Our Blog – Page 39 – Ewaso Lions

Donation of laptop

From Gamewatchers Safaris (Director Mohanjeet Brar – pictured in photo with Shivani)

On March 27th, Gamewatchers Safaris kindly donated a second hand laptop to the Ewaso Lion Project. I am immensely grateful for this donation as the laptop was much needed for the project. Raphael has already begun to work on it and has been learning how to type. He will eventually begin to enter data.

If you’re looking for an excellent safari away from the crowds, with high quality guides and a real safari experience, I highly recommend the Porini Safari Camps, or one of Gamewatchers other safaris. Visit www.porini.com <http://www.porini.com/> for more information. Gamewatchers work closely with the local communities and are making a significant contribution to conservation through their conservancies.

Workshop and training in Samburu

Training on lion and cheetah ecology with wardens, drivers & scouts…

On the 19th of March, I arranged for a workshop in Samburu on “Lions and Cheetahs of Samburu National Reserve”. 45 participants attended the workshop comprising of rangers and wardens of the reserve, and a number of resident tour drivers.

Mary Wykstra from Cheetah Conservation Fund was here to present on cheetahs. We started at 10 am and I began by giving an outline on lion ecology. This went on for more than an hour as there were tons of questions from the participants. Following this, I went into details of how to age and identify lions and gave specific information on the resident lions of the reserve. By the end of the training, the drivers and rangers knew all the names and ages of the lions! I concluded by giving my findings of lion numbers and distribution over the last few months. Mary took over with her talk on cheetahs. I briefly spoke about cheetahs of Samburu and the issue of the disease mange that our Samburu cheetahs have suffered from. By the end of the training it was past 1 pm! We all had tea, sodas and biscuits and the guests left by 2 pm. Overall, it was a very successful workshop and exhausting too; I had totally lost my voice by the end of the few hours!

In the evening, I went out on a game drive and saw a male lion. A few minutes later, some of the resident drivers and rangers who had come to the workshop drove by. They looked at the lion and discussed amongst themselves before announcing with confidence that the male lion was Baasi. I was thrilled; the workshop was definitely a success!

On the 21st of March, Mary and I drove to West Gate to do some one-on-one training with the Ewaso Lions scouts. Mary went through all the different predators and prey. I continued with how to collect data and went through the individual data sheets. I then supplied the scouts with their equipment; binoculars, GPSs and radios and showed them how to use everything. The training ended in a hurry as a huge wind storm almost blew us away! We rushed through, packed up and drove back to the reserve quickly as I was worried that we would not be able to cross Kiltamany lugga. We were just in time!

The scouts are doing very well and have been collecting data for a month now. I recently got them solar panels to charge their radios and bags for their equipment.

Many thanks to the Rufford Small Grants Foundation for funding the workshop/training, the Oregon Zoo for all the scouts equipments and to Stacey for the cool waist bags to carry the equipment.

Update on the tree project

More trees planted at Ngutuk Ongiron and Kiltamany Primary Schools

In early March, I bought more trees from Isiolo forestry, which were planted at two more schools. I first went to Ngutuk Ongiron Primary, out in the middle of West Gate Conservancy. This is a very hot, dry area with no water at all and I thought it would be a real challenge for trees to grow here. The holes had been dug when I arrived and the teams ready. Each team had a name; from Gamia (camel in Swahili) to Simba (lion in Swahili), comprising of students of mixed ages. This was a very different experience to the one at Lpus Leluai primary. Here, students are much younger and live a very remote life. They were all terribly excited to plant their trees and it was great fun. I gave them the chicken wire and they started protecting the trees from the goats who were already moving around in the school compound. We discussed the water situation and agreed that every day when the students mothers would walk 7 kms to the river, they would collect a small amount for the school trees. Each small amount would add up to about 20 litres which would be enough for daily watering. I was pleased with the solution they had come up with and knew it would work. I have not been able to check up on the trees since they were planted on the 3rd of March, however the headmaster has informed me that all trees are doing well.

On the 10th of March, I delivered 10 trees to Kiltamany primary school, North of Samburu National Reserve. Again, I was met with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. The kids all dug their holes, went dashing around to the villages to collect fertilizer and small sticks to protect their trees. It all went well and tree tags were made and distributed to the students. Rulers and books were also supplied and the students have been measuring and taking notes ever since.

To date, 33 trees have been planted by 98 students. Out of the 33 trees, 1 was cut by another student (Sabotage! This issue has since been resolved) and I replaced it with another tree, and 1 tree at Lpus Leluai was eaten by goats who had crawled under the chicken wire. So far all the others are doing well and were planted just in time prior to the April rains. I now have the next 20 trees which I shall plant in early May in 2 more schools. back to all news

KWS Lion & Spotted Hyena Strategy Workshop

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.

Cheetahs, cheetahs and more cheetahs..

During the second week of February I was fortunate to see cheetahs almost everyday. The first few sightings were of a female and her 1-year old male cub. The mama tried hunting on a few occasions however was never successful. During one instance she got pretty close to some gerenuk however missed the chance as some vehicles disturbed the prey. Her cub at the time stayed about 100 metres away waiting anxiously for a hopeful meal.

