The traditional blessings of the new moran (or warrior) age-set called Iltuati took place recently at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. This is a traditional blessing ceremony that must be undergone by every Maasai age-set at the beginning of its transition to the next stage of life. It was meant to have been held last…
Elephant chases lions and other animal activity!
During our expansion to Southern Olgulului, on the way back from a visit to Amboseli National Park’s headquarters we found a baboon acting like a traffic policeman! He was sitting in the middle of the road and stayed there for half an hour with vehicles passing right by him. It was a fascinating sight. You…
NEW LION AND CUBS!
A few days ago we received a report from Lion Guardian Timoine who works in northern Olgululi, not far from Amboseli National Park. He had found the tracks of 2 female lions and 5 cubs! In the past we had heard similar reports from Lion Guardian Parkesian, who is in the neighbouring zone to Timoine,…
Lion Guardians project expands again!
After requests from Group Ranch officials, community leaders and other stakeholders in the Amboseli ecosystem, we are proud to inform you that we have now expanded the Lion Guardians project into another new area in the Amboseli ecosystem – Southern Olgulului! This area stretches along the Kenya-Tanzania border, South of Amboseli National Park, and acts…
The great search for a lion collar
One of the types of collars that are put on lions in order to track them is a kind that is set to drop off the lion on a particular date. One of our male lions, Maringa, had one of these collars, and as the date of ‘drop off’ became closer, it was critical to…
Conflict increases between lions and livestock
Hello to all our readers, and sorry the Lion Guardians blog has been quiet for a while. We are all extremely busy right now, as conflict between lions and livestock owners is at an extremely high level at the moment, especially on Eselenkei and Olgulului Group Ranches. The Guardians and Coordinators are working hard to calm angry…
Conflict increases between lions and livestock
Hello to all our readers, and sorry the Lion Guardians blog has been quiet for a while. We are all extremely busy right now, as conflict between lions and livestock owners is at an extremely high level at the moment, especially on Eselenkei and Olgulului Group Ranches. The Guardians and Coordinators are working hard to calm angry…
The elephant shoe thief returns
You might remember that a while ago a rather inquisitive elephant took a liking to one of my shoes, which I had foolishly left outside my tent one night. The elephant took it into the bush and investigated it thoroughly before deciding that it was inedible and threw it away into a thorn tree, where…
Male lion eats ostrich alive!
A few days ago we received a report that a lone male lion had injured one donkey and three cows and killed another cow in Mbirikani. All this from just two bomas. We followed his tracks on foot for 15 kilometers without any diversion or rest, eager to find out who this male lion was…
Meat eating and conservation!
The Maasai community is known all over the world as livestock keepers. This is their main source of wealth and it has sustained them since time immemorial. To a Maasai, eating meat is a very special thing, almost a preoccupation. And actually, if you pay a visit to a friend and he slaughters a goat…