Ewaso Lions

July

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by
Community Donors In The News Lions Our Blog Staff Wildlife
July 28, 2023

Receiving the Whitley Gold Award

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RECEIVING THE WHITLEY GOLD AWARD

We are thrilled to announce that Ewaso Lions was recognised with the prestigious Whitley Gold Award, presented by HRH Princess Anne at a spectacular ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London in April. Sir David Attenborough narrated a short video on Ewaso Lions, which can be watched here. 

Seven of our team members took to the stage to address the 500-strong audience of supporters, donors and country Ambassadors to share in the power of community-led conservation, rounding out the milestone 30th Whitley Awards ceremony with a Samburu blessing for all conservationists worldwide.  Our keynote speech can be watched here.

We are so honoured to receive this award that celebrates our community-led programmes and all our communities who live alongside wildlife in northern Kenya. Through the Gold Award 2-year project, we will be developing a community-led toolkit that can be applied anywhere around the world.  It is separate to our day-to-day Ewaso Lions work but connected in an exciting way. Using our learnings and experiences from the past 15 years, and together with 25 global conservation leaders whom we will bring to Samburu, we will collectively develop this toolkit.

Here are some of our celebratory photos:

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A year of firsts by Jillian Knox
by
In The News Lions Reserves Uncategorized Wildlife
July 28, 2023

Losing Nanai

NANAI – A SAMBURU LEGEND

For the past 14 years, we have all been very fortunate to observe and protect Nanai- the most well-known lioness in Samburu. On the 26th of May, Nanai was humanely euthanised at 10:44 am by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) vet Dr Mutinda and assisted by Dr Sharon Mulindi. Her cancerous growth had returned, and she was unable to survive. She had lost her body condition considerably over the past few weeks and was struggling to move.

In January, our team observed Nanai struggling to eat and hunt because of a large growth in her mouth. Nanai’s three cubs were still months away from being able to survive on their own, and we knew that it was imperative for us to take action to help Nanai and her family. We worked with KWS and on a warm January morning under the shade of an Acacia tree, Nanai was operated on and her growth removed.  This was an extraordinary achievement and our concern for her for so many months changed to relief and excitement as we watched her recover.  She recovered well and was able to hunt again and raise her cubs for an additional four months until sadly we had to say goodbye. Her cubs have been fending for themselves since April and they recently teamed up other members of their pride. We have been monitoring the cubs closely and are very hopeful about their future.

Nanai lived an amazing life and continued the legacy her mother Nashipai left. We have known Nanai since her birth and she was named by Jeneria meaning “mine” in Samburu. We have watched her grow up as she taught us so much about the lions of the north. She had a huge impact on the landscape and the lion population, and we are all so grateful for every moment we had with her.  We are so grateful to all at KWS, Samburu and Buffalo Springs Reserves management and rangers, and all guides who reported sightings and were concerned about her. Thank you all so much.

We are celebrating the life of this special lioness. If you have been to Samburu, the chances are you were lucky to see Nanai. She will always remain a real legend and icon of Samburu. Here are some of our favourite photos:

Photo (c) Michael Laubscher

Photo (c) Michael Laubscher

DONATE HERE TO SUPPORT NANAI’S LEGACY

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