Lion Guardians

Selenkay’s pride which is now composed of ten lions is well known for being a livestock killing group. This is because they have killed livestock in almost every corner of their territory and have been hunted countless times in retaliation. Fortunately, we have succeeded in stopping all lion hunting party’s intent on killing them except for the politically motivated hunt that killed their sister Narika two years ago. However, over the last two months, as if sensing the tension and danger in the air as a result of the conflict in Amboseli, this pride has confounded many that know their reputation. They have not killed any livestock and thus managed to stay away from the limelight.

This is Loomuguri, son of Selenkay and Ndelie, eating meat.

Throughout this conflict period, they have only been hunted once by a group of morans but not in retaliation and fortunately, we were able to come to their rescue. Yesterday, we found them relaxing close to Amboseli Porini camp in Selenkay conservancy with visitors having a field day clicking their cameras. The pride looked absolutely healthy and the cubs seem to have grown bigger beyond their age.

Nempatipat is the daughter of Selenkay and Ndelie

Ndelie, the resident male lion was with them and he seems to have grown in confidence as opposed to his usual skittishness with the car. Lioness Elikan who likes to go solo when she stops weaning, was out hunting and left the motherly Selenkay to be constantly harassed by the playful cubs under the watchful eye of Ndelie. The good news is that their primary prey species are available in plenty owing to the proximity to watering points. This is ideal lion behavior especially in a politically poisoned environment and we pray that they abstain from livestock killing as we wait for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

One of Selenkay’s cubs investigating the camera.

The on-going human-wildlife conflict in Amboseli moved a notch higher yesterday with a complete show of bravado never seen in the recent past. Monday in the middle of the night a lioness, Amyjane, had jumped into a boma adjacent to the park, killed a donkey and cow, and was speared in the front left leg. The morans responsible for the spearing wanted to follow her into the park, but were persuaded not to by elders and village leaders. The morans heeded their advice, but continued to monitor the movement of the lioness inside the park. The following morning we were called in to track and assess the situation of the lioness. She was deep inside a small thicket when we found her and it was clear that she was experiencing a lot of pain. She didn’t move when we drove close with the vehicle and she exhibited a lot of aggression which is unlike her normal behavior.

One of the last photos of Amyjane alive

Then as fate would have it, the veterinary officer that was supposed to treat her was summoned very early in the morning to attend to a rhino that had died due to a gun wound from poachers in the Chyulu Game Reserve. While awaiting the vet to arrive, we responded to another depredation report we received from Lion Guardian Jackson in a nearby zone.

During that time, a herder brought livestock inside the park for water very close to where Amyjane was hidden. When she saw the herder, she growled and the livestock scampered for safety, thus prompting the herder to summon the morans from the nearby cultural boma. They responded immediately and tracked the lion within 10 minutes and speared her ten times till she succumbed to death.

At this time we had just finished verifying Jackson’s report and were on our way back to check on Amyjane, with five Kenya Wildlife Service rangers we picked up on the way. As we were approaching the site where we last saw her (about 50 meters away) we found a lion paw freshly cut. We immediately started to fret, but we also thought that maybe it belonged to another lion that might have been killed earlier that morning.

Worried, we rushed to the site where we had last seen Amyjane just an hour ago, but she was nowhere to be seen! We immediately reached for the receiver to track her collar, but unfortunately after five minutes of searching we came up empty handed. At this time we returned with the KWS rangers to where the paw was found and started tracking the perpetrators foot prints. Using my traditional tracking skills we followed their fresh tracks for about five minutes until we reached Amyjane.

Her body was dismembered; specifically the torso was cut in half and placed 50 meters apart likely to conceal the killing. Her head and all of her paws were missing. This was proof that her killers were in a hurry to leave the site, accompanied by their intentions to sell the fresh trophies to the nearby tourists who visit the park. Interestingly, the tail which is the most important part of traditional lion killing celebrations was still intact: meaning that the killing was not traditionally motivated. It was a ghastly site to see, especially given the fact that we had just seen her alive a few hours ago. I was horrified and heart broken at the same time.

