Ewaso Lions

Category: Donors | Date: Oct 29 2008 | By: ewasolions

Sauwah, thank you so much for your donation.  I realise that these are hard times for all and you continue to support our work here in Samburu and help me get through when I really need it.  For this, I am so grateful.

I saw the lion cubs a few days ago.  Nabo, the mother, had killed an impala and all the lions were happily eating it.  It was great to see the cubs enjoy the feast and I wanted to share this news with you.  It was raining a lot at the time so I was unable to take many photos but below are a few.

One response so far

Category: Donors | Date: Oct 28 2008 | By: ewasolions

Jan, thank you so much for donating to a new hard drive for my computer.  I have got one now and am getting familiar with the upgraded system on my Macbook.  I really appreciate it and am so grateful.

It has rained a lot in Samburu over the past 10 days…. below are a few photos taken of the reserves just before the rains and when the rains arrived.  Its lush and green now, and your elephant friends are everywhere.

View of Buffalo Springs just before the rains in late September

The rains arrive early October and everything is lush and green in Samburu

One response so far

Category: Donors | Date: Oct 27 2008 | By: ewasolions

Thank you Madeliene and Stuart for your donation towards Joseph’s salary.

Joseph and I are very grateful for this, and your support means so much to us.  Below are a few photos of Joseph at his house in West Gate with Raphael.

No responses yet

Category: Other news | Date: Oct 17 2008 | By: ewasolions

I hate to write more bad news but unfortunately that is the case.  My silence over the past week is basically due to my hard drive crashing a few days ago.  And with no warning at all.  My laptop (Macbook) is only 2 years old and I thought that I still had a while to go before experiencing any problems. Early this year my battery died and now the hard drive just disappeared.  The timing could not be worse.   Not only have I lost some data and photos which cannot be recovered, but I now need to buy a new hard drive which costs Ksh 12,000 (about $170).  These are yet again costs that I never budgeted for nor do I have the funds for this.I normally do a back-up of my laptop each time I am in Nairobi.   The last time I did it was the beginning of September.  The “funny” thing is that I had entered “Back-up comp” in my diary on the 14th of October. Well, I was turning on my computer to do just that when it crashed.I would be so grateful for any assistance towards purchasing a new hard drive.   The good news is that I am back in Samburu and will go out later to start the search for Nashipai, Nabo, their cubs and the rest of the Ewaso Lions.

3 responses so far

Category: Reserves | Date: Oct 10 2008 | By: ewasolions

I journeyed to Shaba a few weeks ago for 2 days. It had been many months since I had last visited Shaba and I was really excited to go.

Shaba is a stunning reserve, East of Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves. It is larger than Samburu and Buffalo Springs and has many more swamps and springs to attract wildlife, especially large herds of buffalo. The Ewaso Nyiro flows through it and there are beautiful sites all along the river to visit.

Stunning scenery in Shaba

Another important difference – lions. There are many lions in Shaba but no estimate has been acquired as yet. The lions are also bigger and stay in their prides. And it appears that their main prey is buffalo!

Shaba is also home to big bull elephants, Grevy zebra, tons of buffalo, the big cats and much more. It was also the home of Penny, the leopard, who was raised and released by Joy Adamson in the late 70s.

We drove around for 2 days and I was thrilled to come across 7 lions hunting buffalo. It has been ages since I have seen such a large number of lions together. I managed to get a few ID shots of them and this was the beginning of my Shaba lion identity database.

First lion in Shaba to be identified

This was just a small taster of what’s in store in this dramatic landscape. I hope to spend 3-4 months in Shaba to census the lions and get a detailed understanding of lion ecology in this area. One thing I know for sure is that there are exciting times ahead and I can’t wait.

5 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Oct 08 2008 | By: ewasolions

It is quite a common occurrence to be asked to give someone a lift when living and working in the reserves. I have often given people lifts to lodges, villages and local towns in the area, including dropping and picking sick people.

However, things took a bad turn in August. I had gone to pick a sick lady from the lodge to take her to her village in West Gate. At the same time a young man I did not know asked me for a lift. I agreed.

He sat in the back of my car and as I was driving along, he proceeded to pull my bag, which was next to me, inch by inch. I did not realize this at the time. When we arrived at his drop-off point, he alighted from the car, thanked me and disappeared. I did not know that he had my small bag under his shirt.

I realized a few hours later that my bag had gone, rallied my team together and we went and tracked the man from where I dropped him off. Luckily the sick lady I had dropped off actually knew the name of the man who had stolen my bag. She told me (and everyone agreed) that he was indeed a famous thief and had stolen from many others in the past. I wish I had known that.

Fortunately, the guys (Raphael, Joseph and the Ewaso Lion scouts) tracked him to a nearby village where he had used some of my money to get a hair-cut and was in the process of leaving the area for the next town. If he had managed to leave, I would have never found him.

I managed to get all my belongings back, although he had thrown away all my receipts and papers into the Ewaso Nyiro River. I also had to spend a lot of money on paying the community for assisting me, fuel to travel to the police station and a lot more. I had not budgeted for such instances and realise now how important it is to have emergency money.

I am very grateful to everyone who assisted me during this ordeal, but especially to my fantastic team who supported me and gave me hope and encouragement that it would all work out.

4 responses so far

Category: Lions | Date: Oct 06 2008 | By: ewasolions

I was driving back from Shaba on the 14th of September when I came across Uni and Lpatpata, the new male, by the river resting. The river had come up and was flowing rapidly below them. Three buffalo crossed the river from Buffalo Springs into Samburu and saw the 2 lions resting on the beach.

