Lion Guardians

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: 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: Lion Guardian reports | Date: Oct 14 2009 | By: lionguardians

In the month of September the Lion Guardians made over 40 reports of lion tracks, sightings or telemetry signals to camp. The 9 Guardians on Mbirikani have been working extremely hard to find out where all our local lions are so they can report this to our lion biologists, and also warn any herders in the area that are lions nearby.

They search for lions by looking for their tracks on foot….

…and by using telemetry receivers and aerials to pick up signals from the lions we have collared. Here is Lion Guardian Kapande tracking for collared lions in his area. He picked up the signals of our local male Kasaiyo and female Nimaoi who is often found close to him.

Please help support the work of the Guardians by making a donation to the project. Your donations pay the Guardians’ wages, help pay for their equipment and keep the project running. Thank you!

Tags: Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, tracking

One response so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports, Meet the lions | Date: Sep 30 2009 | By: lionguardians

A few days ago Lion Guardian Pilenanka came across a zebra that had been killed by lions not far from camp. We went down to see the carcass, and found that not very much had been eaten, and realised the lions would probably come back to the kill that night. We decided this was the perfect opportunity to put up the camera trap, and see whether the lions came back to their kill!

We carefully set up the trap by a nearby tree, and left it overnight to see who arrived at the scene of the kill. When we came back to the site the next day we found the trap had been opened up and was hanging off the tree, and covered in hairs, bite marks, blood and saliva!

The camera was switched off, and we feared that it had been completely destroyed, by what looked from the tracks to be a huge male lion!

We rushed back to camp to see whether the camera had been able to take any photos before it was attacked. It was then that we found out who the culprit was - our collared male lion Kesayou!

Unfortunately he was on the wrong side of the zebra to get a very good photo, but we have got 2, which we can recognise him from. Kesayou is extremely camera shy, and obviously did not want to be photographed while eating the zebra!

Luckily the camera still works, and once it is cleaned up it should be perfectly fine again. Next time we will have to put the trap out of his reach!!

Tags: camera, camera trap, Kenya, lion, lion attack, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai

6 responses so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports | Date: Sep 26 2009 | By: lionguardians

One of our new Eselenkei Lion Guardians Melita called us with some very exciting news a few days ago. He reported seeing tracks of wild dogs in his area during his daily monitoring duties! Unfortunately we haven’t got any photos of these dogs yet, but the ones below were photographed in Laikipia.

I went out to verify that these really were the tracks of wild dogs and discovered that indeed they were! It was with excitement and surprise that very early the next morning back at camp I heard a cry of a kudu near my tent. I woke up to find out what was happening, only to be confronted and barked at by 2 white tailed African wild dogs!

I immediately summoned Lenkai, one of our research assistants and together we followed the tracks of the 2 wild dogs. We discovered that the 2 were part of a pack of 16 that were roaming within Selenkay Conservancy. Filled with the excitement of coming into close proximity with one of the most endangered species in the country, we decided to follow their tracks. Their tracks, comparable only to that of a large domestic dog, have roughly triangular main pads, blunt claws and four toe imprints, but are longer and thinner than the domestic dog.

From looking at the tracks we were able to work out the story of what had happened the previous night. The dogs had come across the dry river bed, and targeted a big male kudu, chasing it until it was exhausted and eventually tearing it apart. We couldn’t believe it had happened so close to our camp!

The population of African wild dog [Lycaon pictus] is declining rapidly. In fact, the species is categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red list on the basis of small population size and continuous decline. We are so excited that these endangered carnivores are now on our ranch, and we can’t wait to hear and see more from them. We really hope they stay in the area!

Tags: African wild dog, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, wild dog

4 responses so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports, Lion Guardians work, lion research fieldwork | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: lionguardians

As we told you last week, we finally found our collared female lion Selenkay in Amboseli National Park. She had been wandering far and wide, around Amboseli and the surrounding communally owned Maasai land with 2 other females.

On Saturday we received a call from Lion Guardian Mokoi to tell us he had been following the tracks of 2 female lions on Mbirikani Group Ranch, not far from Mbirikani town, so we rushed over to meet him and find out who these lions were. We tracked from the top of a nearby hill, and found that it was Selenkay, who had come over from Amboseli with one other female!

Here is Selenkay’s beautiful friend.

We have asked Mokoi and Olubi, the Lion Guardians that work in the area closest to Selenkay’s latest position to keep a close eye on their movements, and to make sure that all the herders in the area know that they are close, so that they can keep their livestock in a different area.

The other members of the Tara pride are still located on our neighbouring ranch Eselenkei, where the new Lion Guardians are taking great pleasure in keeping track of this fantastic group of lions. Collared female Nosieki has 2 small cubs, and the other pride lioness Nasieku has 3 cubs. Here is Nosieki with one of her small cubs.

And here is one of Nasieku’s cubs, a few months older than Nosieki’s.

The cubs have great fun playing together, and with the male of the pride. The lions in Eselenkei and Mbirikani seem to be doing very well at the moment, probably because of the availability of weak prey, due to the drought. The Guardians are doing a brilliant job of monitoring their movements and reducing any possible conflicts between the local people and the carnivores.

