Lion Guardians

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

It was a bright afternoon when we decided to follow up on a Lion Guardian’s report about Nemasi’s signal. After going through a very hard and stony area along the foot of Lemuna hill, and with the signal very clear, we saw a carcass of in the distance. At first, we thought it was an eland but as we got closer it was clear that it was a cow.

Eric checking for the brand and ear notches

Nemasi's first livestock kill

We were surprised because to the best of our knowledge Nemasi has never killed any livestock. In fact, this was her first! We found Lesoit, the male cub, guarding the carcass. He seemed to have been assigned that role with clear instructions not to allow any intruder anywhere near the carcass. It is a role he played admirably and with gusto! In fact, when we went to ascertain the brand, ear notches and sex of the cow, he practically charged us! He seems to have learned his role quickly given the fact that he is barely a year now.We found Nemasi and her two female cubs resting under a tree taking refuge from the hot sun.

Lesoit was not happy that "intruders" were near his meal

On our way to the bomas nearby, to give the report of the dead cow, we found a male and female cheetah that seemed to be doing ‘reproductive work’. These two cheetahs seemed to have been the only witnesses to the kill, as the herders were clearly nowhere to be seen. The two were so vigil over the presence of lions nearby that they couldn’t have cared less when we approached them closely.

These two cheetah were found near the kill

It is now that time of year when female cows give birth. The calving can take place at any time, anywhere. Yesterday, an old livestock owner reported to our Lion Guardians that one of his favorite cows, which was heavily pregnant, had gotten lost in the bush and did not make it home. Our Lion Guardians set out immediately weaving through dense vegetation and shrubs as they follow the cattle tracks for hours on end.

As the bush gets denser, they find hyena tracks alongside those of the cow, instilling a sense of fear among the searching party. Everybody worried for the safety of the cow and her calf. The previous night, lion roars were heard not  far from the area the cow seemed to be heading. In this area renown to be carnivore habitat, whatever gets lost in the bush rarely survives to see the light of day. The Lion Guardians searched every square inch, and just when fear that the cow was lost for good settled in their hearts, they saw the cow and her new born calf. Everybody gave a big sigh of relief and the delighted owner thanked the Lion Guardians for their good work and their unparalleled bush skills.

Mokoi carrying the calf back to the owner

For survival reasons, lions outside protected areas hang out in groups of between two to three. By splitting, they stand better chances of survival from persecution after depredation of livestock. However, for the first time in the history of Eselenkei conservancy, a pride of eleven resides in it. Our female lioness Selenkay, has had two cubs from the previous litter graduate to sub-adult status and now has four little cubs. Her sister Elikan has two cubs as well. The resident male lion called Ndelie, makes the total number of lions an impressive eleven.

Selenkay and cub

This is a new record number of lions outside the Amboseli National Park. These lions have moved from Mbirikani to Eselenkei because of the ideal and favorable climate. There are plenty of prey species and Lion Guardians are doing daily monitoring in and across the conservancy. Tourists from the nearby Amboseli- Porini camp are having a field day with such a big number of lions. Traditional lion hunts have been prohibited and the community MPT game scouts are present to enforce the rules. Thus the existing climate gives lions plenty of reasons to stay, hunt and mate as well as nurturing their little ones to maturity.

Elikan after a kill

However, these lions are also showing a worrying trend. Since moving from Mbirikani to Eselenkei, they have killed seven cows so far, all of which are worth more than $4,000. This is cause for sleepless nights. It beats logic to understand why this pride is killing livestock in an area full of wild prey. It is our hope that they will stop killing livestock during the day and hunt what is rightfully theirs for the taking…wild prey. If they succeed in doing this, they stand a better chance of raising their second litter of cubs to maturity, which in turn will bring much joy to the Lion Guardian family.

Eselenkei pride cubs enjoying a cow

Two new lions have been spotted patrolling Amboseli National Park. Whenever these two brothers, Amboga and Companion, move into a new area, the resident male lions there move out. Amboga and Companion are now the new kids on the block in the park. They have made the northwestern side of the park their home and have managed to chase Kip, one of the resident lions known to Lion Guardians, out of the area and into the communal land along the Kenyan-Tanzania border. As a result, Kip has been terrorizing Maasai bomas and killing livestock frequently. He now resides in Kitirwa conservancy and makes occasional forays into Tanzania.

Amboga

Recently, he killed several shoats (goats and sheep) and cows in Tanzania and then crossed over to Kenya. On another occasion, he killed a cow and subsequently injured a Maasai warrior (murran) who was part of a group hunting him. Kip was able to escape. Several times the Maasai have hunted for him unsuccessfully. A few days ago, he was shot at with guns along the border in Tanzania, he luckily escaped again and crossed over to Kenya where he terrorized more bomas (Maasai livestock enclosure) along the boundary. He is currently a wanted lion in this area.

Kip

Clearly, even though he is alive for now, he is under the spot light and could be living his last days. What is hard to understand is why Kip, whom is not very old, doesn’t hunt the abundant wildlife that resides in and around the park. Why he has developed a soft spot for livestock meat is only known by him. If he consigns himself to Kenya he stands a better chance of surviving because there people are more tolerant to predators compared to their Tanzanian counterparts.

