Our Blog – Page 5 – Ewaso Lions

A week in the life of Jeneria

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7030″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Naramat was in trouble. She had wandered into an area in Westgate which would put her on a collision course with some of the camels there. Having heard this grave news, Jeneria’s week began by racing there to keep the lioness and the community’s camels safe. Mission accomplished, Jeneria had no time to rest as the very next day – Monday – Nadala killed two cows north of Samburu, and Loeku’s GPS points put him ominously close to the town. Jeneria went with some Warrior Watch men to deal with both of these issues, negotiating for Nadala’s life and keeping a close eye on Loeku’s movements.

Switching it up, Jeneria now had to put on his workshop hat. On Tuesday, he headed to pick up conservancy managers from three different areas for a training. When they were done, the fun reached a crescendo when Jeneria found himself in the midst of a spectacularly colourful Turkana wedding in Ngare Mara, surrounded by 200 feathered Turkana warriors. A rare occasion for Samburus and Turkanas to mix, Jeneria was asked to speak, further bridging peace to the two communities at the celebration.

As the excitement died down, Jeneria’s thoughts veered back to Loeku, and he went straight back to check that he was in a safe area.

Having dropped everyone back to far flung homes, Jeneria went to a meeting with the women of Westgate. Looking out at these pioneering women, he passionately gave them advice and showing all the men’s support for women to have a stronger voice in conservation.

On Saturday, serious matters were afoot, and Jeneria went to participate in the Annual General Meeting of a key conservancy: Kalama, keeping lions on the agenda there.

Time for a break? Well, maybe Sunday brought a break of sorts. Jeneria joined Munteli, our Mama Simba coordinator as she took Westgate Mamas out for a wildlife safari. With the rain and the lush bush, there was lots to see and lots to celebrate as Munteli drove everyone through the windy paths.

Jeneria’s breakneck speed, passion and efficiency inspires us all every day, and is helping to build up the next generation of those who want to be just like him. We salute him, and the world salutes him too. This frantic week also brought with it a coveted prize. Jeneria is among 50 wildlife rangers across the continent to receive the African Ranger Award from the Paradise Foundation. He is being honoured for his courage, bravery and efforts in securing a future for wildlife, and we couldn’t be more proud.

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Our Team is Growing!

We are excited to have 9 new staff members join Ewaso Lions since January 2017. Based between Nairobi and Samburu, this expansion of our team has strengthened Ewaso Lions in our capacity to do more for lion conservation. Meet our new team members here.

Resson Kantai Duff – Deputy Director
Resson joined our team in February 2018 as our Deputy Director. She holds an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining Ewaso Lions, she also worked for our long-term conservation partners, Save the Elephants, as their Head of Awareness. Resson hit the ground running by being elected as the youngest member of the Board of the Conservation Alliance of Kenya, giving Ewaso Lions a voice in the national conservation agenda. “Joining Ewaso Lions is a dream come true for me. Having understood how important, and yet how difficult community conservation is to achieve, it is incredible to join a team that is in every sense achieving this illusive concept,” she said.

Ben Lejale – Ewaso Regional Lion Coordinator
Ben is from Donyo Lengala in Kipsing, south of the Ewaso Nyiro River. Ben joined our team in early 2017 and his key responsibility is coordinating the warriors activities. His other roles include: teaching the warriors how to read and write, helping in training the warriors on data collection, attending community meetings and functions on behalf of Ewaso Lions, taking a key role in collecting sociological data including community attitudes and perceptions on conservation/lions, manyatta and livestock mapping, and people census within our area of operation. Occasionally, he is also involved in vehicle transect surveys. Ben has a passion for conservation and is interested in involving the community in the conservation of lions and other wildlife. He has an educational background on Community Development.

