On the 29th of June, I received word from one of the resident driver guides in Samburu that he had seen 3 little lion cubs 2 days ago! Some background: The last time we had cubs in Samburu was in May 2006. Since then, Nashipai, Nabo and Uni have mated often with the 3 resident males but no cubs. I was getting a little worried about the situation especially since I have recorded a drop in the resident lion population. So, when I received this news, I was sooo excited and couldn’t wait to see the cubs and identify which female had given birth.

Ntito’s 2 cubs in 2006 -the last time there were cubs in Samburu

On the 4th of July, I headed out to try my luck at finding the cubs. They hadn’t been seen since the 27th of June. At about 2pm, we spotted Uni and Nashipai in the river, looking very full and content lying in the dry river-bed. I looked around hoping to see more signs of lions, but nothing. After a few minutes we did see a fresh impala carcass. It was clear that the lions had killed in the morning. We also passed a resident driver from one of the nearby lodges who said that he had seen the female and 3 cubs with 2 other lionesses feeding on the impala earlier that day. We continued our search for the other lions…

As we headed towards the main hill of Koitogor, we saw tracks of a female. I backtracked and suddenly realized I was not only seeing tracks of a female, but also smaller ones! These were the 3 cubs. I whooped with excitement and followed the tracks until we came to an area of thick Salvadora bushes on the tip of Koitogor hill. My Samburu friends whispered “the cubs are in here for sure”. We waited for a while and then saw many Superb Starlings congregate and chirp away on top of one of the Salvadora bushes. The birds were seeing something that we were unable to see and as had happened on many previous occasions, I wished I was a bird to hover above and see what was there. We left the area as I did not want to disturb the cubs too much, with the hope that I would catch a glimpse of them the following day.

We left camp at 5 45am on the 5th of July and headed straight for the Salvadora thicket. I turned off the engine and listened. We heard crackling of bushes and at one point it sounded as if something was being eaten. We poked our heads out of Gypsy’s roof hatch and then we saw them! 3 tiny little ones aged at approximately 8-9 weeks, playing in the Salvadora bushes. At first I wasn’t sure if the cubs were alone or not but then we saw the cubs pull at what appeared to be an adult lion’s tail. The mother was there. We then saw her ears and at this stage I knew immediately this was Nabo. I hadn’t seen Nabo since March and had already suspected that she may be the mother. It appeared that Nabo was chewing on something; possibly something she had killed during the night. The cubs were playing and running around each other. We could hear them nursing and every few minutes one of the cubs would come tearing round the bushes chasing another. We left the cubs and Nabo after a while.

First glimpse of the cub

Nabo coming out of the bushes

This was a very special moment. I was so relieved to see that Samburu finally has cubs once again. Watching Nabo look after them and witnessing their playful behaviour was definitely the highlight for me and I couldn’t be happier.

Since then I have seen the cubs a few more times. The wardens, rangers and resident drivers are all so excited and stop me each time on the road to say “Have you seen the cubs?”. Also, a few days ago I received a text message from another resident driver that he had seen another female with 2 cubs! I am currently in Nairobi doing some administration but am so excited to head back tomorrow to see who else has shown up with cubs. The lions of Samburu are back….and we couldn’t be happier.

Two days after I saw Nashipai, Nabo and Uni, I was leaving camp at 5:45 am when I suddenly heard lions. I drove out of camp quickly knowing that lions were nearby. I saw tracks immediately and followed in pursuit. I drove round a corner and 5 metres ahead of me was a lioness sitting on the road. I had my intern at the time, Jerenimo, who whispered “she is so white”. And that was exactly it. This was Naibor (meaning white in Samburu), the new young female. Naibor was staring intently in one of the bushes at the side of the road and that’s when we realized that there was another lioness there.

Naibor stood up and at the same time we saw another female walk through the bushes. It was Nashipai. This was only the second time I had seen Naibor and I don’t know where she came from. The Koitogor Pride females (Nashipai, Nabo and Uni) all returned recently and I did wonder whether Naibor would show up with them?

