Our 2023 Lion Kids Camps are underway
Children are the new custodians of Kenya’s wildlife and the attitudes they form at an early age about wildlife tend to last a lifetime. Recognising this, our Lion Kids Camp (LKC) programme is well-tailored to engage children in environmental education ultimately fostering long-term conservation values. We also offer culturally relevant information including identifying which carnivore killed their livestock, disease spread and domestic animal welfare.
Lion Kids playing the Conservation Game © Lucy Maina
We target students and livestock herding children from the landscape based on the critical role they play in wildlife conservation. Each five-day Camp follows a carefully designed curriculum that teaches children about the value and importance of lions, large carnivores and other wildlife species, the threats to their survival and techniques communities can adopt to promote peaceful coexistence.
Lion Kids playing the Conservation Game © Lucy Maina
We are excited to have so far held a total of 4 Camps this year -2 Camps for students and 2 Camps for herding children. A total of 97 children from 4 conservancies – Meibae, Nakuprat Gotu, Westgate and Nanapisho – attended our Camps.
Each day was special for the children, from introductions and getting to know each other, to learning about wildlife and their identification, and finally to a safari into Samburu National Reserve (SNR) using Ewaso Lions’ Simba Safari bus.
Many of the children mentioned the safari as their biggest highlight as it gave them a chance to observe wildlife close-up which brought what they had learnt to life.
Boarding the bus to head on Safari © Lucy Maina
Susan Ekiru said, “We woke up so early on the third day and went to the Reserve. We were overjoyed to see Lions, Elephants, Baboons, Warthog, Elephants, Giraffes and Zebras among other animals. I was saddened to learn that the Grevy’s Zebra is facing extinction if nothing is done.”
Painoti our Education Assistant shows the children Nanai close-up © Lucy Maina
Samburu National Reserve Warden, Moses Lolmodooni, speaks to the children © Lucy Maina
Acknowledging the importance of conservation engagement and awareness, Lion Kids Camp is expanding to include warriors and youth. In this spirit, we had an exposure trip to the Reserve dubbed “Transform Samburu” with an environmental youth group from Lorubae. 25 youth had an opportunity to appreciate and interact positively with wildlife.
“I hope to come back, I have learnt a lot about wildlife and I am teaching my family and friends too. I aspire to be a wildlife veterinarian like Dr. Jessicah of Kura’s Pride so I can be able to save Grevy’s Zebra from extinction. Thank you so much Ewaso Lions for according this opportunity to me, ” Susan Ekiru, Nakupurat – Gotu Conservancy.
Banner Photo © Lucy Maina