Peter Lenasalia – Lion Kids Camp and Youth Coordinator
Peter, who is from Sereolipi village in Namunyak Conservancy, is our Lion Kids Camp Co-ordinator. He joined Ewaso Lions in early 2017, having previously completed his Bachelors Degree in Wildlife Management at The University of Eldoret. Peter is especially passionate about engaging youth in conservation and has a natural aptitude for teaching and mentoring children. As well as organising and delivering all our Lion Kids Camps, Peter supervises students sponsored through the Jeremy Lucas Education Fund and, together with Ben, runs the weekly Warrior Watch school, where he teaches the warriors basic English, Kiswahili and numeracy. Currently, Peter is working closely with the management team to expand our Lion Kids Camp programme and provide children from across Kenya with an immersive wildlife education experience.

Semees Lembagani – Security Supervisor
Lembagani is a pastoralist who comes from Sukuroi village in Westgate Conservancy. He joined our team in August 2017 as Security Supervisor. Prior to working with Ewaso Lions, Lembagani worked for the British Army. We are grateful to have him join our team as he provides additional security for camp and our team, and assists Francis & Lpuresi in many aspects of camp work, including keeping an eye on our puppy Nanyori who is famous for vanishing.

Lengaina & Leluata – Warriors, Meibae Conservancy
Two new warriors joined our Warrior Watch programme in late 2017. Lengaina and Leluata come from Meibae Conservancy and support Jeneria and other warriors in conflict mitigation, monitoring lions and being the first responders any time conflict with lions occurs. We are thrilled to have them join our team and strengthen the Warrior Watch programme as we continue to grow the network of warriors engaged in conservation in Northern Kenya.

Evelyn Oduor – Operations Officer
Evelyn is based in our Nairobi office (which was established when she begun in March 2017) and coordinates all operations and logistics for the project. Evelyn, who is from Nairobi, has over 15 years experience in administration and logistics, and holds a Diploma in Business Management. In her free time, Evelyn loves to read and travel, and she often comes up to Samburu to connect with the team and work on improving camp operations.

Evanson Kariuki -Conservation Programmes Assistant
Evanson, who hails fromNairobi, joined Ewaso Lions as our Conservation Programmes Assistant (CPA) in November 2017. Evanson has a wealth of experience leading and coordinating wildlife conservation and community development projects across Kenya, including in the Tsavo and Maasai Mara ecosystems and Marsabit County. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Wildlife Management and is currently finishing a Master of Arts Degree in Environmental Planning and Management at the University of Nairobi. As CPA, Evanson works closely with our Conservation Manager, Heather, and the wider team to develop, deliver and expand our conservation programmes. He is also an accredited safari-guide and avid birdwatcher, who also enjoys spending his free-time tending to the camp Shamba (vegetable plot) and playing with Nanyori, one of our camp dogs.

Moses Cheruiyot -Bus Driver
Moses, who comes from Laikipia County, joined the team as our Bus Driver in September 2017. He has over 25 years driving experience and is a graduate of the National Youth Service, holding a Grade II Motor Vehicle Mechanic certificate. As our Bus Driver, Moses is responsible for driving and maintaining our Bush Bus, which he is adept at navigating through the challenging Samburu terrain, whilst taking community members on educational wildlife safaris within the National Reserve. Moses is also a key member of our Lion Kids Camp team and supports our Coordinator, Peter, with delivery of this immersive wildlife education programme. When not running exposure tours and Kids Camps, Moses provides logistical support to our Field Team and puts his mechanical skills to the test helping with general vehicle maintenance and repairs.

Wildlife Enjoy the Samburu Rains

Samburu has received a lot of rain in the past few weeks – 185 mm since March – and 133 mm in April alone! This is a very special time to be here – the river is flowing fast, and grass & flowers are everywhere. It is spectacular. Our field team have had many amazing wildlife sightings over the past few weeks and these are some of our favourite wildlife moments. And the rain continues…

Educating & inspiring a new generation of Kenyan conservationists

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”5251″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]6^th December 2017 – Twenty-four children wave enthusiastically as they board the ‘Bush bus’ for the final time. It’s the end of the Lion Kids Camp. The past five days have been filled with wildlife education, safaris and conservation-themed games and activities. From the smiles, the laughter and the jubilant singing that accompanies their departure, it is clear they have had fun.