Amyjane’s dismembered body

After joining Amyjane’s torso to verify it was one lion that was killed we decided to follow the fresh tracks of the warriors, which led to the nearby cultural bomas. What was interesting is that the cultural boma, which is always a bee-hive of activities (especially during the high season), was so conspicuously silent that one could hear a pin drop!

Amyjane whose pride has known misfortune over the last few years is the latest victim. Her sister mysteriously died two years ago and left her the duty of bringing up nine small cubs. She successfully brought six of those cubs to maturity, while one was killed by an elephant.  Another was killed by a pair of resident male lions and the third was speared at the gate of the same cultural boma in which her mother’s killers live. Currently, she has three very small cubs whom she left with her companion, who also has three cubs of the same size. We hope that she will be able to bring up all six cubs, but it will be a very difficult feat.

Amyjane’s companion will have a difficult task in trying to raise all of the cubs to maturity. The cubs pictured here are from a litter she had in 2010.

During the past week in Olgulului Group Ranch, lions have gone on a rampage and killed three cows, three donkeys and seriously injured six cows, all resulting in three lion hunts. Lion Guardians managed to stop all the three lion hunting parties in the respective zones. This is due to our diplomatic and non-accusatory approach. But, unfortunately Amyjane was hunted inside the park (outside of our jurisdiction) where existing tensions between the community and KWS has lead to a decrease in tolerance.

Eric used his tracking skills to locate Amyjane’s body and track her killers to the nearby boma.

Currently, the situation in Amboseli is tense and the relationship between the community and KWS is at its lowest ebb and we fear for the future of the local wildlife. The previous conflict resolution meeting on Aug 6^th, failed to arrive at an amicable consensus between KWS and the Maasai community. The Maasai community gave KWS 21 days to respond to their petition requesting a fair distribution of the park revenue.  If the morans are bold enough to hunt in the park in broad daylight and kill a collared lioness now, I shiver to think of what will happen if the trust between the community and KWS is severed over revenue-sharing. The parks wildlife will not survive without communal support and Amboseli National Park will be no more than a glorified zoo!!

Hopefully KWS and the local Maasai community can come to an amicable agreement in order to stop more senseless killings like that of Amyjane.

The killing spree in Amboseli necessitated by political tensions between Kenya Wildlife Service and political leaders had a devastating effect to both wildlife and the community.  Community leaders met and took stock of the killings within all of the Group Ranches. The results were shocking, but would have been worse were it not for the critical but strategic intervention of some of the stakeholders. We can confirm the killing of 3 buffalos, 5 elephants and a sub adult female lion. The lion was intentionally driven out and killed at the edge of Amboseli Park after attempting to kill a cow during the day. One of the new Morans was the first to spear, but she injured 2 people.  The carcass was transported on motorbikes and disposed of and has yet to be found. Coincidentally, a male lion that killed a cow on the Tanzania-Kenya border was also killed by Tanzanian Maasai.

About 18 elephants were speared but escaped with injuries and the relevant authorities are currently treating many. These killings appeared to have instilled a sense of fear among the wildlife and added stress to the elephants. A lot of resources were utilized in protecting and providing security as well as apprehending the culprits. A total of 44 Morans were arrested and released. Thirty-one of them received serious injuries and were admitted to a hospital in Namanga and the situation is still tense. Shortly after tempers cooled, two female lionesses killed a cow and a donkey and a party of 18 Morans attempted to kill them near Kitirwa. The Morans thereafter openly admitted swallowing their pride and went home after the lionesses, with 6 small cubs, went wild and instilled some fear into them.

