Lioness killed inside Amboseli Park
The on-going human-wildlife conflict in Amboseli moved a notch higher yesterday with a complete show of bravado never seen in the recent past. Monday in the middle of the night a lioness, Amyjane, had jumped into a boma adjacent to the park, killed a donkey and cow, and was speared in the front left leg. The morans responsible for the spearing [...]
Large concentration of lions in fatal habitat
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 [...]
Nosioki’s male cub still alive
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 [...]
Nosioki and cub are dead
My fears have now been validated. I regret to inform you that Nosioki, our motherly female lioness is no more! A few days ago, I wrote about the lion-livestock conflict in Osewan. This area has been of great concern to the Lion Guardians given the fact that it is just outside of Lion Guardian zones, on a [...]
Another Lion Is Killed In Tanzania
For several weeks , Kip (a collared male lion that lives around Amboseli N. P.) has terrorized Maasai bomas on the Tanzania border. After killing livestock in Tanzania on several consecutive nights, it was clear there was a predictable pattern. He has been the target of several hunts but has luckily escaped unscathed. However, the [...]
Lions aren’t the only carnivore affected by poison
Fossil records reveal that more than 20 hyena species roamed the earth as recently as 10 million years ago but most of these species are now extinct. Currently, only four extant members of the carnivore Hyaenidae exist, the spotted, brown and striped hyenas, and aardwolves. Brown hyenas are only found in South Africa, while striped [...]
Recent lion killings in Tanzania
For the past month, conservationist within the Amboseli ecosystem were jubilant following the arrest in Tanzania of an infamous elephant poacher who managed to escape with a broken elbow after two of his accomplices were killed in Kenya as they try to waylay a herd of elephants armed with an automatic rifle. The network of informers [...]
2010 in Review
The beginning of 2010 marked an extremely difficult time for our Lion Guardians. First, a prolonged devastating drought wiped out over half of the herbivore population – both domestic and wild. Livestock, which are the backbone of the Maasai economy, were drastically reduced by both the drought and the subsequent diseases which affected the survivors [...]
Another lioness is speared, but the worst is behind us
Eric tells us about the sad second spearing of a lioness on Mbirikani, but brings us the good news that calm is now retuning to the area: The Maasai community has been known since time immemorial to be completely dependant on their livestock. The love they attach to their livestock is second to none and [...]
Narika’s cubs nowhere to be found
After Narika’s spearing we had a little hope that her 3 young cubs might live, but they were less than a month old and would only be able to survive if one of the other females in the pride – either Selenkay or Elikan, who both also had young cubs adopted them. The cubs were [...]
