August 10th marked the second World Lion Day. To celebrate, we hosted a gathering in Westgate Conservancy, our headquarters, of more than 40 people — Samburu warriors, elders and women — where we discussed lions, the importance of conservation, our community programmes, and much more.
Members of the Ewaso Lions team gave presentations on their work (Lpuresi and Letoiye gave their first-ever talks!) and discussed the lions of Westgate. We ended the day with a search for 6 “lions” made out of cardboard. The team who found the 6 lions the quickest and had drawn all ears and whisker spots were the winners — it was a great day!
Thanks to Westgate Community Conservancy and Sasaab Lodge for sharing this important day with us.
We celebrated World Lion Day with the community members who are the true lion conservationists. We thank them for all they do every day.
Ewaso Lions staff discussed a variety of lion-related topics, including why lions matter to local people.
Mparasaroi, from our Mama Simba group, talks about how important it is for them to be involved in conservation.
For the lion search game, people split into teams to go out and locate cardboard lions, then identify the individual based on its ear notches and whisker spot patterns. Photo by Cara Martel.
Discussing the lion identifications (Photo by Cara Martel).
The winners of the lion search and ID game – an exciting team effort between Westgate and Ewaso Lions (Photo by Cara Martel).
Lpuresi, Ewaso Lions conflict officer, gives his first ever talk on lions.
Thomas (left), Ewaso Lions Conflict Officer, discusses his challenges dealing with human-lion conflict in the Ngare Mara area.