Ewaso Lions

Category: Reserves | Date: Feb 25 2009 | By: ewasolions

I am super excited to report that I saw wild dogs on the 21st of February in Samburu National Reserve!  This was the 4th time I have seen wild dogs, but by far this was the best sighting I have had.  Prior to this, I have only seen them at night and dashing across the road.  This time, I was able to have a good look at them and watch them cross the road behind me chasing dikdiks.  There were 7 dogs in total and a few of them were youngish pups.

Wild dogs are endangered and numbers have fallen to only a few thousand in Africa, mainly due to habitat loss and hunting.  Here, the wild dogs use the area to move between Laikipia and Samburu Districts, but it now appears they may be resident somewhere in the area; between the reserve and West Gate Community Conservancy. On the 19th of February, they were in West Gate and I saw them a few days later in Samburu Reserve.

With only a few hundred wild dogs remaining in the Samburu-Laikipia ecosystem (their numbers are increasing), I feel totally privileged to have seen a few of them.

Below are a few photos of some of the dogs that I saw. 

Tags: Endangered, Laikipia, Samburu, Samburu National Reserve, West Gate Community Conservancy, Wild dogs

8 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Feb 22 2009 | By: ewasolions

Our mess tent has fallen apart!  We have had it up since June 2008 and the sun has weakened the canvas cover (bought second hand many years ago).  Over the past few weeks, we’ve had crazy winds in camp and it has just ripped the canvas cover apart!  We desperately need a new one - it is our only source of shade in camp and with current temperatures rising to over 30 degrees celcius, we are all cowering under the little shade it is currently providing.

The photo below shows what the mess tent looked like in June 2008.

These photos below show Jeneria trying to put it together a few days ago.

The photos below were taken yesterday  -Ricila was desperately trying to tie bits together… but now there is no hope.  We need a new one!

A new mess tent canvas cover with poles which will be more sturdy than what we had before will cost approximately $250.

Please help us and make a donation towards a new mess tent!

2 responses so far

Category: Donors | Date: Feb 19 2009 | By: ewasolions

Dear Karie,

Thank you so much for your donation to the Ewaso Lion Project.  The donation will go directly towards field costs. Your  support is really appreciated and again, thank you!

With my best wishes,

Shivani

This little cub is one of the latest additions to the Ewaso Lions!

Tags: Conservation, Kenya, Lions, Samburu, wildlife

One response so far

Category: Lions | Date: Feb 18 2009 | By: ewasolions

There is great news to report from Samburu!  There are 4 new cubs!  Uni, one of the resident females in Samburu National Reserve, has just come out with her cubs.  I was very fortunate to see her moving her 4 cubs from one thick bushy area to another.  The cubs are just under 8-9 weeks old.

Uni moving one of her cubs

Uni with her cubs

One of the cubs!

Samburu now has 9 cubs; 3 belonging to Nabo, 2 to Nashipai and 4 to Uni.  After a couple of years with no cubs, this is fantastic news for the area and we are all really excited about this.

Tags: Cubs, Ewaso Nyiro, Lions, Samburu, wildlife

6 responses so far

Category: Lions | Date: Feb 16 2009 | By: ewasolions

We have our first radio-collared Ewaso Lion!  On Thursday the 28th of January, I managed to locate Lguret at 6:36 am.  Lguret was one of the Real Lions – a maneless male who I first saw in July 2008 in West Gate Community Conservancy (WGCC) with 2 other males.  The coalition of 3 moved to Samburu National Reserve (SNR) in September 2008 and have been resident in the reserve since then.

Lguret was spotted in the Ewaso Nyiro river with the other male – Loirish.  I stayed with them until the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) vet arrived, Dr Stephen Chege.  The two males did not move much from the dry river-bed and only stood  to drink from a nearby elephant waterhole and to change position each time the sun was on them.

The two males prior to darting

After Dr Chege arrived, we made plans and decisions of how the lion will be darted and from what position.  I drove into the Ewaso Nyiro and Lguret was darted a few minutes later.  Both males jumped up after Lguret was darted and moved up the river-bank into the saltbush.

Driving into the Ewaso Nyiro finding the right position to dart from

Approaching the 2 males (lions are on the right of the photo)

Lguret darted (see dart near shoulder)

Lguret eventually sat down a few minutes later and we were able to come out of the vehicles.  Dr Chege worked on the health of the lion and took necessary samples, Raphael (Ewaso Lions) and David from Save the Elephants worked on attaching the collar whilst I took all the required measurements.  Lguret was down for a bit under an hour.  Rangers from SNR kept an eye on Loirish, the other male and reinforced the security within the area.

Attaching the radio-collar

Taking required measurements

Eventually the antidote was administered and Lguret came fully round under an hour.  We stayed with him to make sure he was in good condition and not affected by the collar and the operation overall.

Lguret recovering well after the radio-collaring

The radio-collaring operation was a success and we now have the first Ewaso Lion collared! This is the first time that movement data from a lion in Samburu is being gathered and this information is crucial for lion conservation and the management of the ecosystem.  I hope that he will move to WGCC and we will be able to learn this key movement between the reserves and the community area.

Many thanks to Paul Thomson for these great photos

Special thanks to the team from Save the Elephants and Paul Thomson from the African Wildlife Foundation for their assistance with the radio-collaring operation.

Tags: Conservation, Ewaso Lions, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Kenya, Lions, Samburu, Save the Elephants, wildlife

6 responses so far

Category: Lions | Date: Feb 14 2009 | By: ewasolions

Hello all!

I am so sorry for not writing in a few weeks.  We have been super busy here in Samburu and it has been non-stop for us.  I have much to report on, but first wanted to share with you some images taken last week of the 5 Samburu cubs in a tree.

I had a great sighting of them.  They played, slept, jumped, watched and generally just hung out in this dead Acacia tree.  3 of the cubs are Nabo’s and 2 of the little ones are Nashipai’s.  All cubs are healthy and doing really well.

The river is totally dry and all prey are congregated along the river.  This is good news for the lions as they wait and ambush their prey almost daily.  However, it is not great news for the rest of the animals and also the people and their livestock.

I also have some great news to share with you, and will write about this soon!  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the images below of the cubs from the Koitogor Pride in Samburu.

Shivani

Tags: Conservation, Kenya, Lions, Samburu, wildlife

5 responses so far