Lion Guardians

Category: Community work, life in camp | Date: Oct 21 2009 | By: lionguardians

Finally the Lion Guardians, Maasai communities, wildlife and livestock that live together on Mbirikani, Eselenkei and Olgulului Group Ranches have experienced their first showers of rain. Everyone is very excited and thankful that at last there are a few green shoots appearing from the ground.

Though the wildlife and livestock are still very hungry, at least there is now hope that the drought is coming to an end. The Chyulu Hills are certainly looking a little greener.

We really hope that these showers are the start of some heavy rains, so that the Maasai people that have lost so much during the drought can start to rebuild their lives after the devastation it caused. Both people and animals have been struggling to survive and it is said that the Maasai have lost 80% of their cattle (which is equivalent to losing 80% of their money, and their livelihoods). The cattle that remain are too thin to sell, and people are unable to buy food or pay for their children’s’ school fees any more. At least these cows now have a few small green shoots to eat.

Most people have moved away from this area with their cattle, in search of pasture, some as far away as Mombasa and Nairobi. Now everyone is hoping that the grass will grow here, and bring back some life to the area, though whether the communities will be able to fully recover after such a severe drought is uncertain. Those people who had a lot of cattle are no longer rich, and those who had only a few might now be left with nothing.

We are also hoping the wildlife that has been suffering and dying due to lack of food, will also be revitalised and strengthened. However, our big worry is that as the wildlife becomes stronger, and the weak cattle return from their long journeys in search of pasture, the lions and other carnivores in the area will start to attack livestock. The Lion Guardians are all prepared for the possibility of this, and are already warning herders to be extremely vigilant at this time, and to build up their boma walls in preparation.

Tags: drought, drought in kenya, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, rain

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Category: life in camp | Date: Oct 07 2009 | By: lionguardians

The drought is still continuing here, and the animals and people are struggling badly. Everyone hopes rain will fall soon and bring back some life to the parched land. The water hole near to our neighbouring lodge Ol Donyo Wuas is constantly visited by many elephants, as well as very thin herbivores like these zebras, all looking for the scarce water.

There is no grass left to be eaten anywhere, and the wildlife and livestock are starving. These hills were once covered with long green grass - now there is nothing for the animals to eat.

The carnivores however are doing well. They have so many weak animals to choose from, they are able to feed regularly. Here is collared female Selenkay eating a zebra.

This drought is the worst anyone can remember and everyone in the community is praying for the rains to come soon. For their part, the Lion Guardians are doing their best to find lost and weak livestock, which is a particular problem during this time.

Tags: drought, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, living with lions, Maasai, masai

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Category: lion research fieldwork | Date: Aug 27 2009 | By: lionguardians

On Monday we received a report from one of the guides from Amboseli Porini Camp, which is near our new project on Eselenkei Group Ranch. (Thank you so much for the report Amboseli Porini!) They told us they had seen a collared lion in Amboseli National Park, so we rushed over to see who it was.

Our suspicion was that it was Nempakai, who used to reside on Mbirikani with a large pride of 9 others, but hasn’t been here for many months now. We picked up her signal almost immediately and after some searching we found her relaxing with another female with three cubs. Here is Nempakai and one of the cubs.

Then just a few metres away we spotted 2 lovely young male sub adults, and another female, making a pride of 8.

And not only that but a few hundred metres away was a large if slightly bedraggled looking male. What a great sight!

We wonder whether Nemapaki and her pride will now stay in the park or venture back over to Mbirikani. Amboseli is extremely dry. Here you can see a dead zebra next to bones from another animal, with another carcass in the distance.

The place is littered with dead wildlife; buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and sadly elephants are dying too.

The drought is seriously harming the wildlife and Maasai livestock in this area and our Guardians are struggling to cope with their communities’ problems. Lion Guardian Koikai told us yesterday that at a boma close to him they had 12 dead cows in one day, and had burnt 26 dead cows the previous week. The Maasai people here are finding it extremely hard at this time.

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

4 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

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 15 2009 | By: lionguardians

The drought is worsening day by day. It has not rained properly for two consecutive years, and the pastoralist Maasai community who inhabit the group ranch have moved their livestock in three directions in search of greener pastures. The cows are all becoming very thin, and many are dying.

The first group moved their livestock all the way to Manyara in Tanzania. Others decided to take their cattle to Tsavo West National Park, but they have been experiencing serious clashes with the park authorities, who are trying to prevent the pastures of the national park from being overgrazed by cattle, leaving the ground bare.

Following some unexpected rain in the north towards Nairobi a few weeks ago, almost all the remaining livestock has been moved that way, including some who had already gone to Tanzania, meaning they had travelled for over 400km with their herds to find grass. We are now almost resigned to the fact that it may not rain until the end of October.