I was also lucky to see a mother and 3 8-week old cubs. Its been a long time since I have seen such little cheetahs and they were so cute! However I was quite nervous watching these cheetahs as about 300 metres away, 3 lions were sleeping in the bushes. Lions often do kill cheetahs and I hoped the lions would remain asleep for a long time. During this same time, the two male cheetahs that I saw on the day I arrived were also around in Buffalo Springs. One male however was reported to have a bad leg and was seen limping. Overall, it was a great week of cheetah sightings.

On the 12th of February, I got a message from one of the tour-drivers that a cheetah was seen hanging in a tree. I couldn’t understand the message clearly but this was made clear early the next morning when I went out to investigate with a ranger from the reserve. I was shocked to see a dead cheetah hanging in a tree, and it had been almost entirely eaten. Only the head remained and the behind, the legs and middle were eaten completely. It had been dragged up quite high in a tree on Ansel Plains, right next to the elephant corridor. We walked around the area and saw many leopard tracks all along the main road. Lions had also visited the scene and had walked around the tree. No sign of any hyenas though. There were bones and hair under the tree, but no other sign.

I have not yet been able to identify which cheetah this was, but initially thought it was the 1 -year old cub I had seen the previous day with its mother (the tree was about 500 metres from where I had seen her). I got quite confused as after leaving the dead cheetah, I happened to come across another female cheetah with a cub. This cub was much younger however – about 8-10 months old. So this was another mama and cub! Drivers told me that that she used to have 2 cubs and maybe it was one of them that was killed by the leopard. I am still unsure but am on the look out for all the known cheetahs to see which one is missing.

It was sad to see a cheetah this way. I know cheetahs are killed by other predators but it is rare that you actually hear of a leopard that has eaten one. Cheetahs have such a struggle normally. Everything chases them and some kill them and also eat as in this instance. Lions, hyenas, leopards, jackals and even guinea-fowl give cheetahs a hard time (I have seen a whole flock of guinea-fowl chase away two male cheetahs). Unfortunately tourism pressure does not help them much and often cheetahs are stopped from hunting or prey is alerted. Cheetahs definitely need our help and we play a big role in making sure that they are given the space they need to hunt freely.

Who was the dead lioness

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.

Starting the Ewaso Lion Tree Project

Planting trees at the schools

I have wanted to start a tree project in Samburu for ages now. I finally got the opportunity to do so, now that I have my own car and thanks to generous trees donations from Chip and Shalini.

My plan is to plant 10 trees each in 6 different schools and 2 community areas. There will be a competition between the schools and kids. Each school will have 7 teams of 4 children each and they will plant, look after and “own” their tree. The students who’s trees grow the best and are most healthy will get prizes after about a year or so.

At the end of January, I traveled to Isiolo (about an hour from Samburu) and visited the Forestry department. This is a sleepy little office on one of the back streets of Isiolo. The people working there were delighted to have someone arrive to buy trees! They were very knowledgeable and knew all the common and scientific names for the various species of trees. After going around the nursery, we settled on buying all indigenous trees (except the Neem tree) and all drought resistant. The trees were Neem, Tortilis, Tamarindus and Cassia. I bought 3 large tree seedlings and 7 smaller ones. I also bought jerricans to give the schools (filled with water) and chicken wire to protect the trees from goats and dik diks. Both were very much appreciated.

On the 1st of February, I went to Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate. Kids dug the holes and so did the teachers and headmaster. We split the kids into teams and each team had a leader. The students all dashed off to their bomas to get fertilizer, mixed it with sand and soil, planted and watered their trees. They were really really excited and one boy, Roy, was immediately an expert and was using all innovative ways to protect his tree from goats. I gave the school all the chicken wire but one of the teachers used it all for one of his trees! After a few days I supplied them with more for the other trees. The headmaster also planted his tree, as did a mama from the community there. She was also pretty excited to own the “community tree”!, whilst her baby stared with curiosity.

I gave all the kids rulers and books to measure their trees weekly. I checked up on them a week later and the trees were doing great! The kids were busy measuring and recording in their little books. One tree had a problem with caterpillars eating away at the leaves, but the others were fine.

I have bought the next lot of trees for the next school. I am hoping to plant them at Ngutuk Ongiron on March 3rd. I’ll keep you posted!

Close encounter with Baasi, a male lion

He was 30 cm away from my head…

On the 6th of February, I was fortunate to have found some of the main lions in the Koitogor Pride. I was intrigued by the interactions between Pixie and her mate Baasi, and Uni and her mate, the maneless Supukon. There was a lot of pushing and shoving going on as Pixie seemed more interested in Supukon and less so in Baasi. Baasi in the end got left behind, whilst Pixie tried to mate with Supukon for most of the day.

