Learning about lions

Today was the end of our two days of lectures with the Northern Rangeland Trust. They had come all the way down from the North of Kenya to learn all about lions, and wanted to visit the Lion Guardians to find out how we deal with the conflicts between people and carnivores. This made us proud because we are being read about far and wide. We were also very glad they came because we too got to learn a lot about lions, that we didn’t already know. The lectures tackled lion biology and ecology, how to tell a lion’s age and how to identify a particular lion incase one is causing trouble to the local community.

They also dealt with carnivore conflict, and we visited a livestock owner who’s goat had been killed by a cheetah the night before. We went out to find tracks and learnt how to recognize those of different animals.

We also found out all about a particular problem they have in the North – man eating lions. We have never had such a case here in the Chyulus and the Guardians were surprised. On our side we learned a great deal about lions and their status in Samburu and Laikipia districts. All our staff at camp attended the lectures and we were amazed that we had lived with lions for such a long time, and would not have been able to tell their age even after killing them! Now we are all concerned with conserving lions, and are glad we know much more about them. A big thanks to Seamus who took his time to take us through the training.

You can now ask me any questions regarding lions and I will try to answer you! After the lectures were finished, we handed out Maasai shukas (blankets) to our guests, as it is a Maasai tradition. We also had a goat party, and stayed up late discussing the origins of the Maasai; but more on that tomorrow.