Elikan tries to get a piece of the donkey that Selenkay is moving

In September 2009, we received an unusual report from our Lion Guardian Kamunu. His report was of a group of 4 male lions of the same age traversing through the Selenkay conservancy. We had never had such a big group of males traveling together so we gave instructions for them to be closely followed. We were able to see them briefly one afternoon, but unfortunately that night , they went on a killing spree, killing 7 donkeys as well as several shoats from one neighboring community. In the morning they were hunted, but due to the efforts of the Lion Guardians and the Eselenkei Game Scouts, no one got hurt and all lions lived to see another day. The next day we collared the biggest and called him Sikiria (meaning he of the donkeys). He then disappeared for 4 months. We gave instructions to our Lion Guardians to track him down but to no avail. We even conducted aerial searches without success! One day when we were following a report of a male lion called Lomunyak on Mbirikani Group Ranch, we did a call-in expecting Lomunyak to show up. We heard the approach of lions and when we shone the light, we saw 2 lions and to our utter surprise, it was Sikiria and his brother Oyayai.   When we down loaded his GPS collar, we were completely baffled by his movement patterns. He had moved through Namanga, spending nearly two weeks up on Namanga Hill, then he went all the way to Torosei which borders Shompole briefly in to Tanzania and back to Eselenkei and over to Mbirikani! Shortly thereafter, he moved beyond the Chyulu hills to an area close to Tsavo West National Park, Kuku. On many occasions he killed livestock and was hunted. At one time in early 2011, he injured a young Moran who was with others, hunting Sikiria after he had killed a cow. Sikiria got away without a scratch.

Sikiria after killing the cow

Over the past few years, he has matured, behaved well and finally settled in a place called Oltiasika mating with more than 6 females and siring over 9 cubs. His pride is composed of 14 lions and is thus one of the biggest lion groups that our Lion Guardian Project monitors outside protected areas.

Some of the cubs sired by Sikiria

A few days ago, Sikiria, together with his brother and constant companion Oyayai, killed a cow at a place called Elang’ata Enkima on Kuku Group Ranch during the day. The cows were being herded by 3 Morans and when the Morans confronted these lions, Oyayai ran for his life but Sikiria waited for them. He was speared but in return he seriously injured 2 of the warriors while the 3^rd ran home calling for reinforcements. Many Morans came to the rescue of their colleaques and speared Sikiria to death. But before he died, he seriously injured a 3^rdMoran. All the injured Morans are currently recuperating at Loitokitok District hospital and we wish them quick recovery. According to the Maasai tradition, human injuries caused by any wildlife species is unforgivable and revenge is usually the ultimate response.

Sikiria lies dead with holes from spear wounds and parts removed by the warriors

Up until he finally met his fate, and upon downloading his movement patterns, Sikiria had travelled almost 7,000 square km, passing through 21 of the 30 Lion Guardian zones. As far as we can find, he has one of the largest documented ranges outside the desert lions of the Namib. Sikiria has always been a problem lion but our Lion Guardians in conjunction with other stakeholders within the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem like Maasailand Preservation Trust game scouts, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust and KWS –Amboselihave all contributed to his protection until he met his fate. He was well-known as a recent survey conducted in Lon Guardian areas showed. Over 70% of people in the surveyed areas could name at least one lion and Sikiria was the most frequently named; a lion legend. His prominent beauty, unique personality, and composure will always be missed by those who knew him.

Sikiria's GPS locations

The last photo taken of Sikiria before his death

Osewan is a re-known thicket that extends well beyond the jurisdiction of Lion Guardians. The Maasai section that inhabit most of this area are called Matapato and are yet to benefit from the fruits of conservation, thus highly intolerant to predators that kill their livestock. This is the same area in which one of our most beloved, well behaved and friendly female lions, Nosioki, and her cub were poisoned in October of last year. Even though, together with other stakeholders, we convened several community meetings in an effort to eradicate poisoning, we are still worried.

Nooldoinyo

Pua, the resident male lion of Nosioki’s pride and the male cub that mysteriously survived the poisoning incident, have both been a permanent feature in this particular area, probably believing that Nosioki will one day suddenly show up. A few days ago, they were joined by 5 sub-adults from a female called Nooldoinyo, who also receives occasional visits from Pua. When these youngsters make a kill, they roar in an effort to invite their mother to the party and at times, they are known to even roar during the day. From our experience, this could invite trouble because every livestock lost will be attributed to them and retaliation might not be far off! Just a few days ago, they killed 10 goat kids in the same area and the 11^th kid escaped by climbing a very tall ant-hill to outwit these youngsters. Understandably, people were not happy but we managed to cool them down.

