to the south of camp, and up in the mist forests of the Chyulu Hills. The Chyulu Hills National Park borders the ranch where the Lion Guardins and our collared lions are based.

This post is to illustrate an interesting behaviour that we observed in some of the lions here…lions climbing trees. Truth be told, it has probably been observed before in Maasailand, but this is the first time we’ve managed to capture photographic evidence of it happening here. We had been climbing hills lall day ooking for radio signals for collars, when finally we picked up Manuelle from somewhere in the cloud belt above the ranch, several kilometres away. Here is a view of the hills where we found him.

And here is a picture of the forest that covers most of the tops of these hills. a young female pide member is lying at the top of the tree at the bottom centre of the photo.

and here is a close-up of her in the tree.

Technorati : conservation, lion, lion behaviour

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Category: lion biology, lion research fieldwork | Date: Oct 29 2007 | By: admin

Our guests were kind enough to take some video footage while they were here. In this clip you can see Nosero the collared lion roaring.

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Category: lion biology | Date: Sep 19 2007 | By: admin

Cats love chicken. You didn’t know that! Anyway, cats love the taste of birds. It is just that birds are too alert, agile, and therefore difficult to catch. One of the lions we are tracking, Nosero, was lucky to catch a bird the other day.

She caught herself a male ostrich! She tried to eat it but perhaps the ostrich was too big. She ate one drumstick, part of the breast, and most of the insides. Once full, she went into some rocky lava flows to sleep, maybe, to return the next day to finish up the rest. The guy in the picture next to the dead ostrich is Ernest. Ernest is part of the research team that works with the lion guardians.

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