This devastating drought spares nobody. Livestock and wildlife are affected in equal measures. Elders in the group ranch are describing this drought as the worst ever, and with price of consumer goods sky-rocketing while the price of selling livestock and other domestic products are falling, the situation is triggering a catastrophic food crisis.

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

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Category: Lion Guardians work | Date: May 21 2009 | By: lionguardians

You may be wondering what is happening with the expansion of the Lion Guardians program to two of our neighbouring ranches Eselenkei and Olgulului. The ongoing drought across these ranches sent Maasai murrans and their cattle to other areas in search of greener pastures, which meant that we couldn’t hold community meetings or interviews for Guardians - the first steps in the Lion Guardians expansion. Here is Olgulului during the drought, which is not yet over. As you can see, there just isn’t any grass, so people had to move elsewhere…

Now, after a little rain (although far less than is needed) patches of grass have pushed their way through the parched and dusty top layer of soil, bringing both colour and murrans back into the area. With their return, preparations for the launch of the project across these ranches have finally begun. The assessment of 27 warriors from the Eselenkei ranch will be conducted over the next three days, from which, three suitable new Lion Guardians will hopefully be found.

Lion Guardian Olubi from Mbirikani will do some training with the newly chosen Guardians, passing on the skills and knowledge attained through his role in Mbirikani. Job notices for a Lion Guardian Project Coordinator have also been posted in trading centres, with interviews to be conducted on the 25th May. We’ll keep you updated on the growth of our Lion Guardian team! 

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

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Category: Community work, Lion Guardians work | Date: Apr 06 2009 | By: lionguardians

Last week we reported a day of rain, which brought hope to the Maasai of Southern Kenya. But since that one day we have had no more rain. Some are saying this is the worst drought to hit our ranch since 1984. Elders of the pastoral communities have described it as the most dangerous of all, and the Government of Kenya has declared it a national disaster. Human beings, livestock and wildlife are malnourished and emaciated and some are dying of hunger. Scientist and other experts have expressed fears that the situation could get even worse if the rain fails between now and end of the year.

The drought has caused a seriuos influx of herders from other ranches into our ranch, Mbirikani, and onwards through the wildlife migratory corridors to the nearby Chyulu and Tsavo national parks to compete with the wildlife for the little available grass. This contributes seriously to the depletion of the scarce resources and increases human-wildlife conflicts.  

Our Lion Guardians are having their activities doubled as they are now working around the clock to help the affected herders to look after the malnourished animals, and finding lost livestock which is wandering throughout the bush in search of water. Here Lion Guardian Olubi finds some lost goats, that might otherwise be attacked by carnivores, causing anger in the community.

It is our sincere hope that killing of wildlife due to the anger of losing too much livestock will not occur.This is always common in situations like this, but given the on-going education from our Guardians on the importance of conserving lions, we are sure it will not happen.

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

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Category: Lion Guardian reports, life in camp | Date: Apr 01 2009 | By: lionguardians

It has been extremely dry for a long time now here in Maasailand. The short rains hardly came, and the long rains that should be with us now have yet to arrive. Livestock and wildlife are dying due to lack of water and the land is becoming severely overgrazed.

This week, however, all the herders were delighted to see some rain showers in the west and southern parts of our ranch. Livestock were able to access water at close range, unlike other days when they would have to walk for miles in search of water. We are all praying for the rains to continue, since livestock owners and herders are in such desperate need of water. 

This same week, we have located one of our collared male lions Kasayio. He usually can be found with two others, a male and a female, but he is so shy that we could only see his male comrade.

I think the female he used to hang around with is not with them at the moment, as she was nowhere to be seen. Kasayio has been around our camp for more than three months now, although we don’t get to see him as he hides deep in the thick whistling thorn forest.

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

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

Lion Guardian Mokoi has again saved the day in his local community by helping track and find over 100 lost sheep and goats. The animals had wandered off in search of pasture and water, which is becoming scarcer every day, and the local people were very worried they would get attacked by lions or hyenas. The community were all very happy that Mokoi found their animals, and praised him for his work.

Sadly we have not experienced good rain for the last three months and this water shortage is leading the community to be pessimistic about their future and the future of their livestock. The land is extremely dry and in some areas there is hardly any grass left.

At least the Lion Guardians are feeling positive about their work - helping out herders by finding lost animals that might otherwise be attacked, and trying to reduce problems with carnivores as much as they can.

Please, if you think you can support us by making a donation, this will be greatly appreciated by all of the Guardians and the communities they help. Your donations pay the Lion Guardians’ wages, help buy equipment and train new Guardians among many other things. Without the donations we receive through this blog, we would not be able to continue with the project.

Thank you for any support you can give us, from all of us here in dry Maasailand, and thank you to all of you who have donated to us already.

Tags: attack, carnivore, drought, goats, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lost livestock, Maasai, masai, sheep

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