Pua the resident male of Noisoki's pride

Another group of lions from Eselenkei Group Ranch, who are also Nosioki’s off-spring, are known to inhabit part of this thick bush in Osewan. A male lion called Manenkop from Selenkay Conservancy has been making occasional visits in search of company but has now been there for the last 2 months. This brings the total population of lions in this particular communal area to a staggering figure of 11! This is an immensely high concentration of lions in a communal area without adequate monitoring. This is the same area in which we lost five lions in a span of six months last year. We therefore urgently need money to immediately employ at least 3 Lion Guardians from the Matapato section to monitor this area in which our current guardians are restricted. The protection and safety of this significant proportion of lions that we monitor will now depend on your willingness and ability to be part of the solution.

Manenkop

After several fact finding missions aimed at exploring the possibilities of expanding into Tanzania, we now are hoping to finalize everything in the next few months. With funding from Panthera, the Lion Guardian program is ready to start around Ngorongoro Conservation area on a pilot basis and we will work closely with Serengeti Lion Project in the area. Several meetings with our colleagues have been successful and there is even the possibility of an expansion to the Maasai Steppe as well.

One critical area has been along the Kenyan-Tanzanian boundary. The Kenyan side of the border had experienced about 16 lion killings before last year. We expanded to that area in September 2010 and since that time no lions have been killed. Our Lion Guardians worked closely with other stakeholders within the Amboseli ecosystem and did a commendable job. The problem is that everything changes the second lions cross over the border into Tanzania. A single depredation incident is enough to justify a hunt. Unfortunately, the majority of these hunts have been successful. In the last year alone, about five lions from the Amboseli ecosystem have been killed just across the border in Tanzania.

Lion Guardian zones

Recently, we held a very well attended cross-border meeting with all the major stakeholders including government officials from both sides and everything looked bright. We again held a follow-up workshop, both sides were in attendance. Several recommendations were made and time –lines were issued. Just when all was looking good, one of Tato’s male lions was killed in Tanzania in a retaliatory attack!

The cross-border meeting

A few days ago, our Director Dr.Leela Hazzah and Luke Mamaai visited Sinya on the Tanzanian side where they were warmly received by community leaders who are keen to embrace the Lion Guardian program. While there, they gathered some facts about the area and the possible collaboration stakeholders and returned very excited and eager to start. At this point we are only awaiting the official invitation and permission from TAWIRI, the Tanzanian governmental branch in-charge of wildlife. Once permission is granted, everything else will fall into place.

Luke and Dr. Leela Hazzah at the meeting

Lion Guardians need your help in bringing the Tanzania expansion to fruition. Help us by making a donation now so we can continue to successfully mitigate human-carnivore conflict in high risk zones, such as Tanzania.

After the poisoning of Nosioki and her cub, there was a meeting yesterday in Matapato to discuss the incident. People were calm since the two suspects that had been arrested a few days prior were released on the eve of the meeting in a surprise move by KWS. Before the release the Group Ranch was furious, they didn’t know arrests were possible due to the fact that previously, 3 lions had been killed in this area with no arrests made. Therefore, they were very happy for the release.  The elders from the Group Ranch where the suspects come from begged for forgiveness of the conservationists present ( MPT, Big Life Foundation, Lion Guardians, and KWS) while vowing such an incident will never take place again. They decried the act saying it was cowardly and has no place in the Maasai tradition, saying instead ’when a brave Maasai is annoyed he uses his spear’.

Conflict-resolution meeting

During the meeting, the elders revealed that a few months ago unbeknownst to us, they decided to set aside Osewan (a thicket full of different wildlife species) as a conservancy with an elected committee in order to receive an income. They invited several conservation stakeholders present (those mentioned above) to work closely with them to help increase levels of tolerance towards wildlife and to develope this fledgling conservancy still in its nascent stage. They announced to all and sundry that they will curse anyone who will use poisoning within their territory and will hand him over to the authorities for possible prosecution. Two District Wardens present also decried the use of poison and lion killing in the area in general.

