Amboseli ecosystem

Life on the brink

Four consecutive seasons of below-average rainfall in East Africa have resulted in the worst drought the region has seen in 40 years. Lion Guardians operates in the arid and semi-arid Kenya, which are hardest hit by the drought. The effects of the drought are severe. Lion Guardians is doing what it can to support the…

Nomadic pastoralists’ land management: our ideas, our future

The traditional land use practices of the Maasai are currently undergoing significant changes. The Maasai have traditionally practiced pastoral nomadism, the way of life where people depend on domesticated livestock and often migrate within an established territory to find pasture for their animals. This way of life was adaptable and primarily compatible with wildlife conservation.…

The Chyulu connection

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…

The legend of Noonkiyaa

By Phillip J Briggs and Stephanie Dolrenry Deep in the the Amboseli ecosystem, where the Lion Guardians are based, there is a certain mystical rocky outcrop that draws many to it. Legend has it that this rock formation has deep wisdom. Its human neighbors refer to it as “Noonkiyiaa” meaning “she of elongated earlobes” in…

Gurme’s Pyrrhic victory

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…

A Quest to Understand Lion Killing

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…