Tags: Amboseli, cubs, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai

5 responses so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports | Date: Jul 23 2009 | By: lionguardians

As we told you a few days ago, the devastating drought is contributing to an increase in human-wildlife conflicts. In the last couple of weeks, reports have been streaming in from our volunteering Lion Guardians. During one week, over ten donkeys were killed by hyenas in different corners of Eselenkei Group Ranch.

Lack of enough pastures for donkeys means that many go out of bomas to graze at night. As you can see these donkeys have no grass to eat at all.

Practically all the cows have moved to far places and it is therefore very quiet near the Maasai bomas as there is little noise and light. This is a perfect environment for hyenas who are usually more fearful of attacking livestock at human habitations.

Groups of marauding hyenas have been going around killing the donkeys that go outside the bomas at night, and the people who remain here are not happy with the situation. Unfortunately as the drought continues to strike hard here, we expect the situation to persist. The Lion Guardians and the Selenkay Conservancy are working hard in this tough situation, and preventing the community from retaliating against the wildlife.

Tags: drought, human wildlife conflict, hyena, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, menace

One response so far

Category: Community work, Lion Guardian reports, Lion Guardians work | Date: Jun 30 2009 | By: lionguardians

The Lion Guardians team recently conducted three workshops for our thirteen new Guardians who are hoping for employment. We trained and tested them on their tracking skills and reading and writing abilities, as well as carrying out some human-wildlife conflict role-play scenarios with them. The Maasai warriors were eager to learn as well as demonstrate their immense pool of skills.

One of the murrans particularly impressed us with his tracking skills; he could tell the difference between a spotted and a striped hyena simply by looking at their tracks. Even though several warriors could not write well they could all sign their own names and quickly picked up how to use the GPS.

They also demonstrated skills in preventing lion killing by other warriors in role-play scenarios. In fact, the youngest of the potential Guardians showed immense diplomatic skills that defied his age by effortlessly calming an agitated murran whose cow was killed by hyenas.

As well as these workshops, another task was given to the potential Guardians - fencing of a nearby boma. The results of their day-long efforts were a newly fenced boma up to predator proof standard, leaving no gaps or holes for predators to invade.

From the thirteen warriors, ten impressed us the most and they will now start a one month volunteer period. During this period, they will be tracking lions, help the community in fencing bomas, looking for lost livestock in the bush, and preventing other Maasai warriors from killing lions.

Soon the best candidates will emerge and be selected for employment. We will keep you updated on their progress at this exciting time!

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

3 responses so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports, Lion Guardians work | Date: Jun 15 2009 | By: lionguardians

We are sorry the blog has been quiet for a while. We’ve been having some problems with our internet but I hope you will be pleased that we are now back and reporting on the work of the Lion Guardians here in Maasailand!

Kamuna, one of the promising volunteer Lion Guardians in our new area Eselenkei Group Ranch, arrived at our new camp late one evening last week reporting some exciting news. He had found fresh lion tracks and was eager to show us where they were. We were all really excited about this news, and soon he had re-located the tracks and found where the lions were resting - one large male and two adult females.

One of the females was distinct because she didn’t have a tip to her tail; we have been hearing stories of this ‘tipless’ lioness for months now. She has been seen around these areas for the past few years so we know she is a resident lioness. It was the perfect opportunity for a collar to be put on.

As with the Lion Guardian project tradition, whoever finds a lion for collaring acquires the honoured responsibility of giving the lion a Maasai name. Kamuna now had this honour and decided to call her Nosieki, which is the name of the area where the lions were found, and also the name of a bush with beautiful red berries. 

The wonderful news is that Nosieki is pregnant! This means there will be new cubs arriving soon to the group ranch. The new Lion Guardians have also discovered that the female with Nosieki has three small cubs herself. So we are now monitoring this wonderful little family composed of a large beautiful male, three young cubs with their mother, and our pregnant Nosieki!

Nosieki is the first lion to be collared on Eselenkei Group Ranch after many months of searching. Without Kamuna’s assistance, it would have been very difficult to locate these lions - a perfect example of how the Lion Guardians project works!

We’ll report back soon with more news from our new and growing project on Eselenkei. And thank you all for your continued support of our work! We could not do this without your help!

Tags: collaring, Kenya, lion, lion collar, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai

9 responses so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports, Lion Guardians work | Date: Apr 22 2009 | By: lionguardians

Last week when Kapande was searching for lions he came across a rare black rhino! First he spotted the fresh tracks, and as he followed them further he heard the rhino running off, and saw its huge body moving away through the trees!

Kapande was so excited that he called us immediately to report the news. It is very unusual to see a black rhino here, or anywhere in Kenya as they are very rare, but the Mbirikani Game Scouts from the Maasailand Preservation Trust, which is based here at Ol Donyo Wuas are protecting the remaining wild black rhino that we have in the Chyulu Hills. Here are two black rhinos in the Masai Mara. The ones in the Chyulu Hills are far too shy to have their photos taken!!

What an amazing sight for Kapande, who had never seen a rhino before. All the Lion Guardians are working hard to save the lions here, so that our children will have the opportunity of seeing them, and will not be so amazed to see a lion in the wild, as we are with rhinos.

Tags: black rhino, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, masai mara, rhino

6 responses so far