Videos & Presentations

Everyone describes Evanson as a hands-on and an all-in kind of person, always willing to lend a helping hand and literally do the heavy lifting to get exciting conservation and education projects off the ground. He joined EWASO Lions as the Conservation Programmes Assistant and has quickly risen to officer level, overseeing the Mama Simba programme, running our Lion Kids Camp and mentoring students through the The Jeremy Lucas Education Fund (JLEF).

waso Lions works with communities to ensure their lands serve as important habitat for these big cats.

Join Jessicah to find out what it's like to be a veterinarian in Kenya, where wild animals and domestic animals are mixing on a daily basis! Jessicah is the lead veterinarian working with the Community Animal Health Initiative Programme with Ewaso Lions in Kenya. She treats domestic animals who have faced injuries through carnivore attacks, vaccinates dogs and cats against deadly diseases, increases awareness on diseases and the One Health approach through education, and much more. She loves living and working with pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya.

At WFN's People For Planet Summit in November 2023, Shivani Bhalla, winner of the 2023 Whitley Gold Award, shared her experience of working with Samburu Warriors and their families to change perceptions of lions like Nanai, through community-led conservation initiatives.

Kenya’s Dr Shivani Bhalla and her Ewaso Lions team accept the 2023 Whitley Gold Award for their community-led conservation efforts, securing a future for lions in northern Kenya amid the worst drought in living memory.

Ewaso Lions conserves Kenya’s lions and other large carnivores by promoting continued coexistence between people and wildlife. We firmly believe that the success of lion conservation hinges on the involvement of the local people who live alongside lions. In this talk, Toby will discuss the decline in the lion population across Africa before focusing on the ways in which Ewaso Lions’ various community programmes seek to promote human-carnivore coexistence and build local capacity for carnivore conservation. Learn how, as a result of community-led conservation, lions have started to make a comeback in the community areas where Ewaso Lions operates.

Welcome to our next SLN webinar where we’re excited to introduce you to Ewaso Lions, a Kenya-based conservation organization working to promote coexistence between people and wildlife, specifically large carnivores such as lions. In an upcoming presentation, Ewaso Lions’ Founder & Executive Director, Shivani Bhalla, and Director of Impact and Operations, Toby Otieno, will share how their various community programs with pastoralist communities seek to build local agency and decision-making in carnivore conservation and promote human-carnivore coexistence.

Munteli is the driving force behind Ewaso Lions’ Mama Simba (“mother of lions”) programme. Munteli was eager to get involved in conservation and this led to the creation of the Mama Simba programme in 2013. She drives (the first Samburu woman from a village in the region to drive!), teaches other Mama Simba ladies, locates lions, attends to conflict, plants grass with women to restore the landscape, leads wildlife safaris with women, and much more. Over the years, Munteli has become an incredible spokeswomen for lions.

Jessicah is the lead veterinarian working with the Community Animal Health Initiative Programme ( Ewaso Lions, Vet in Wild and Animal Care Centre). Jess treats domestic animals who have faced injuries through carnivore attacks, vaccinates dogs and cats against deadly diseases, increases awareness on diseases and the One Health approach through education, and much more. She loves living and working with pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya.

Toby was born and raised in Western Kenya on the outskirts of Kisumu city. As a child he never knew about conservation as a career or way of life. Still, he was fascinated enough with wildlife to sneak out of school to visit a nearby wildlife sanctuary. Watching wildlife there is where his interest began. Over the years, Toby has gained vast research and field experience ranging from small mammals to large mammals. He started out as a volunteer at the National Museums of Kenya before proceeding to Mpala Research Centre as a Research Project Field Manager.

A Closer Look at lion conservation with leaders of Ewaso Lions, Dr. Shivani Bhalla, Founder and Executive Director, and Resson Kantai Duff, Deputy Director. They share an insider perspective of Ewaso Lions’ key endeavors, such as their Warrior Watch program, and how they are protecting lions across Kenya’s Samburu region and beyond.

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Ewaso Lions works with communities to ensure their lands serve as important habitat for big cats. Learn more at #WCNExpo.

​Jeneria is a young Samburu elder, who comes from Westgate Community Conservancy in Samburu, northern Kenya. Jeneria first joined Ewaso Lions as a warrior in 2008 at just 19 years old. At that time, he spoke limited English and saw lions only as killers of goats and cows. Since then, Jeneria has progressed from Lion Scout to Field Assistant to Field Operations Manager, and is now the Director of Community Conservation. As anyone can attest, Jeneria’s knowledge of lion identification, ability to transform conflict, and exceptional relational skills are key to Ewaso Lions’ functioning. Recognising his age-set was being neglected from conservation decision-making, it was Jeneria who conceived Ewaso Lion’s flagship outreach programme, Warrior Watch. He has since been responsible for engaging dozens of Samburu warriors in lion conservation.

Born and raised in Kenya, Shivani believes the key to lion conservation is working in partnership with local communities. She founded Ewaso Lions in 2007 to promote co-existence between carnivores and people - a project that she now co-leads with her team. Together with her team, she works with communities to reduce livestock loss to carnivores, and monitors the existing lion population within the Samburu-Isiolo landscape in northern Kenya. Shivani, with her team, have created successful community programmes including Warrior Watch, Mama Simba and Lion Kids Camps. Shivani moved to Samburu in 2002 and lives in the Ewaso Lions Camp in Westgate Conservancy with her team and two dogs, Kura and Nanyori. In this talk Shivani will talk about her journey in conservation and lessons learned along the way.