Cremation of Nosioki and her cub

Leaders from both Olgulului Group Ranch and Mailua Group Ranch were present in the well attended meeting that recognized the critical role and vigilance by the Lion Guardians in the field. This was a very good meeting considering the usual tempers that flare wherever the agenda is livestock-lion related. We left the meeting with mixed feelings, worried with the precedent that will be set by the sudden release of suspects but buoyed by the glimmer of hope that a  conservancy will bring to the future of the area. Whether this will happen or not, only time will tell.

My fears have now been validated. I regret to inform you that Nosioki, our motherly female lioness is no more! A few days ago, I wrote about the lion-livestock conflict in Osewan. This area has been of great concern to the Lion Guardians given the fact that it is just outside of Lion Guardian zones, on a neighboring Group Ranch, where the environment is rife with conflict. Lions have consistently been killing livestock in this thick area which was acting as a sanctuary for both livestock and wildlife. However, yesterday, 7 weak sheep that usually graze nearby got lost. They were found dead having been killed by hyenas based on the pattern of the killing. The carcasses were then laced with a white substance that is known to originate from Tanzania.

Poisoned sheep carcass

In the early hours of the morning, Nosioki and her cubs came across the carcasses and ate. The first female cub died instantly and our Lion Guardians found her and reported it immediately.

Lion Guardian Sitonik with Nosioki's dead cub

As they were relaying the information to us, Nosioki was kicking and taking her last breath. We found her dead shortly thereafter. Two vultures that had been perched on top of a nearby tree, later dropped dead, as well as countless flies. We assembled all the sheep, vultures and lion carcasses and burned them in order to prevent anymore death.

Sitonik with Nosioki

One male cub was still alive in the thicket and he ran away from us as we approached, a sign of being alert. Pua Mederi, the big male lion in the pride was fortunately not around and the cub might have been lucky. Our Lion Guardians are out today to look for his signal. However, with the male cub being barely a year, his fate is almost certain to be over.

The picture of Nosioki with her head facing down was clearly a sight to behold! I have never seen anything like this before. This was not just another lion to me. It was Nosioki, an individual that has been known to us for the last two years. She was part of the pride of Eselenkei community and owing to her good reputation of not killing livestock she was well liked. However, recently, since moving to a new area less tolerant of wildlife in general and predators in particular, she developed a trait of being a constant livestock killer.

Sitonik and Eric with Nosioki

Personnel from Kenya Wildlife Service later joined us but did not take any action saying the area is out of their Amboseli jurisdiction. The culprit is well known so we urge that action be taken against him- The killing has to stop. Without any action being taken against the culprit, many predators will disappear since this is the fourth lion to be killed in the area. Already, the future of Amboseli National Park hangs in the balance as animal migratory corridors and dispersal areas are being sold off. Add this to a continuous and systematic decimation of the dwindling lion population due to poisoning across the border in Tanzania and on the outlying Group Ranches, the fear of Amboseli becoming one big dust bowl will soon be real. God forbid!

Lion Guardians urgently need  your help and support to expand into this critical area. Please take a few minutes to make a donation now, and help the Lion Guardians protect other lions from the same fate of Nosioki and her cubs.

Nosioki, a lion that normally resides in Eselenkei Group Ranch, has for the past year found sanctuary with her cubs in an area called Osewan. Due to its dense environment, it is an ideal area for any lion wanting to raise cubs to maturity. After giving birth to her cubs, Nosioki, a favorite lion for many given the fact that she rarely kills livestock, started portraying a different behavior. Now , along with her cubs who are approaching the one year mark, she has begun killing livestock that come to Osewan in search of pasture.

Nosioki

The killing spree has been so consistent that it has angered people a great deal. Just a few days ago, with the help of her two cubs and one male lion, 8 shoats (Maasai herd smaller livestock such as goats and sheep together, hence the term shoats) were killed in the area. In the past, people were unsuccessful at tracking her down and killing her, due to the thickness of the forest. This time the local people have decided to use a different tactic. They placed the carcass of a poison laced goat in an area where they were sure Nosioki would find it. They then threatened our Lion Guardians present and told everybody to go home. Thanks to our dedicated Lion Guardians, we were informed immediately. Under the cover of darkness, we took the poisoned carcass and burned it under the watchful eyes of the game scouts of MPT stationed close by.

