Lion Guardians

Category: Community work, Lion Guardians work | Date: Jun 01 2009 | By: lionguardians

After months of waiting, we have finally been able to conduct interviews for three positions as Lion Guardians on Eselenkei Group Ranch. With the drought really affecting the area, the Maasai murrans (warriors) have been travelling huge distances throughout southern Kenya in search of better pastures for their famished cattle herds. Now after a little rain, the murrans are returning to their home area, allowing us to finally hold some interviews! Here are some of the prospective Lion Guardians awaiting their interviews!

We are very excited by this initial step into the new area of Eselenkei. In each of the three areas we had up to 10 eager murrans keen to show us their tracking skills.

Over three consecutive days we interviewed a total of 27 murrans, of which we have selected half to go forward to the next stage - one step closer to becoming a Lion Guardian!

We have been extremely impressed by the eagerness of the murrans we have met. It is exceptionally difficult for young men in Maasailand to find work, particularly as many of them have never attended school and are mostly illiterate, so the opportunities the Lion Guardians program provides makes a huge to their lives.

Hopefully the potential new Lion Guardians will continue to impress us over the next few stages of selection until eventually we have three brilliant Lion Guardians working to protect their once immortal enemy, now turned provider of work - the lion.

Tags: community, eselenkei, interview, job, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai

2 responses so far

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

5 responses so far