Lion Guardians

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

Human-wildlife conflict in any pastoralist environment is inevitable and has existed since time immemorial therefore Amboseli ecosystem is no exception. The negotiations leading to the creation of the Amboseli National Park in the early 1970’s were not smooth and due to the political tensions and resulting hunting, the rhino population was decimated. In the early 1990’s, populations of key wildlife species like buffalo, elephants and lions were also nearly wiped out due to spearing from further conflicts with surrounding communities as well as age-set traditional hunts . A community based conservation approach spearheaded by various stakeholders helped restore sanity and within a short time, wildlife populations recovered. A transformed Kenya Wildlife Service adopted the community oriented approach to conservation which eventually led to the distribution of a certain percentage of the total gate collection from Amboseli as revenue sharing to adjacent Group Ranches.

Conservation efforts in the Amboseli ecosystem have made it possible for herds like this one to continue to grow

The emergence of various community conservancies and sanctuaries created both awareness  and an economic venture that brought significant benefits to the community. The creation of conservation organizations like Maasailand Preservation Trust, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, Lion Guardians and the critical intervention of African Wildlife Foundation as well as other important stakeholders widened the scope of understanding and took communal tolerance to a higher level. Lion Guardians and community game scouts within neighboring Group Ranches in collaboration with KWS rangers provided the much needed security intervention in conflict resolutions. For several years, apart from the usual conservation bottlenecks and challenges, everything has gone smoothly. In fact, for the first time in a decade, not a single lion was killed within the Amboseli ecosystem last year and all stakeholders were extremely proud of their vital contributions! KWS declared 2012 ’The Year of Communities’ and we were all hoping for the best.

Then a few days ago, an isolated but significant incident happened. A buffalo critically injured a person who eventually succumbed to death. This is nothing extraordinary since we have experienced this over the years. It is alleged that when the community asked for compensation, a KWS personnel responded in what was considered an insulting manner. The people went back, consulted and brought various grievances against KWS. In the morning, they mobilized able-bodied men, went into the Park, killed a buffalo and speared 4 elephants. They demanded a meeting with the KWS Director to no avail and they demanded another meeting to be held in a weeks time, which also did not occur. There and then, logic and reason took a back seat, anger and emotions took control while incitement took center-stage. Killing of key wildlife species started in the Group Ranches. Politically incited hunts, once started, are unstoppable.

A herd sniffing the air in distress

What started as an ordinary human-wildlife conflict was transformed into a national issue when historical injustices spearheaded by politicians of Kajiado County, were brought forward.  The local leaders no longer wanted to deal with KWS Amboseli but desired the institutional management, headquartered in Nairobi. A promise of 25% of total Amboseli gate collection as revenue sharing to the community by Former President Daniel Arap Moi became the bone of contention as leaders said they are currently receiving only 2%. A meeting to resolve the impasse is scheduled for the 6^th August 2012. Even though we are unable to yet take stock of the damage caused by no less than 25 hunts in a span of 4 days, we can confirm the death of at least one elephant and two buffalos. Despite these hunts, after our strategic but diplomatic intervention, we are glad to inform you that to the best of our knowledge, no lion has been killed. We will keep you updated.

If this political unrest is not resolved soon we worry for the safety and future of all wildlife in Amboseli

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

Greetings!

We are pleased to present you the Lion Guardians 2011 Summary Report, which can be downloaded here. The full length Annual Report (1.3MB) can be found here.

We have had an incredible year, and have started initial expansions of our lion monitoring and conflict mitigation work in Tanzania. We look forward to hearing any feedback or comments from you about our progress this year.

We hope you enjoy these reports, and encourage you to visit us at www.lionguardians.org to follow our work or make a donation.

On behalf of the entire Lion Guardians team, I would like to express great thanks to all of our continuing and new 2011 donors and supporters. Thank you for your belief in our mission and your support in helping us to realize it.

Warmest regards,

Leela Hazzah, PhD
Founder & Director, Lion Guardians

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.

Olamayiani – the blessed one, Mingati – one who is fast and doesn’t lag behind, Miterienanka – one who is quick to claim (win) glory by killing a lion. These are just some of the most popular lion names a moran (a Maasai warrior) can receive from spearing a lion.

