The way forward for lions and spotted hyena in Kenya
I traveled to Nairobi mid-February to attend the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) lion-hyena strategy workshop held at the KCCT training centre in Karen. The workshop was held between the 18th and 20th of February and was sponsored by USAID, the IUCN Cat Specialist Group and KWS.
It was great to meet everyone at the workshop -many friends and familiar faces who I had not seen for years. The workshop was opened by senior staff from KWS and was followed by presentations given by lion/hyena ecologists and the senior scientists of the KWS conservation areas. It was a really good opportunity for me to meet the Assistant Directors and Senior Scientists of the Mountain Conservation Area (Samburu falls under this) and the Eastern Conservation Area (Buffalo Springs and Shaba fall under this area).
During the meeting, I assisted with providing distribution data on lions, spotted and striped hyena for Northern Kenya. Using data gathered during the two cheetah censuses I did in 2006 and my Masters degree results, I was able to help in this mapping process. There were many knowledge gaps in certain areas, however great progress was made as new information was supplied.
The facilitators from the IUCN Cat Specialist Group gave us cetain tasks to work on to assist with developing a strategy for lion and spotted hyena conservation. This took 2 days and was very useful as we were able to really look into and discuss the issues and threats that lions/hyenas are currently facing in Kenya.
Overall, it was a very useful and successful workshop. I am very grateful to the Kenya Wildlife Service for organising this important workshop and for bringing in key participants to help facilitate the process of writing a strategy for lion/hyena conservation in Kenya.