Ewaso Lions recently trained 7 safari guides from various lodges in Samburu to join our Lion Watch program. This makes a total of 20 Lion Watch guides in Samburu, who collect important lion data while they are on their daily gamedrives.
The 2-day training session covered ecology, conservation, identifying and aging lions, Samburu’s lions, and how to collect data on smart phones.
The most enjoyable part of the training was a “naming ceremony” where the guides voted for their favorite names as we named Nanai’s and Nabulu’s 5 cubs. There were more than 25 names to choose from – all suggested according to features and personalities of the lions and names the guides liked. The votes were tallied up and the names given to the 5 cubs -Lenkwe, Loeku, Lmeisudori (always seen), Naishorua (given) and Namunyak (lucky one). Everyone was really excited by this and following the training, we often hear guides chatting about the cubs and sending text messages talking about the cubs personalities. Also, since the training, the guides have already had close to 20 lion sightings and have recorded it all on their smart phones.
We thank Samburu Intrepids for hosting the training, and all participating lodges and guides for helping us expand the Lion Watch program. Congratulations to the new Lion Watch guides!
The seven new Lion Watch Guides holding their certificates after the training.