Poison laced goat

The following morning, when the people returned and saw that the carcass had been removed and no lion was dead, tempers flared. After some discussion, they cooled down but still seemed determined to employ the same tactic in the future with the hope of eliminating these lions from their midst. The danger is not only in losing Nosioki, but in losing all five of these lions, who always stay together. Even now, as I finish writing this blog, we have just received a report that she has again killed another goat. The situation is under control because the goat was killed on our side of the border, but from the look of things, if Nosioki continues to kill livestock across the border, her days are clearly numbered.

Nosioki at sunset

Now, more than ever the Lion Guardians need your help.  By making a donation today you will help provide the funding the Lion Guardians need to expand to Tanzania and continue to protect these lions under their care.

For several weeks , Kip (a collared male lion that lives around Amboseli N. P.) has terrorized Maasai bomas on the Tanzania border. After killing livestock in Tanzania on several consecutive nights, it was clear there was a predictable pattern.  He has been the target of several hunts but has luckily escaped unscathed.  However, the anger towards him increased ten-fold when, at one of these hunts, he retaliated and injured one Moran before escaping. In another hunt two bullets missed him by a whisker and he crossed back over into Kenya. Anger about his attacks did not decrease, despite the fact that he was no longer in the area. To these pastoralists, getting rid of problem lions is the only rational economic response to a costly nuisance. The lingering anger culminated last week with the death in Tanzania of an adult male lion who wasn’t Kip.

We suspect the lion killed was one of Tato's young males (the two lighter lions). Tato herself was killed in Tanzania in April.

Several lions went into a boma in Tanzania and killed a cow.  Kip’s previous incursions caused tolerance levels to reach their limits, so this cow’s death resulted in the morans organizing a lion hunt.  An adult male was killed, and the other lions got away. The dead male lion has yet to be identified but we believe that it may be a member of Tato’s pride – who are also usually resident in Amboseli park and whom many of you have most likely seen on your trips to Amboseli (Tato herself was killed earlier this year in Tanzania in a similar scenario).  The authorities in Tanzania were notified of this recent incident both before (when the hunt was being organized) and after (once the lion had been killed).

The dead lion after the trophies have been removed

There exist different wildlife legal regimes in both countries:

The Tanzanian laws are tolerant of lion killing by community members and all that the community is required to do is to relay the information of the conflict to the relevant government authorities. Permission to kill the problem lion is granted provided community members bring back the lion trophies (teeth, paws, mane, skin and tail) to the authorities.

Kenya, owing to the critical position it finds itself with regards to rapidly decreasing lion numbers, has tight rules and regulations, and lion killing is not tolerated except in extreme situations.

However, we have been recording increasing numbers of  lion deaths in Tanzania through either poisoning or spearing, of lions usually resident in Kenya. There is an urgent need for solutions to be found and implemented along the Tanzanian/Kenyan border if further lion deaths are to be prevented. The recent cross-boundary community meetings (coordinated by the African Wildlife Foundation and attended by all the local stakeholders, including Lion Guardians, Big Life Foundation (through MPT and Honeyguide Foundation) ,Enduimet WMA,  TAWIRI, and KWS) concluded that conflict mitigation needs to be enhanced and tolerance levels towards lions improved or else very soon the entire Amboseli ecosystem will find itself without any lion population to talk about.

In July 2011, we began to expand the Lion Guardian program into southern Olgulului, an area where at least 12 lions had been killed in the first half of the year.  Since we began our expansion into that area, no further lions have been killed.  We would now like to expand our reach to the area south of the Kenya/Tanzania border.  Please do your part by helping to fund our expansion into this critical area. CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT LION GUARDIANS.  I, the Lion Guardians, and the fewer than 100 remaining adult lions in the area thank you in advance for your support!