Lion Guardians

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

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?

Tags: attack, cows, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Livestock, Maasai, masai

One response so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports | Date: Feb 16 2009 | By: lionguardians

One of our collared male lions Lentim has killed three cows up in the hills. This report was confirmed by our Lion Guardian Solonka today, who came to our camp to ask for a receiver and aerial to verify that it was Lentim that had made the kills. Here are some cows grazing up in the Chyulu hills. People have been forced to move their cows up into the hills, as this is the only place which still has green grass for them to feed on.

Solonka went to the area and found Lentim’s signal not far away from people’s settlements. Solonka will have to keep on monitoring Lentim closely and must stay very alert, so he can warn herders and the local people about his whereabouts so as to avoid any more conflicts.

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

4 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 12 2009 | By: lionguardians

We had some worrying news last night. Four lions on the neighbouring ranch to ours - Kuku, where we have some study animals with collars had killed four cows. The local community was furious, and had gathered a large group of warriors together to go out and hunt for these lions. They had all got spears ready and were very angry. We even heard reports that spears were thrown, but we are pleased to say that the lions escaped unharmed, thanks to the intervention of staff from Campi Ya Kanzi, the lodge located nearby.

This news was reported to us by Lion Guardian Melubo who works near the border between our ranch Mbirikani and Kuku. We were very worried by this news, particularly as it could have been our GPS-collared lions Ndelie and Mbalueni, who you can track online via our lion tracking website.

Thank goodness the warriors were calmed down, and did not kill four lions. This would have been a great blow to our lion population.

Tags: attack, cows, hunt, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lion hunt, Maasai, masai, spears, warriors

6 responses so far

Category: Community work | Date: Nov 17 2008 | By: lionguardians

Barely a week after the last livestock were killed by lions, two more have been attacked, one of them sustaining deep head injuries. The culprits of these two cases are our collared lions Mbalueni and Mbeuti, who have come over from the neighbouring ranch Kuku. Here is the injured cow.

We showed the owner of the injured cow how we track collared lions, and with him we found out which lions were responsible. He was very interested, and said that he would not kill the lions if they came back, but would just chase them away. Here he is using the telemetry equipment to see which lion attacked his cow, and where they have gone now.

These two lions have crossed hundreds of kilometers to end up at our twin hills. The area is beautiful and green now the rains have come, and there is plenty of water for wildlife and livestock. Cows are slowly getting healthy again and soon lots of milk will be available. We hope the lions that seem to be now moving into this area will stop killing cows. Not all livestock owners are as tolerant as this man we met. Look at how the rain has transformed the landscape!

Tags: attack, cows, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Livestock, Maasai, masai

2 responses so far

Category: Lion Guardian reports | Date: Nov 10 2008 | By: lionguardians

Lion Guardian Kapande has reported that a cow has been killed by a lion just a few kilometers north of our camp. He had been tracking on foot, and was sure it was one of our collared lions Nemasi, the female with three cubs. Here is Kapande with the cow.

And here you can see the scratches made by the lion…

We went to investigate and take Kapande some radio collar tracking gear. Of course his own tracking skills were correct - and he picked up Nemasi’s signal not far away. Just last week Nemasi killed another cow in the same area. Although Kapande has not been well for the last week (he has been suffering from malaria) he carried on his duties, making sure that the community does not take any action against Nemasi and her cubs. Here he is tracking.

 

Two days later Lion Guardian Masarie reported that another cow was killed by three lions still further north.

 

Masarie was sure that the offender was another one of our collared lions - this time it was a male called Kasayio with two of his friends. Kasayio had been missing for a while and we are glad that he has finally come back to the area, but were not pleased that he has returned to kill livestock. Here is Masarie tracking to confirm that it was Kasayio that killed the cow.

There have been even more reports of lions killing cows recently. Most of the animals being killed are lost livestock that are left out in the bush at night. As it has been so dry the cows are wandering far to find grass and are not coming back to their bomas at night. We hope that the rains that are here now will bring grass soon, and this spate of cow killing will stop.

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

9 responses so far