Mokoi is one of the Lion Guardians who traveled to Ruaha to train the new recruits

In West Kilimanjaro, Sinya area, the process began with a meeting of the area leaders which was attended by all zonal representatives and their community Chairman, as well as the traditional chiefs. They then convened several community meetings, all of which gave us the final blessings to start the initial process in this conflict prone area. In fact, I have just returned from there, leaving behind two of our team members who are conducting interviews for potential Lion Guardians.  The final selection will be done soon and the results announced in a community meeting. Soon thereafter, the training of the selected Lion Guardians will begin.

The new Lion Guardians will be trained in radio telemetry, the use of GPS and data recording

West Kilimanjaro is a very important area if the Amboseli lion population is to be protected; many of the lions that frequent Amboseli cross into the Tanzania border and are often killed in retaliation as a result of human-wildlife conflict.  In fact, a lion was recently killed there in early September 2012, just a few days before we started community engagement.

We believe that the the presence of Lion Guardians in this area will greatly reduce the incidences of human-wildlife conflict, thereby preserving the life of these precioius few remaining lions. Please help contribute to the success of these noble expansion plans by helping us fund the costs of getting these new sites up and running.  Your support helps us cover cost such as the salaries of the Lion Guardians and their equipment.  It also helps us pay for important field costs such as phone airtime, vehicle fuel, maintenance and repair, which are all imperative to the effective operation of the progam.

This is Loomuguri, son of Selenkay and Ndelie, eating meat.

Throughout this conflict period, they have only been hunted once by a group of morans but not in retaliation and fortunately, we were able to come to their rescue. Yesterday, we found them relaxing close to Amboseli Porini camp in Selenkay conservancy with visitors having a field day clicking their cameras. The pride looked absolutely healthy and the cubs seem to have grown bigger beyond their age.

Nempatipat is the daughter of Selenkay and Ndelie

Ndelie, the resident male lion was with them and he seems to have grown in confidence as opposed to his usual skittishness with the car. Lioness Elikan who likes to go solo when she stops weaning, was out hunting and left the motherly Selenkay to be constantly harassed by the playful cubs under the watchful eye of Ndelie. The good news is that their primary prey species are available in plenty owing to the proximity to watering points. This is ideal lion behavior especially in a politically poisoned environment and we pray that they abstain from livestock killing as we wait for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

One of Selenkay’s cubs investigating the camera.

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.

Manenkop marking his territory

Recently, our Lion Guardians have been reporting tracks of 2 male lions and community members have also reported hearing the constant roars of 2 lions in the same area. We highly suspect Manenkop to be one of the lions but we have yet to identify his companion. From the look of things, they are clearly marking their own territory in this remote communal land where prey species are abundant. We will soon update you on the identity of these two lions whom may be responsible for the loss of several livestock in and around Osewan.

Nimaoi is a favorite among the Lion Guardians

We have suspected Nimaoi to have had a new litter of cubs for sometime now. But every time we try to approach her to confirm our suspicion, we found her without any. Usually we found her with her older sub-adults. We had seen tracks of cubs several times, but actually confirming their existence by getting a visual of them was becoming quite difficult. In the afternoon, a few days ago, one of our Lion Guardians from Olbili, Mingati, gave us a direction of her signal and we went to verify. Upon meandering through several whistling thorns close to the lava, we found her with 2 male cubs, and her male and female sub-adults.

One of the cubs

They were all looking pretty and healthy. Nimaoi is one of our most likeable lionesses and we wish her good luck in bringing thes cubs to maturity.

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

Birdie, one of the oldest females in the ecosystem, has raised many cubs

When Birdie and her daughters Nempirbil and Nanyorri gave birth to a combined total of 9 cubs, we knew if the cubs survive, they will be one of the biggest prides in the ecosystem. The cubs which are now almost a year, look very healthy. The ability of these females to hunt together ensures a constant supply of meat which is critical to the growth of any lion. Yesterday, we found this pride resting in the open with a view of a large group of buffalos grazing nearby. The buffalos, whose population drastically reduced after the devastating 2009 drought look to be on the increase, especially along the Chyulu ranges.

Nanyorri is a Maasai name meaning "she who is loved"

This pride lives in one of the wildest places in the ecosystem therefore standing a better chance of increasing in numbers and raising the cubs to maturity. Sikiria and Oyayai, who are the resident male pair, stay nearby and pay occasional visits. Having been sponsored, this pride, which is now 14 in total, is one of the biggest in the ecosystem and our Lion Guardians are happy to keep on monitoring them to ensure their safety.

Nembirbil and her cubs

Sikiria and his brother Oyayai (standing) taking a break after an unsuccessful hunt for an eland

They have sired not less than 10 cubs in a very short time with 4 females in the area. Some of these cubs are now nearly eight months thanks to the constant care of their mothers in one of the safest areas in the ecosystem, the lava. Yesterday, when we found Sikiria and his brother shortly before sunset, I was amazed by their body size, sheer beauty and elegant manes. Sikiria has grown big in a short time and as usual, was absolutely at ease with our car while stretching with the beautiful Chyulu hills in the background. Eland are a favorite prey, and we watched as one luckily escaped the pair. By the look of things, the usual nomadic tendencies for this pair will be restricted to the Oltiasika area, courtesy of prey, safety and love.

Oyayai and his brother seem to have settled, for now, in the Oltiasika area of Mbirikani Group Ranch

Nooldoinyo

Pua, the resident male lion of Nosioki’s pride and the male cub that mysteriously survived the poisoning incident, have both been a permanent feature in this particular area, probably believing that Nosioki will one day suddenly show up. A few days ago, they were joined by 5 sub-adults from a female called Nooldoinyo, who also receives occasional visits from Pua. When these youngsters make a kill, they roar in an effort to invite their mother to the party and at times, they are known to even roar during the day. From our experience, this could invite trouble because every livestock lost will be attributed to them and retaliation might not be far off! Just a few days ago, they killed 10 goat kids in the same area and the 11^th kid escaped by climbing a very tall ant-hill to outwit these youngsters. Understandably, people were not happy but we managed to cool them down.

Pua the resident male of Noisoki's pride

Another group of lions from Eselenkei Group Ranch, who are also Nosioki’s off-spring, are known to inhabit part of this thick bush in Osewan. A male lion called Manenkop from Selenkay Conservancy has been making occasional visits in search of company but has now been there for the last 2 months. This brings the total population of lions in this particular communal area to a staggering figure of 11! This is an immensely high concentration of lions in a communal area without adequate monitoring. This is the same area in which we lost five lions in a span of six months last year. We therefore urgently need money to immediately employ at least 3 Lion Guardians from the Matapato section to monitor this area in which our current guardians are restricted. The protection and safety of this significant proportion of lions that we monitor will now depend on your willingness and ability to be part of the solution.

Manenkop