Kip

Hello to all our readers, and sorry the Lion Guardians blog has been quiet for a while. We are all extremely busy right now, as conflict between lions and livestock owners is at an extremely high level at the moment, especially on Eselenkei and Olgulului Group Ranches. The Guardians and Coordinators are working hard to calm angry morans and livestock owners, find out which lions are causing the problems and tracking them to make sure we are aware of their whereabouts, to warn herders of their presence.

The Guardians, and scouts from Selenkay Conservancy have even been involved in calming a number of situations where morans have been angry at the loss of their livestock. We are very grateful for the hard work the Lion Guardians and the Selenkay Conservancy scouts are putting it in at this tense time.

We think that the reason that  there are so many attacks on livestock is that as the land is now drying up again a lot of the wild prey has now moved back to Amboseli National Park, meaning that the majority of prey left is cows, sheep, goats and donkeys. The lion families are also splitting into smaller groups, which means that there are more separate attacks, and more angry livestock owners. Often the lions are not having time to eat any of the animals they have killed before being chased away, so they must strike again in a different boma to find food, causing yet more havoc and anger.

We will keep you updated on the situation as well as we can. Thank you for reading and for your support.

The Maasai community is known all over the world as livestock keepers. This is their main source of wealth and it has sustained them since time immemorial. To a Maasai, eating meat is a very special thing, almost a preoccupation. And actually, if you pay a visit to a friend and he slaughters a goat for you, you know that your friendship is cemented forever. In the Maasai tradition of yester years, there was a special meat eating season which every moran had to undergo. All the morans in a particular neighbourhood or family would get together to plan this event. They would scout for a base camp, fence it and each of them would in turn donate a cow to be slaughtered until the season was over. Then they would decide whether to go for a second round or not! It was a very valuable tradition that served two main purposes.

These meat eating sessions acted as a school of some sort. Different important traditional and cultural aspects of the community were imparted to the young morans. Selected elders respected for their valuable experience and deep knowledge of culture always accompanied them and they would explain each aspect of the Maasai culture to an inquisitive audience who were allowed to ask as many questions as they wished.

The second purpose is that morans will mix different shrubs known for their effectiveness and make soup with it. They drink it when thirsty. Water is banned. They believe these traditional shrubs cleanse their digestive system and make them immune to many diseases and allow them to better act as the defensive unit of the community. The Maasai have done this for years without end.

However, due to the severity of the last drought, everybody has gone without this session. But now, it is on! It is meat eating season! Junior elders, senior morans, as well as the young moran age-set are all going for it! In fact, our own member of Parliament recently invited me to a meat eating session for a selected few. I enjoyed it for two days but had to leave after this time because of my commitment to the Lion Guardians.

Not to be left behind, our Lion Guardians are also undergoing the same in their own zones. They go for their daily duties and come back to ‘orpul’ as it is known, in the evening. They take this time to educate their age-mates on different aspects of conservation. And it seems they are doing this very well, as we have had many compliments from the junior elders who are very pleased with their training. Clearly, meat eating sessions are here to stay despite the different subjects the morans are now learning about.

The prolonged drought that finished earlier this year had an effect on practically everything. The worst affected were herbivores, both wild and domesticated. Wildebeest and zebra, the main prey species for lions, drastically reduced in number and at the height of drought, carnivores were having a field day as they fed on these weak herbivores, like these thin zebras.

However, when the rains came and the grass became plentiful, the few herbivores that were spared by the drought became strong and lions had to work much harder to bring them down. Hyenas were feeding on carcasses and it has been reported that some could even be seen dragging dry carcasses to water, waiting for them to become soft and feeding on them before retiring to their nearby dens. This situation continued for some time and livestock depredation cases attributed to hyenas drastically reduced.

Meanwhile lions became weak, as their primary prey species diminished. Lions within Amboseli National Park especially were affected, as their prey dispersed from this protected area to neighbouring Group Ranches. The lions followed them out but because of their weak strength, they could hardly bring them down. The lions were hungry and this is why lion-livestock conflicts increased at this time, as lions targeted livestock either inside their enclosures (bomas) or whilst out grazing, like this unfortunate cow, attacked by lions.

The lioness Nosieki and her pride have a reputation of never killing livestock, but even they became so weak and their cubs so hungry that they too participated in livestock killing, greatly angering the people who’s cows and goats they chose to kill. However, due to the work of the conservation efforts in the area, such as the Selenkay Conservancy and the Lion Guardians, when our team found Nosieki’s pride recently they were unharmed and very healthy.

They had with them a zebra they had killed that morning. Sadly there were only 3 cubs left from their original number but they were playful and full of life, indicating that they now have plenty of prey. We only hope this situation remain the same for this pride, that are reputed for their peaceful nature.

Our Lion Guardian in Ol Donyo Wuas area, Solonka, has reported that a cow has been killed by lions, just 10 kms south of our camp. Solonka went to the site to verify the claim and try to find out which lion was responsible for the kill.

Although our male lion Lentim’s signal was not very close we suspect he could be the one who killed the cow. There was just one lion track from the cow carcass, and we know that this area is Lentim’s territory and he is usually on his own.

 

We are lucky that Lentim has a GPS collar, so if you want to have a look at his movements and see where he has been you can do! Just click here! Here you can see a map of where he has been. We think he must be the culprit – don’t you?