Over the course of last year, communities in our operating area experienced more than 220 attacks on their livestock – that’s more than twice as many as we recorded in 2019. This increase is due to lots of factors: growing lion and human populations, an increasingly unpredictable climate, shifting cultural values leading to less responsible…
Livestock are paramount in Maasailand – they are a form of wealth, and are the lifeblood and livelihood of communities. Guardians help protect local livestock not only because keeping them safe limits the opportunities for lions to prey on them, but also because these efforts show communities that we are there for them. Guardians such…
At Lion Guardians, we pride ourselves on being creative, reacting to challenges, and taking risks. But we also know that in order to be effective, these actions need to be in the context of a larger strategy – one that combines lessons from the past with current information to chart a course for the future.…
Amazon. IKEA. ValuJet. And…Lion Guardians? Our organization might not seem like it has much in common with these business giants; we are certainly not a huge corporation, nor a household name. But like each of them, we have taken big risks, shaken up our industry, and seen big rewards. In fact, our perspective is that…
It is always exciting to welcome new faces to the Lion Guardians family! Since the beginning of the year, we have hired two new Guardians to help conserve lions and preserve communities in our operating area. Lankoi Partoti Mancha is a 24-year old member of the Iltuati age-set [the current group of morans, or warriors].…
Introducing Kikardi Jackson Kikardi – a new addition to our senior management team – joined Lion Guardians last year, but we have been so busy in the field that we are only now sharing our excitement about him coming on board! Before joining us, Kikardi was working as a field operations manager for Soils for…
For over a hundred days, the Lion Guardians phone has been abuzz with messages and the air has been filled with exciting conversations about lions – even more so than usual! That’s because Lion Guardians has been involved in a key conservation effort currently underway across Kenya, the National Lion Census. This project has been…
This year, we have experienced extremely high levels of conflict, mostly as a result of heavy rainfall and a booming lion population. And although the communities have been extraordinarily tolerant, we have hired four new Guardians to help proactively mitigate conflict in our operating areas. Our office manager Merishi recently got a chance to catch…
Earlier this year, Big Life Foundation – with support from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust – took over the management of Kimana Sanctuary, and we were excited to report that a lion was beginning to use the protected area and nearby wildlife corridors. Naturally, we were intrigued to find out more! When Big Life initially called upon…
Like some other smart and social species, lions often learn from each other. This so-called “social learning” is generally advantageous for animals, since it enables helpful behaviors to spread through groups; dolphins learn from their mothers to use sponges as tools, monkeys learn to wash sweet potatoes from other members of their troop, and fish…