But, enjoyment aside, how do we know if we have actually made a difference? – Has their knowledge about wildlife and conservation improved? Have their perceptions towards wild animals changed at all? What can we learn from this camp that will help us run even more successful camps in future?

In order to answer these questions (and more), we evaluate each of our Lion Kids Camps. We conduct pre-camp and post-camp surveys and quizzes to assess changes in children’s knowledge and attitudes, as well as gather feedback to inform programme development.

Here, we are excited to share the results of our most recent LKC with students from Remot Primary School, held between 2^nd and 6^th December 2017. Click here to view the full report: Evaluation Report Lion Kids Camp

As part of our preparations to scale-up our LKC programme in 2018, we have also made some changes to the way we conduct our evaluations. In a bid to both increase efficiency and go ‘paper-free’, we employed two new digital data collection methods in December: Promethean Activote student response devices for asking multiple-choice questions and Wild Form surveys on tablet devices for open-ended questions.

By evaluating our LKCs in this way, we can continue to improve our successful Lion Kids Camp model – educating and inspiring a new generation of Kenyan wildlife conservationists.

For more information about our LKC programme see: http://ewasolions.org/conservation/lionkids/

Acknowledgements:

We are very grateful to Westgate Conservancy, Samburu Reserve Management and our sponsors for the camp – Alta Vista Elementary School, who has been supporting Remot Primary for years through National Geographic’s Sister School Programme, & Prince Bernhard Nature Fund. Thank you all so much for bringing conservation education to Remot students and for inspiring them to become conservationists!
We would also like to thank Dave Grosvenor (Bowland Charitable Trust) and Helen Toole (Learning by Questions) and Neil Bailey and Ric Talbut (both Wild Knowledge) for their technical advice/support concerning Activote student response devices and Wild Form, respectively.

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Join Ewaso Lions in Samburu

Ewaso Lions Conservation Safari, Kenya
with Dr Shivani Bhalla
9 – 13 August 2018

A special opportunity to see first-hand a conservation programme in the field and to financially support the long-term survival of lions in Kenya.

9 August
Dinner and overnight at The House of Waine, a charming colonial manor house with eleven bedrooms in the residential district of Karen in Nairobi.

10 August
Transfer to Nairobi Wilson Airport for the flight to Samburu 1020 – 1120 hours. Transfer to our private bush camp in the Westgate Conservancy, which borders Samburu, and is where Ewaso Lions are based. Our mobile camp is semi-luxurious without being ostentatious and offers a real bush experience. Each tent is furnished with comfortable beds and lovely linens and has its own en-suite hot water shower, wash basin and WC. Dr Shivani Bhalla the founder and Executive Director of Ewaso Lions joins you for lunch.

In the afternoon visit the Ewaso Lions headquarters to meet some of the other members of the team and to learn about their field research, monitoring of lions and work with the local Samburu people, including Lion Kids Camps. This is a simple base camp where Shivani and her small team of dedicated lion conservationists live. There will be time to do a game drive looking for wildlife in the vicinity. Although outside the protected area of the Samburu Reserve, Westgate has the same ecosystem and so you may see ‘northern’ specialties including Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx and Somali ostrich, as well as lion, leopard and elephant. If you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of aardwolf. The day finishes with drinks own by the river and a delicious supper in camp.

11 & 12 August
The next two days will be spent understanding and experiencing the core essence of Ewaso Lions – putting people at the heart of lion conservation. This will include visiting a local Samburu village and Mama Simba school, a bush walk with some of the Warriors and a game drive in Samburu National Reserve.

The Samburu, like the Maasai, are nomadic herders and live in traditional dung and mud huts within a boma-enclosure. Their lives have changed little and each village has a chief and their wealth depends on the number of cattle, camels, sheep and goats they have. Visiting one of their villages will really help you understand their way of life and the importance of putting people at the heart of lion conservation.

