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.