Conservation biologist Shivani, a fourth-generation Kenyan, is working to safeguard the future of Kenya's rapidly declining lion populations. She is founder and executive director of Ewaso Lions, a conservation organization that uses scientific research and community outreach to promote coexistence between people and lions who share habitats. It is the only organization that focuses on lions that live both inside and outside protected areas in northern Kenya. There are now fewer than 2,000 lions in Kenya, and they could vanish within two decades if habitat loss and conflict with humans continues. Ewaso Lions' innovative community outreach programs, which involve young tribal warriors as well as women and children, are helping foster local support for conservation. Her team has dramatically changed local attitudes, and the lion population she monitors has grown to its highest numbers in a dozen years.

Listen to Resson Kantai Duff, Sarah Chiles and Shivani Bhalla's bold discussion on the changing conservation narratives for a sustainable planet.

Shivani Bhalla is a conservation biologist working to safeguard the future of Kenya's rapidly declining lion population. Join to learn how Shivani is working with local communities to help save the less than 2,000 lions left in Kenya.

Ewaso Lions works with communities to reverse the decline of lion populations in Kenya, creating one of the few places in Africa where lions exist outside of protected areas and alongside communities. Dr. Shivani Bhalla, Resson Kantai Duff, and Jeneria Lekilelei share how they are working to save lions.

Jeneria is a Samburu moran (warrior), soon to transition to an elder, who comes from Westgate Community Conservancy in Samburu, northern Kenya. Jeneria first joined Ewaso Lions in 2008 at just 19 years old. At that time, he spoke limited English and saw lions only as killers of goats and cows. Since then, Jeneria has progressed from Lion Scout to Field Assistant to Field Operations Manager, and is now the Director of Community Conservation. As anyone can attest, Jeneria’s knowledge of lion identification, ability to transform conflict, and exceptional relational skills are key to Ewaso Lions’ functioning. Recognising his age-set was being neglected from conservation decision-making, it was Jeneria who conceived Ewaso Lion’s flagship outreach programme, Warrior Watch. He has since been responsible for engaging dozens of Samburu warriors in lion conservation. In this talk, Jeneria will discuss the decline in the lion population across Kenya before focusing on the unique conservation programmes Ewaso Lions uses to promote human-carnivore coexistence, reduce human-lion conflict, and ensure a future for Kenya’s lions. Jeneria is now in the process of bringing on board new warriors in to the Warrior Watch programme - hear how he is doing it and learn how, as a result of engaging local people, lions have started to make a comeback in the community areas where Ewaso Lions operates.

Shivani is a fourth generation Kenyan who believes the key to lion conservation is working in partnership with local communities. She founded Ewaso Lions in 2007, where she works with communities to promote coexistence between people and wildlife. Shivani, with her team, have created successful community programmes including Warrior Watch, Mama Simba and Lion Kids Camps.

Conservation Biologist Shivani Bhalla is working to safeguard the future of Kenya's rapidly declining lion populations. There are now fewer than 2,000 lions in Kenya, and they could vanish within twenty years. Shivani founded the conservation organization Ewaso Lions to promote coexistence between people and lions.

Women living in the communities where conservationists work, play an integral role in protecting wildlife. Resson Kantai Duff, Jeneria Lekilelei, and the Mama Simbas of Ewaso Lion Project demonstrate how women are leading the way for conservation in their project areas during the Women’s Empowerment Programs panel

Ewaso Lions works with communities to reverse the decline of lion populations in Kenya, creating one of the few places in Africa where lions exist outside of protected areas and alongside communities. Shivani Bhalla shares about their struggle of habitat loss and degradation and how they are working to save lions.

Over the past 25 years alone, we have lost one half of all lions across Africa. Their loss represents the decline of wild landscapes across the continent. But lions have hope. In this panel, hear from committed field-based conservationists about the lion crisis and how lions can be recovered across their entire range.

The Ewaso Lions team believes that the key to saving lions in northern Kenya lies in involving local people in conservation. Therefore, the heart of their work is in the communities that surround Samburu, Buffalo Springs, and Shaba National Reserves. Ewaso Lions’ community outreach and education programs engage local people in conservation, provide training, find creative solutions to human-wildlife conflict, and give back to the community.

"Why are lions disappearing at such a quick rate? One of the main threats to lions is that they are running out of space." - Shivani Bhalla, founder of Ewaso Lions. Shivani and Jeneria Lekilelei, Field Operations & Community Manager at Ewaso Lions, share their latest successes, challenges, and milestones in their continued efforts to save Kenya's precious lions. Keeping lions safe is a community-wide effort involving everyone, from women and children to warriors.

Shivani Bhalla and Jeneria Lekilelei share their story of saving lions in Kenya. Keeping lions safe means involving everyone in the community, from women and children to warriors.

Shivani Bhalla and local Warrior Jeneria Lekilele discuss their work with lions in Northern Kenya. Ewaso Lions has empowered local men and women, teaching them to read and write through their Sunday School program. They have also provided women with alternative livelihoods where they can sell beaded lions for extra income, and teach local youth about the importance of conservation through their Lion Kids Camp.

Shivani Bhalla started Ewaso Lions seven years ago to save lion in Kenya's northern lands. She works closely with Samburu Warriors—young men from the area—to create a culture of conservation and lion protection. Recorded at the Wildlife Conservation Network Expo at Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco, CA on October 11, 2014.

Winner of the Whitley Award donated by The Garden House Parents' Association.

Conservation biologist Shivani Bhalla is working to safeguard the future of Kenya's rapidly declining lion population through her innovative community outreach programs.