I can smell home like the rain when it’s about to fall… I am still here at Oxford University, but I am counting the weeks before I return home after my course. This puts a smile on my face as the weather here is starting to be chilly as the winter approaches! I can’t wait…
Meet traditional warrior Kutata!
Kutata is the most educated of the new Lion Guardians, but is a very traditional Maasai warrior (moran), who is strong and confident. His humble background, likeable character, impressive personality, wealth of experience and respect for his seniors were all strong attributes that impressed the panelists during the selection period. We expect Kutata to take…
Meet young warrior Melita!
Melita is a very young moran who impressed our team with his enthusiasm and eagerness for work. The commitment in which he undertakes community work is second to none – working all day in the hot sun to fence livestock enclosures (bomas) to make them predator-proof. Though he has never been to school, Melita highly…
Meet new Lion Guardian Lopono
Meet Lopono, the lastest Maasai warrior to change his ways from lion killing to lion conservation! Lopono is joining the Lion Guardians team on Eselenkei Group Ranch and will work to monitor the lions here and reduce conflict between his local community and predators. Lopono is a very friendly and likeable character, who makes everyone…
Introducing our new Lion Guardians!
Now that the project is up and running on Eselenkei Group Ranch, we want to introduce you to the four new Guardians who are working here. The first Lion Guardian we would like to introduce you to is Kamunu. Kamunu is the most experienced of the new Guardians. He is extremely articulate and very smart, but has never…
Welcome to the Lion Guardians Eric!
Eric is our new Lion Guardian Coordinator in Eselenkei Group Ranch, where we have now expanded the project to. Fluent in Maa, Swahili and English, very eloquent and with a friendly and likeable character, Eric has so far proved to be a great asset to the team. He trained as a community development worker and…
Meet new Lion Guardian Pilenanka
Pilenanka Sitiyo volunteered as a Lion Guardian in the Ilchalai area back at the start of the project in 2006, and showed great promise, but was just beaten by Lenkina who still holds the position in that area. Now we are pleased to see him again, and he has shown his dedication to the project…
Meet our new Lion Guardians!
We are pleased to announce the arrival of two new Lion Guardians on Mbirikani Group Ranch. Mushaga is replacing Melubo in the Oltiasika area and Pilenanka replaces Lion Guardian Solonka in the Ol Donyo Wuas area. We are sad to say goodbye to Melubo and Solonka who have both worked hard for the project, but…
Sponsor sends greetings to Maasailand!
Lucky Lion Guardian Koikai is being sponsored by blog reader Anne C. We are extremely grateful to Anne for her support of Koikai, and of the whole Lion Guardians project – she recently also donated a brand new laptop for our new Lion Guardians in Eselenkei Group Ranch, so they can fill in all the…
A message from Antony – 3 months on
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…