By Philip J. Briggs & Luke Maamai On April 28, 2025, Lion Guardians launched a powerful anti-poisoning campaign in the Osewan area—one of the Amboseli ecosystem’s most persistent poisoning hotspots. Since 2009, we’ve documented the deaths of at least 20 lions here due to poisoning, with many more likely going unreported due to the area’s…
By Filberto Mayiani, Lion Monitoring Coordinator, and Philip J. Briggs, Lion Conservation Advisor For years, Lion Guardians has been working tirelessly to mitigate the threats facing lions in the greater Amboseli ecosystem. Among the most pressing dangers is poisoning, which not only devastates lion populations but also impacts other predators and scavengers that play crucial…
In recent years, a historical threat to wildlife has resurfaced in the Amboseli ecosystem of southern Kenya. We have noted that there has been a significant uptick in the use of poisons for lacing prey carcasses to kill carnivores. Traditionally, Maasai do not use poison as it is seen as cowardly. But over time, culture…
Recently, Guardian Lupembe played a critical role in saving the lives of several lions. Below, our community manager Eric Ole Kesoi explains what happened. In 2019, four calves from a Maasai community beyond our borders got lost out in the bush. Locals from the community convened to look for them, and Guardian Lupembe came across…
Earlier this month, the Lion Guardians team was thrilled to host a six-day customized knowledge sharing session for seven participants from the Niassa Carnivore Project (5) and Niassa National Reserve (2) in Mozambique. These groups are on the front lines of conservation where they operate – where 60,000 people live within the protected area –…
This past week at the National Lion & Hyena Strategy Meeting at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Headquarters in Nairobi, KWS formally launched the Response Protocol to Wildlife Poisoning Incidents. Poisoning is a major threat to Kenya’s wildlife, particularly to lions, vultures, hyenas, and other animals that scavenge. This response protocol will help organizations across…
The call came in late in the afternoon. Guardian Kapande reported that he was following the tracks of one male, two females and two small cubs. He was sure the large male was Meliyo. A surge of excitement crept through Lion Guardians headquarters – Meliyo had not been seen since Mbalueni was poisoned. Could those…
A harsh spotlight has been cast on the plight of the lion this year. The illegal hunt of Cecil in Zimbabwe, the most recent poisoning of three lions belonging to the Marsh Pride in the Masai Mara, Kenya and our very own loss of Mbalueni have raised global awareness of the decline in lion populations…
Osewan is a re-known thicket that extends well beyond the jurisdiction of Lion Guardians. The Maasai section that inhabit most of this area are called Matapato and are yet to benefit from the fruits of conservation, thus highly intolerant to predators that kill their livestock. This is the same area in which one of our…
After our female lion Nosioki and her female cub were poisoned in Osewan in Matapato outside our jurisdiction, we thought that was the end for this pride. The white poisonous substance obtained from Tanzania that was used is so lethal; we thought nothing will be spared. The male cub that survived was barely a year…