Towards the end of the day, Baasi awakened and made his way to the other 3 lions. He saw them from far and sat down watching them intently. Uni walked towards him, followed closely by Supukon and Pixie. The next few actions happened so quickly, within the space of 10 seconds…

Supukon did not appear to be too impressed with Uni being so close to Baasi, and actually went towards him and Baasi also took a few quick steps towards Supukon. They both clashed and Baasi backed into my car. I was parked about 30 metres away from both of them. Baasi then turned around and decided to follow Pixie who had left the area. I was parked in a small depression and there was a bush right next to me. Baasi in pursuit of Pixie, walked right past me – between the car and the bush. He was about 30 cms away from my head! It all happened so quickly and I didn’t move a muscle as he walked by. He did not look at me and instead was more intent on getting to Pixie.

I have never been so close to a lion before and being in a small car and in the depression, I got incredibly close to Baasi. The sheer size of him is what I remember the most. Paul, who was sitting next to me, said “you should have got a hair sample” as soon as we recovered from the close encounter!

Such encounters remind me to be even more observant and careful whilst out in the field with lions and other wildlife. Things can happen so quickly and before you know it the whole situation can change.

I consider myself to be so lucky to work and live in such a beautiful area but must remember that this is lion country and I am just a guest in these wild lands.

The Story of Supukon by Paul Lolchuragi

The maneless male of Samburu

Supukon is a male lion in Samburu National Reserve. He is from the Koitogor Pride and he is about 5 years old without a mane, which makes him to be unique from others.

We named him Supukon after a famous guy known in the Samburu tribe who used to live in the Mathews Range forest. He was like a giant and never associated himself with other people. Supukon the man, used to disappear in the bush whenever he would see people.

This lion, Supukon, is exactly like the man. He is the only male lion without a mane and is also really huge! He has a great big head and large paws. Also, the first time we saw him, he immediately disappeared into the bush and we could not find him again. We decided to give him that name due to his similarity with the famous Samburu man, Supukon.

Lions… at last!

Identifying the LionsAfter a week of no lions, I have finally seen them!

After a long hard drive to Samburu, I settled down to begin my work. It rained quite a bit during the first day and a half. I went out first thing on Saturday morning to look for lions, but found none. I spent days out driving all over the reserves, including a small epic adventure in Buffalo Springs on roads that had not been traveled for months. But no lions. I did hear them at night on one occasion and also saw tracks on a few days. But still no lions!

During this week, I had been going out alone as my assistant Paul had not yet started working. The roads were still in pretty bad shape because of the rains, so I kept my eyes on the road and I probably drove past the lions many times! I was fortunate to see a cheetah hunting impala on one occasion with a striped hyena close by. I also got a see an hour old dik dik. My car was most likely the first car that the dik dik had seen and he bounded towards it, only to be called back by its mother. Although there were no elephants over the first few days, apart from an injured bull elephant, they are now back in their hundreds. But still no lions?!!

First View of the Lions! On the 25th of January, I drove to “Cat Corridor”; a valley where most of the cats meander through when they are moving from the core of the reserve to the boundary and surrounding community lands. I have seen lion and cheetah often in this area. There is one rocky road that goes between the hills and I took this road after seeing some fresh lion tracks. It is a beautiful part of the reserve, totally isolated and secluded where very few people go to. However the road falls apart and I was about to turn around when I saw and heard the duet of two red and yellow barbets. These birds are one of my favourites and are stunning to watch and listen to. I stopped the car and watched them for a while. As I glanced around the area, I suddenly saw 3 heads watching me. Lions! I was so excited. I turned around quickly and stopped at a good spot where I could see them better. They were on the other side of a ridge and it was not possible to get any closer. There were 3 females and I identified one of them immediately as Uni. She is a big female and one of the older ones. The lions appeared to be a bit nervous and it was apparent that they hadn’t seen a car in a while. They were sleeping near a small clump of bush and even when the sun came out, they stayed there in the sun.

I headed back to camp (to stock up on food!), but returned soon after to see if they had moved. Just as I got to the ridge, Uni stood up and walked to a nearby lugga (sand river). The second female, who was not yet identified, followed her soon after. The third female eventually got out of the sun and went and joined them. All 3 females were deep in a thick green bush near the lugga and I could barely see anything. I left them again and returned at 3 pm. I was very keen to identify the other 2 females and was hoping that one would be Nashipai (aka Pixie). Its always a bit nerve wracking when I don’t see lions for a long time, as anything could happen to them. Pixie being my favourite always causes me a bit of anxiety and I am always keen to find her.

The lions hadn’t moved when I returned. They had rolled over in the lugga and appeared to be very content there. I waited and waited for any movement and kept myself busy watching barbets and go-away birds in the nearby trees. Finally at 5:30 pm, Uni stood up and walked into the open grass. The sun had gone behind the hill. Soon after the other females joined her in the open, greeting and nuzzling her. Lions are very social animals and it was lovely to witness this bond between them. I eventually identified the second female as Nabo and looked carefully at the third one for Pixie’s famous notch in her right ear. Yes – there it was! I had a big grin on my face as I left the lions in the secluded valley. It was great to see them again (thanks to the barbets!) and to see them in good condition, but most of all, to see Pixie. I am really looking forward to seeing more of them in the next few weeks.

Barbet

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