Lions, much like humans, form strong bonds with their relatives, facing the challenges of the wild together and supporting each other in time of need. There’s a Swahili saying, “Damu ni nzito kuliko maji,” which translates to “blood is thicker than water.” This proverb captures the innate connection and affinity often felt towards family members,…
Kimana Sanctuary, an area that connects two important wildlife corridors located between the Amboseli and the Chyulu Hills, that allows wildlife to move across areas more recently deployed as agricultural lands, has been a recluse for young male lions for decades. We have often been asked over the years why female lions never appear in…
Celebrating the Life of Loonkiito “Legends are not born, they are created” – Alexander D. Jones Nearly two decades ago, in 2004, two male lion cubs were born in the heart of Kenya’s Amboseli ecosystem. As the little cubs matured into sub-adults, they embarked on a journey of exploration, venturing beyond the familiarity…
By Eric Ole Kesoi, Lion Guardians Community Manager For the last 13 years, Lion Guardians have been monitoring lions in the Amboseli ecosystem so closely that we have come to know individual lions and their lineage. In studying the lions, we have also learned the critical importance of open spaces and the wildlife corridors that…
Two sub-adult male lions arrived in Selenkay Conservancy some years ago. They had dispersed from a pride in a part of the Chyulu Hills called Olosira (southern Kenya). In Selenkay, they found a resident male lion and his four sub-adult male sons. The two new arrivals, who Lion Guardians later named Gurme and Lormesasu, settled…
With nearly 250 lions roaming our ecosystem, it can be hard to keep up with them all. In this post, Philip Briggs provides an update on a group we’ve keenly followed for years. In 2018, we enjoyed observing a trio of subadults – two sisters and a brother – disperse away from their natal range…
Last year, our Program Manager Luke Maamai successfully completed his Master’s thesis in Conservation Biology at University of Kent. Below, Luke shares some main findings from his research, which offers new hope for lions in our ecosystem, and guidance for how we can continue to enable coexistence in a changing landscape. In order to understand…
Mock hunts are an integral part of our conflict mitigation work. We are currently raising funds to triple the size of our conflict response team; to support this work, please visit our campaign page. Many of our best conservation tools come from communities themselves, and “mock hunts” are no exception. In the past, when a…
Today, on World Lion Day, we are honoring a legend among lions. Loonkito is 16 and a half years old – a record for the Amboseli ecosystem and one of the oldest known African lions in the wild. Check out his story below in a new video by our Lion Monitoring Manager Philip Briggs. But…
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…