New Kids On The Block

When Lion Guardian Noah from the Ol Donyo Wuas zone of Mbirikani came himself directly to our base camp to deliver his report personally, we knew immediately that he was excited about something.

He had found tracks of three young male lions just close to Ol Donyo Lodge and had followed them to the place where they had entered a lava flow. He knew that once the lions had entered the lava that they would be sleeping close by and we should come in a vehicle to try and see them once dusk set in. This particular report was of much interest to us as we have not heard of any group of three males travelling together throughout Mbirikani.

As dusk approached, we positioned ourselves and waited at the place where Noah expected the lions to be hiding. As the darkness grew, Noah suddenly pointed out a moving object, then another, and another; he had found them!

Thankfully they were very comfortable with our vehicle and allowed us to take photos to identify them. It turns out that this coalition of males are not individuals known to the Lion Guardian monitoring population. They may have been born and raised in a neighbouring group ranch or national park like Amboseli or Tsavo West.

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This is very exciting news for the population of lions on Mbirikani as we do not document new lions very often and are happy to welcome young adults to the area. This movement will no doubt bring a new challenge to dominant males Kasayio and Lormanie whom currently own the territory around this area