Ewaso Lions started a Mama Simba and Warrior’s School utilizing local community schools at weekends. Now the ladies have made their own ‘bush school’, which we will visit. The women in the local communities are often overlooked and marginalised, so the bush school provides a valuable programme that educates and empowers Samburu women. You’ll see first-hand the Mama Simba ladies being taught new skills and crafts that can help them earn a living and change their lives. After circumcision young Samburu men become ‘Warriors’ and leave their villages to become men. They graze their cattle further afield and protect their cattle by killing lions. Ewaso Lions has changed this and has successfully created a peer-to-peer network of Samburu warriors who now serve as wildlife ambassadors and first responders to lion conflict.

Breakfast and dinners in camp. Picnic lunches.

13 August
Bid farewell to Shivani and the rest of team and fly back to Nairobi 1210-1315 hours. Lunch and dinner in Nairobi. There will be time to do some shopping this afternoon.

N.B. This safari is offered independently or as an extension to our Masai Mara Wildlife safari with Jackson Looseyia 4 – 9 August.

The safari is in partnership with Spencer Scott Travel Services Limited. Please contact Liz Drake on liz.drake@spencerscott.co.uk for more informaton including prices for the lion safari.

The Warriors Need You

On a dry and dusty night, the night sky of Kenya rises above Jeneria and his team of Samburu warriors on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River. They are relaxing after a hard day of tracking lions in their Landcruiser 4×4, collaring one, and checking on the health of two young cubs. Suddenly, the radio crackles with anger and panic. A lioness has killed a cow. The villagers are furious and heading out to kill her.

Jeneria, his fellow Warrior, Yesalai and others in the Warrior Watch team jump into the vehicle and head for the far away village. They are greeted by angry warriors who are ready to track the lion. As Jeneria tries to reason with them, shouts fill the arid landscape. Calmly, a few Ewaso Lions Warriors listen to the villagers’ story, and Jeneria assesses the strength of the cattle boma (livestock enclosure). The lion has taken a prime cow: money in the bank to her owner. The community is vengeful and fearful. The Warrior Watch team listens for hours. As the sun rises high, the team and the community discuss alternative solutions to killing the lion. The lioness lives. As the team returns to Ewaso Lions camp, victorious after saving another lion, and happy to have helped the villagers rebuild their cattle compounds stronger, Jeneria goes over plans for the next day: community meetings to attend, new areas to explore for lions, and a collared lion that needs tracking. There is no day off when saving lions.

This story is getting harder to achieve. The 4×4 vehicle that Jeneria and the other Warriors depend on is old. It breaks down frequently and cannot be relied on to get them to surrounding villages in a hurry. Even the daily work of tracking lions and exploring landscapes is proving difficult. More and more time is spent fixing the vehicle, rather than protecting the species they have dedicated their lives to save.

You can help them. Our goal to is raise $80,000—the amount needed to replace the vehicle and cover new collars and field costs for Warrior Watch—by the end of 2017. We hope you will help us reach this goal by supporting Ewaso Lions. The Warrior Watch programme is a formidable force in lion conservation in Samburu. The lions need the Warriors. And the Warriors need YOU.

Please DONATE today to help Ewaso Lions reach this goal.

It’s Raining in Samburu!

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are very happy to announce that it is raining in Samburu! The rains began in October in a few locations and had spread across the whole region by November. The vegetation is finally growing bringing much needed relief to the wildlife in the area. As the heavy rain collects, dry river beds have flowed frequently, including the Pukur lugga near our camp. Although it is spectacular to see the rivers fill so quickly the frequent flooding is sadly a sign of severe land degradation in the area.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96yGodgI2FQ&ab_channel=EwasoLions”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGi31Jd7-40&ab_channel=EwasoLions”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]We have had some stunning sightings of the lions including the new males that arrived in April. Other wildlife are enjoying the new grass and vast open areas of water. This is a beautiful time to be in Samburu and we can feel the relief among humans and wildlife alike as everyone in the region is hopeful after what has been a severe drought this year. We have already received over 250mm of rain, and although more rain is needed to allow the land to heal and recover fully, this is a great beginning.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYQg-Uy-da4&ab_channel=EwasoLions”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7185″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7186″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1602274193872{margin-top: 25px !important;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7187″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7188″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7189″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7190″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1602274230107{margin-top: 25px !important;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7191″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7192″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7193″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”7194″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Shivani & Jeneria Speak at Wildlife Conservation Expo

