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: 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: Community work | Date: Apr 13 2009 | By: lionguardians

First of all I would like to say Happy Easter to all our blog readers! I hope you enjoyed your holiday. Here in Kenya we too have been celebrating Easter, and have also been busy with many other things! We have even had a few hard rain showers!

On Saturday it was the day of my leaving party, an amazing day, which I will tell you more about soon. We also have a guest from New York, who we have been looking after. We decided the best way for her to experience the real work of the Lion Guardians was to take her into the field to do some tracking.

We picked up the nearest Guardian, Kapande who was armed with the telemetry gear and headed to the spot where Kasayio and 2 others killed a wildebeest a few days previously. At a distance with the help of our flashlight we picked out the eyes of the trio, but alas! Kasayio was too shy for us and dashed into the nearby lava forest. The other two lions stayed out for a while, and gave us a good view for our guest whose first visit it was to Africa. What an amazing sight for her!

We also took her to meet Lion Guardian Olubi in his boma. Here they are, Olubi’s mother is to the left, and his wife to the right.

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

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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: life in camp | Date: Jan 16 2009 | By: lionguardians

Today we are very pleased to have a lot of rain. Last night we had 6mm and today the rain is continuing. This is great news for the wildlife and the livestock who have been longing for more rain.

 

The ground was so dry, and animals were dying from lack of water, so we are all very happy that it has now come. We hope that the grass will grow and the whole place will become very green and beautiful!

I don’t have any more news on the speared cheetah - I will let you know if I hear anything more about it.

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

5 responses so far

Category: life in camp | Date: Nov 07 2008 | By: lionguardians

Everyone here is happy and smiling, especially after our public holiday yesterday to celebrate Obama’s victory! As I’m sure you will know, Barack Obama’s father was Kenyan, so everyone here is very excited that he is now President of the United States, and Kenya’s President Kibaki declared yesterday a public holiday to celebrate!

The other great news here is that the rains have finally come to the Chyulus! It rained hard all last night and it continues today.

It has been so dry here; the grass has all been eaten and animals were getting sick and dying. The lack of rain was causing real problems for everyone. Many animals were getting lost, as they roamed far to get water, and were getting eaten by predators. Elephants were breaking people’s water troughs, and the situation was very difficult. We are so glad the rains have arrived. All the Lion Guardians hope that this will reduce conflict between people and wildlife.

Tags: barack obama, Kenya, lion, lion conservation, Lion Guardians, lions, Maasai, masai, obama, rain, rains

5 responses so far