In Maasai culture the first warrior to spear a lion in a successful hunt is given a name that represents the characteristics of both the warrior and the lion he speared. A lion name conveys upon the young warrior recognition and prestige amongst his community and peers. A warrior with a lion name feels that something great has happened to him. When the successful warrior brings the lion’s mane and tail back to his manyatta (his home in the community) to be put on display, he is treated and celebrated as a hero. Other warriors who don’t yet have their lion names yearn to have this same recognition and so dream about the day that it will be their turn to bring home the lion trophy.

Young warriors such as these two spear lions in order to gain a lion name

When a Maasai boy is born, he has two names. One name reflects his father’s family. He also has a given name, which is usually chosen to honor a family friend, or someone respected by the family. If for some reason this given name becomes tainted, the boy’s father can give him a new name, but the family name never changes. Once a boy has been circumcised (usually between ages 16 to 18), he stops being called by these names. He is from that point on addressed with the generic name “Moran”, unless he has somehow already killed a lion, in which case he is called by his lion name. So there is more pressure than ever for a young Moran to distinguish himself from his other nameless peers and get a name that recognizes his strength, fearlessness and ability to protect his community.

The Lion Guardians are giving young warriors lion names in recognition of the work they do as lion conservationists

However, the Maasai communities are beginning to discourage lion killing, due to the rapidly dwindling lion population; therefore many new warriors are not being given the opportunity to earn themselves a lion name, which is something that they have been dreaming about since childhood. In Eselenkei group ranch, just as a passing experiment, Lion Guardians started calling a few young Moran by lion names, even though they had not yet killed a lion. We found that the younger boys and girls of the community began addressing these young Moran by these lion names, and soon thereafter, the older members of the community did so as well. The idea caught on like wildfire and soon their peers in their age-set also wanted to have lion names. But we also found that there were still several warriors who felt that they wanted to prove themselves and their bravery in order to earn their lion name. For these warriors we have been assigning them Lion Guardian tasks, and if they are able to show that they understand conservation and are able to protect a lion, then they get a lion name that reflects the characteristics of the lions they are protecting. So it is a win-win situation for all. They are now earning the respect and admiration of their community for having protected a lion. This is just yet another example of how the Maasai are willing to adapt their culture to changing times while still holding on to the core principles and the essence of being a Maasai Warrior, a Moran.

Since the devastating drought in 2009 that created an imbalance between predators and plains game and which wiped out a very big percentage of both livestock and wildlife, the entire ecosystem has been trying to return to equilibrium. This year, the heavens have been very good in giving us the much needed rain, almost exceeding expectations. Experts in meteorology say the rainfall in most parts of the country this year is 4% above normal.

A Lion Guardian tracking lions in the shadow of an impending storm

When the short rains came, and they came at the right time, they were not short but heavy downpours of well distributed rainfall across the entire ecosystem. As a result, everywhere you look is green and beautiful. The usual eye catching geographical features like Mt. Kilimanjaro and the attractive volcanic lava along the Chyulu range are now looking extremely awesome.

Mt. Kilimanjaro in all of its glory

Depredation and the ever present human-wildlife conflict have drastically reduced as a result of availability of prey for predators. Plains game and other wildlife species are making their way out of the National park as usual, at this time of the year, and elephants are plentiful in Selenkay Conservancy. The warriors have also been returning with their livestock back to their permanent settlements and families. The good news is that so far there have been very few attacks on livestock, so no lion hunts have taken place.  This is in sharp contrast to the first rainfall in 2010 after the devastating drought – which resulted in the few surviving wildlife dispersing, so the lions turned to the few remaining cattle that had become even more valuable to their owners, and as a result, lion hunts were plentiful and the Lion Guardians had their work cut out for them.

Lions are feasting on the abundant wildlife that come with the rains

In related news, as a result of the heavy rains pounding the area upstream, the Eselenkei River burst its banks and thereafter changed its course to run right through our camp! It was completely flooded and a few areas will have to be rebuilt. Meanwhile, the Lion Guardians are doing everything possible to maintain the hard earned and existing peaceful climate around the ecosystem.

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

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.