Shivani & Jeneria visited the US in October on their annual tour. Following a lovely visit with their friends and supporters in Newport, Rhode Island, they had the privilege of speaking at Goldman Sachs in New York, National Geographic and WWF in Washington DC.

They were very excited to attend the annual Wildlife Conservation Expo in San Francisco in October and for those of you that missed the talk, it can be watched here. This was Ewaso Lion’s 6th annual attendance at the Expo.

Thank you to all our friends and supporters in the US who looked after us, hosted and fed us, travelled with us and supported our conservation and research programmes in Samburu. We are very grateful!

Mama Simba on safari in the Mara – Ewaso Lions

Warrior & Mama Simba Adventures

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In September, our team of Warriors visited the Maasai Mara in southern Kenya – for some – this was their first time leaving Samburu. The objective of the trip was to learn about conservation in a new landscape. In the Mara there is less human-predator conflict than in other areas because of the larger amount of grazing land available to support large wild herbivores. The presence of these populations of herbivores means lions have enough natural prey and do not turn to killing livestock out of desperation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7629″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our team drove down across Kenya and spent 1.5 days in the Mara. The team saw over 30 lions in that short period and new animal species they hadn’t seen before such as topi, rhino, hippo and thousands of wildebeest who were moving through the Mara. Lebasha, one of the warriors said, “I wish I could bring my lioness Nadala here for a week so she could get healthy and fat, and then take her back to Samburu“. The lions seen were very healthy and hunting daily, sometimes twice a day because of the availability of food everywhere. It was a real eye -opener for the warriors to see plentiful prey for lions everywhere!

Our Mama Simba ladies also had an adventure of their own in September. They travelled to Samburu Reserve on their first ever “Bush Bus” safari together with other women from the village, followed by an exciting team building adventure to climb Lolokwe, the Samburu sacred mountain north of Samburu. This was the first attempt to climb the mountain for our entire group of ladies and they completed the climb in less than 5 hours, and sung their way to the top.

We are very grateful to the Whitley Fund for Nature for the funding for our Warriors to visit the Maasai Mara and World Women Work for all the support provided for the Mama Simba programme. Thank you for enabling the Samburu communities to experience new landscapes and wildlife.

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Lions Move Through a Challenging Landscape

Loeku comes close to Isiolo town

Since the arrival of the 4 new males in April, we have seen a marked change in the movement patterns of Loeku and Lguret.

Fortunately, Loeku – the four-year old son of Nashipai – was collared in February and, as a result, we have been able to closely monitor his movements through daily collar downloads. This data showed how Loeku moved out of Buffalo Springs, where he had been resident for a while, and headed south to Isiolo town. Unfortunately, he then became stuck inside a farm and was forced to move back towards Buffalo Springs and the community conservancies south of here. Eventually, Loeku moved around the big hills and headed to Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. However, his time here was also short-lived; after just 48 hours he headed straight back towards Westgate Conservancy.This is the first time that we have been able to accurately document this vital corridor connecting Lewa to the north.

Whilst in Westgate, Loeku united with Lguret (who was captured on our camera trap a few times!) and both males have remained together since then. The two males have been staying very close to the Ewaso Nyiro River, hiding in thick Salvadora (toothbrush tree) bushes inside the Core Conservation Area.

The next few months will be critical for these males. We are especially keen to see how 4-year old Loeku tries to find a new home with females, and how 11-year old Lguret will survive in this challenging landscape, surrounded by people and with a limited food source.

The collaring work is part of a study looking at dispersal in young male lions, and is being done in partnership with Lion Landscapes.

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