What followed was the longest and most persistent pursuit I have seen of buffalo chasing lions. The buffaloes came tearing out of the bushes and chased the 2 lions away from the river, up the Wire Bridge lugga and into the thick Salvadora bushes. The lions ran as fast as they could but the buffalo continued to chase them without stopping.

Buffalo chasing the two lions across the lugga

I lost sight of them and drove around the corner and found Uni up a tree! The buffaloes continued to chase Lpatpata whilst Uni stayed in the tree for a few minutes. One buffalo watched her keenly but then appeared to be more interested in chasing Lpatpata who was still running.

Uni in the tree

Uni being watched by the buffalo

Uni eventually came down and walked into the bushes. I followed her slowly and drove round a corner only to find another lion high up in a tree! I thought this was Lpatpata only to see that it was in fact Loirish, the other male. He must have been resting in some bushes and was surprised when buffalos came tearing out of the bushes making him jump up a tree as well. There was no sign of Lpatpata or the buffalos.

Meanwhile, Uni approached Loirish near the tree and tried climbing it, growling and making it clear that she wanted to mate with him. He eventually came down the tree and disappeared with her after mating.

Loirish up the tree with Uni

I had a totally different experience in Shaba the previous day where lions prey on buffalo all the time. But in Samburu its different – the lions are the ones being chased by buffalo!

6 responses so far

Category: West Gate | Date: Oct 04 2008 | By: ewasolions

I closed the Echo Lima camp at the end of August since I would be on safari for much of September and would also be spending some time in Samburu Reserve.

It had been a great few months in this small fly camp in West Gate Community Conservancy and I was sad to pack up and leave. To read more about our experiences and what it was like to live at the Echo Lima Camp, click here.

Packing up camp

Raphael taking inventory

Packing Gypsy

We had a small party the day before leaving and invited all the community members and staff from the nearby lodge who had helped us and been so hospitable during our stay.

Party gathering

Raphael and Joseph give speeches thanking everyone

Ewaso Lions team with the staff from the nearby Sasaab lodge

I will return to West Gate soon as there is still much to do in the conservancy. I am still seeking funds to purchase research canvas tents for the camp and am grateful for any donation that can be made towards this. I will probably set up camp again for another few months early next year. I already can’t wait!

Just before leaving the camp

An empty site

4 responses so far

Category: Lions | Date: Oct 03 2008 | By: ewasolions

So yes, these are the same males! I was able to identify them by looking at the whisker spot patterns, nose pigmentation and scarring on the photos of both lions. It was a bit hard comparing the photos, but have a look at these below:

West Gate male lion nose (Lpatpata)

Nose of male lion in Samburu (Lpatpata as well!)

Since establishing the fact that these are the same lions, I have chatted to many people trying to paint a picture of the lions movements.

So, after seeing them in West Gate (Real Lions 3), they disappeared from the community area almost immediately. I spent days looking for them in the conservancy but there was no sign of them. A few days later, there was a report that 3 males had killed 10 goats near Kiltamany which is North East of West Gate. Soon after, the manager of a lodge in Kalama Conservancy said he saw 3 males at the lodge waterhole. A couple of days later, the lions were seen in Samburu. So basically, they had made a giant loop around the reserve and entered Samburu from the North.

This was exciting news for me. This is the first time that it has been proven that lions move from community areas into the reserve. When I saw the 3 males in West Gate, it was big news for everyone. There were lions in the community area and they had been seen properly. However, now these very same lions are now in the reserve and have become resident here.

They have been mating with all the resident females and I have been very worried about Nashipai and Nabo’s cubs. However, they have managed to stay alive thanks to some very smart behaviour from the females and now the 2 sisters have come together with their cubs. They have a better chance of protecting them now that they have teamed up.

Uni mating with Loirish

I now have proper identity photos of all 3 males. During their first few days in the reserves, they were incredibly aggressive and would snarl and growl at any car. Mating with the females was a slight distraction for them and they began to get a bit used to cars.

Lguret, one of the new males

I have named the 3 males after getting to know them a bit; Loirish (brave), Lguret (coward) and Lpatpata (bully). Lpatpata once crossed the river and started mating with a female from the Borana Pride in Buffalo Springs. Uni has been mating with all 3 males and keeps going back and forth from one male to another.

It seems like these males have taken over the Koitogor Pride and Baasi, Lope and Supukon have left. The lion dynamics have changed and different things are happening on a daily basis. These are definitely exciting times to be in the reserve.

I’ll keep you posted with more blogs…

2 responses so far

Category: Lions | Date: Oct 02 2008 | By: ewasolions

After the fight between Nabo and the new males, I returned to camp to try and figure out who these new lions were. It was hard to photograph them during the fight because of their nervous disposition and the fact that they kept hiding in bushes. I was also not sure whether there were 2 or 3 males.

However, I did have a few photos and decided to try and compare these with the photos I had of the 3 males I had seen in West Gate Community Conservancy (see Real Lions 3). I didn’t think these would be the same males but I didn’t know of any other 3 males in the area, so it was worth a shot comparing the photos.

So, what do you think? Are these the same lions?

Male lion in West Gate

Male lion during fight with Nabo 13 days later (in Samburu)

2nd male in West Gate

2nd male in Samburu

3 responses so far