The on-going human-wildlife conflict in Amboseli moved a notch higher yesterday with a complete show of bravado never seen in the recent past. Monday in the middle of the night a lioness, Amyjane, had jumped into a boma adjacent to the park, killed a donkey and cow, and was speared in the front left leg. The morans responsible for the spearing…
The killing spree in Amboseli necessitated by political tensions between Kenya Wildlife Service and political leaders had a devastating effect to both wildlife and the community. Community leaders met and took stock of the killings within all of the Group Ranches. The results were shocking, but would have been worse were it not for the…
Human-wildlife conflict in any pastoralist environment is inevitable and has existed since time immemorial therefore Amboseli ecosystem is no exception. The negotiations leading to the creation of the Amboseli National Park in the early 1970’s were not smooth and due to the political tensions and resulting hunting, the rhino population was decimated. In the early 1990’s, populations…
Osewan is a re-known thicket that extends well beyond the jurisdiction of Lion Guardians. The Maasai section that inhabit most of this area are called Matapato and are yet to benefit from the fruits of conservation, thus highly intolerant to predators that kill their livestock. This is the same area in which one of our…
After several fact finding missions aimed at exploring the possibilities of expanding into Tanzania, we now are hoping to finalize everything in the next few months. With funding from Panthera, the Lion Guardian program is ready to start around Ngorongoro Conservation area on a pilot basis and we will work closely with Serengeti Lion Project in the…
My fears have now been validated. I regret to inform you that Nosioki, our motherly female lioness is no more! A few days ago, I wrote about the lion-livestock conflict in Osewan. This area has been of great concern to the Lion Guardians given the fact that it is just outside of Lion Guardian zones, on a…
Hi, this is Eric. Recently we told you the news that two young male lions had been spotted by Lion Guardian Lenkina in the same area that Mbeuti and her cubs used to live in. After the sad spearing of Mbeuti by the new age-set of morans back in March, her two 13-month old male…
Lion Guardians coordinator Eric writes about the return to calm and normality after what has been a hectic and difficult time for all of us: After the recent tragedies on Mbirikani Group Ranch with the deaths of the lionesses Narika and Mbeuti, we are proud to announce the return to normality in the ecosystem. Stakeholders…
Eric tells us about the sad second spearing of a lioness on Mbirikani, but brings us the good news that calm is now retuning to the area: The Maasai community has been known since time immemorial to be completely dependant on their livestock. The love they attach to their livestock is second to none and…
After Narika’s spearing we had a little hope that her 3 young cubs might live, but they were less than a month old and would only be able to survive if one of the other females in the pride – either Selenkay or Elikan, who both also had young cubs adopted them. The cubs were…