And the award goes to..

This year’s awards for the Lion Guardian games were divided into six categories. The most reliable award went to Leparakuo Shuaka from Eselenkei. He was rewarded for being quick to respond to conflicts, effective monitoring of his zone, readiness to work at all hours of the day, finding 4 lost young herders and for his flexibility at work. The most improved award went to Jackson Leposo from S.Olgulului who quickly mastered the use of telemetry, improved writing skills, honesty and reliability in collection of data as well as making 72 quality phone reports. The best community impact award was given to Masarie Ologela who fenced a total of 32 bomas that had been visited by carnivores, all of which never again experienced incursions. Also of the 963 lost livestock reported to him, he helped find 886 of them which is a 92% success rate!

Mingati Makarot from Mbirikani won the beyond the call of duty annual award. His encouragement and organizing of fellow Lion Guardians to venture into conflict prone areas beyond the jurisdiction of the project in search of collared lions was recognized and praised by all. Samanya Lerionka from Olgulului who managed to stop 14 lion hunts on his own by being creative in front of angry Morans won the innovation award. However, it was Kamunu Saitoti from Eselenkei who brought down the curtain with applause by grabbing the most coveted greatest program impact award amidst ululation and cheering from his admiring colleagues. His impressive leadership skills and eloquence as well as his ability to improve communal tolerance towards carnivores in a conflict prone zone placed him in a class above the rest. He received his award from Mr. Don Young who praised the games for being competitive and the entire Lion Guardian team for effectively contributing to the protection of key wildlife species in the Amboseli ecosystem.