Nashipai walked off into the bushes quickly. 15 metres away, Naibor followed in pursuit. Each time Nashipai stopped, Naibor stopped and would peer through the bushes at Nashipai. This walk-follow-stop went on for a few minutes. Naibor did not approach Nashipai too close and Nashipai did not turn around. Eventually Naibor began to run towards Nashipai who turned around and growled her at. Naibor retreated and sank back into the bushes.

There were many impala around at the time. Both females disappeared then and over the next hour tried to hunt the impala. At one point, Naibor (still 15-20 metres behind Nashipai) sat in some grass and waited. Nashipai saw impala in the distance and went round but in the process went running and clashed into Naibor. She jumped over her and disappeared.

Both females disappeared (again!) and I couldn’t see them for hours. I headed back to camp and returned a few hours later to find both females sitting together (side by side!) along the river. It was a beautiful sight to see both girls together.

Sorry for the delay in writing this post! The good news is that Nashipai is finally back! Last week, whilst out lion monitoring, I was in Buffalo Springs when I got a radio message that 3 lionesses had been seen in Samburu hunting an elephant calf (they did not succeed). I drove over to Samburu and as I approached “Lion Highway” (one of the main roads where I see lion tracks and sightings often) I suddenly saw them walking down the road. I stopped the car and waited for them to walk down. I recognized her immediately. Nashipai was back and she was together with Nabo her sister and Uni, the older female in the pride. They walked past me as I had a big grin on my face.

I stayed with the lionesses for a few hours. They settled down at the river and watched everything that came down to drink. Nashipai went down and drank in the river, but jumped back on the riverbank and by noon, all 3 were sleeping in the nearby bushes.

The girls are back, looking healthy and I am thrilled.

Since returning to Samburu, I was anxious to try and figure out which lioness died mysteriously in October last year. Luckily, Saba gave me close up photos of her head which included her whisker spots. I sat down with my file, ID photos and drawings and was able to look closely at her ears and whisker spots. One side was covered in mud and was thus hard to see, however her left side was pretty clear – this was Sempei (I am about 80% sure this was her).

Sempei was one of the first females we identified in 2003. She was seen with the other main females in the Koitogor Pride and was aged at approximately 5 years then. One of my first memories of her was when I saw her near Samburu Lodge and she walked past the car and hissed at me. Her name apparently means “the fierce one” which I think was appropriate for her! I also saw Sempei often in October 2003 when Eleanor, one of the females in the First Ladies family (elephants!) died near Wire Bridge and the Koitogor Pride came to feast on her for a week. Sempei never left the scene and guarded Eleanor for the rest of the pride. She was a kali (fierce in Swahili) female and at one stage chased off a new male lion who came near the elephant carcass.

Sempei had many cubs during the years I got to know her. I saw her cubs often in Hippo Circuit. At one stage some of her older cubs got ringworm however they recovered quickly. She was a good mother, a slightly clumsy hunter, but overall a beautiful dominant female in the Koitgor Pride. I will miss Sempei’s hisses and her character in general.

The vet suspects that she may have been poisoned which is an increasing problem in Kenya. Poisoned carcasses are laid out to control predators and often hyenas and lions die as a result. I will be investigating more about this during my fieldwork and hope that with the community work I shall carry out, conflict between people and predators will be reduced in this part of Kenya.

On the 27th of October, I received a report from Samburu that a lioness who was seen ill, died on the 28th. She was seen by a tourist who was out on a game drive. The lioness at the time was with a male lion who appeared healthy, however she was hyper-salivating, looked as if she was having a fit and was unable to stand up. The lioness died the following day and a vet from Kenya Wildlife Service arrived to conduct a post mortem.

The lioness was said to be healthy and not malnourished. It was also clear that she had struggled to breathe for a long time before she eventually died. The cause of death at this stage is still uncertain, however, this female was most likely poisoned or had contracted a disease such as rabies.

I am yet to identify the female, however as soon as this is established, I will post the latest update. I am fairly certain that she is a female from the main resident pride – the Koitogor Pride.

Thanks to Lucy King for the photos.