We recently completed a successful 3 day training workshop with Warriors and Scouts from Westgate and Mpus Kutuk Conservancies. Prior to the workshop, we conducted tests with all the participants using photos of predators and asked lengthy questions, to know more about what they knew prior to the training. The training covered various aspects of wildlife conservation, including predator ecology and identification, wildlife monitoring, conflict issues, tracking, prey identification, grazing and much more.
Ngila, Ewaso Lions Community Officer, speaking about Predator Proof Bomas and Improved Husbandry Methods.
Shivani discussions predator ecology.
Moses, Ewaso Lions Scout, explains the different predator tracks.
Warriors and scouts participating in a question and answer session.
At the end of the training, we traveled to Samburu Reserve, where we went looking for all the predators the team had learned about. We had a fantastic and extremely lucky game drive! We saw 2 leopards, a newborn lion cub, 3 sub-adult lions chasing a leopard, and the two big resident male lions of Samburu.
Getting close to elephants.
A sighting of Lguret.
Nashipai’s newborn lion cub!
Leopard stuck in a tree with 3 lionesses at the bottom.
Watch this clip to see what happened to the leopard stuck in the tree…
Thanks to Sasaab Lodge and our project vehicle, we were able to fit the team of 30. The wardens of Samburu gave the warriors and scouts a talk on the reserve and its importance for wildlife and at the end of the tour, David from Save the Elephants, also spoke to the team about elephants and the current poaching crisis in the region.
The team visits Save the Elephants Camp.
It was a successful few days and everyone enjoyed it a lot. Armed with all this new information and knowledge, the warriors and scouts traveled back to their home areas after a goat feast, excited to share their information and work hard to ensure the safety of wildlife in their home areas. Lpuresi, one of the warriors from Westgate, said “We are proud of our wildlife and let us all be the messengers of conservation”.
As a result of the training, I completed a wildlife conservation training manual with a focus on predators which I hope to share with others involved in community conservation.