It has been three months since I joined the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. Before, I never knew what it meant to collect data and why someone must use specific methods to do it right. That is now history. Thanks to Dr. Lucy Tallents who has been working tirelessly to make sure that…
Lions, bomas, laptops? Thank you!
Thank you for your concern about the ongoing drought here and for your donations over the past few months. We would like to thank Cass N, Brian M, Black C, Richard V, Lois C, Anne C, Loki Q, Diane K, Jessica F, Pirjo I, Sheri H, Katherine J, Samantha V, Scott R, Jace A, Sauwah…
Devastating drought
The drought is worsening day by day. It has not rained properly for two consecutive years, and the pastoralist Maasai community who inhabit the group ranch have moved their livestock in three directions in search of greener pastures. The cows are all becoming very thin, and many are dying. The first group moved their livestock…
Guardians help prevent conflicts with wildlife
At the workshops we held recently with the new potential Guardians, we asked them to each pick the weakest boma (livestock enclosure) in their area – one that had been recently targeted by predators or that they thought needed the most urgent re-building. We wanted them to find bomas that would benefit most from being given…
Introducing the Tara Pride!
Thanks for your suggestions about names for our new pride of lions. After long discussions about what to name the Eselenkei pride of lions which includes collared female Nosieki, the Lion Guardians and team have settled on a Maasai name which is befitting for this pride: the Tara Pride. An interesting thing about this…
Collaring our second lion!
We recently received a report from one of our volunteering Guardians Lopono, that lion tracks had been found over two hours drive from camp. We started our journey in the scorching afternoon sun and on the way collected a further three volunteering Guardians, Kisioki, Naini and Lenkai who had also found tracks in the area.…
More tests for new Lion Guardians
The Lion Guardians team recently conducted three workshops for our thirteen new Guardians who are hoping for employment. We trained and tested them on their tracking skills and reading and writing abilities, as well as carrying out some human-wildlife conflict role-play scenarios with them. The Maasai warriors were eager to learn as well as demonstrate…
Our new area!
We would like to tell you about the area that our new research and Lion Guardians camp is based. The local Maasai Group Ranch is called Eselenkei, which is communal land owned by the Maasai, mainly used for grazing livestock. This map shows you the ranches around Amboseli National Park, which is near to the…
1st lion collared on new ranch!
We are sorry the blog has been quiet for a while. We’ve been having some problems with our internet but I hope you will be pleased that we are now back and reporting on the work of the Lion Guardians here in Maasailand! Kamuna, one of the promising volunteer Lion Guardians in our new area…
New Lion Guardians! The selection process continues.
After months of waiting, we have finally been able to conduct interviews for three positions as Lion Guardians on Eselenkei Group Ranch. With the drought really affecting the area, the Maasai murrans (warriors) have been travelling huge distances throughout southern Kenya in search of better pastures for their famished cattle herds. Now after a little rain,…