Ewaso Lions

Category: Community | Date: Nov 12 2009 | By: ewasolions

Our first Kenyan Kids on Safari trip in Samburu was a huge success followed by another one with human-wildlife conflict expert, Nina Fascione.  We recently took 11 school kids out on another drive in Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves.  Sasaab Lodge kindly provided their large vehicle and guide, Innocent, for the drive.  The children come from Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate.  Johnson the Headmaster struggled yet again to choose the kids however students that took part in the Simba Stories competition were all selected.  I was amazed at how some of them had drawn fantastic pictures of lions, yet had never seen a lion.

The game drive was fantastic.   I had driven around for 2 days prior to the student drive and had not seen lions or any of the cats.  But this time, we were soo lucky!  About half an hour into the drive, we saw Lguret, the collared maneless male lion.  Soon after that we bumped into more of the lions from the Koitogor Pride - Nashipai and her cubs.  And about 10 minutes after that, the students got to see a leopard!  The kids were thrilled!  They had 4 small digital cameras to use and take photos with - I will be giving them copies of their photos soon so they can remember their experience.  They watched and learned about the big cats.  At the end of the day, they even sat an exam which had questions on some of the topics they were taught.  The kids did great and it was clear that they had benefited tremendously from the drive.  One of the students, Samson, said to me “Now I will find it much easier to draw lions”.

Jeremiah and Legenas watch giraffes in the distance

James watches Lguret sleeping under a tree

Legenas and Jeremiah learn how to take photos

Watching a leopard

Group photo - some very happy kids!

Here are some of the photos that the students took themselves:

A male gerenuk browses

Lguret, the maneless male

Leopard sleeping on an Acacia tree

Jeremiah had this to say after his safari:

“I say thank you for the great tour we had with you yesterday.  I was very happy to use cameras and binoculars and to see many animals like lions, giraffes, gerenuk, and much more.  Thank you also for the biscuits and milk you brought us!  I learned so much from your tour and I was so excited because it was the first time for me to see the above animals. It was so enjoyable”.

Cynthia had this to say:

“We were 5 boys and 5 girls when we went on a drive.  We started seeing animals when we entered the park.  One of the animals I saw was a lion and it was interesting because we were told his name was “Lguret”.  I was very happy to see so many of these animals.  I wish again one day we will go again and see many others.”

A huge special thanks to Kenyan Kids on Safari for donating the cameras and starting this programme and to Sasaab Lodge for being so enthusiastic about the drive and providing their vehicle.  I am really looking forward to more drives with the students  -hopefully over Xmas!

Tags: Leopard, Lions, Samburu, School, Simba, wildlife

2 responses so far

Category: Community | Date: Nov 09 2009 | By: ewasolions

This blog post somehow got lost and although it took place a few months ago, it is still very relevant and links in well with Part 2 which is coming soon!

Visiting renowned human-wildlife conflict expert from the US, Nina Fascione and her husband Steve Kendrot and I, decided to take 6 students from Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate, on a game drive in Samburu National Reserve.   The headmaster Johnson selected 3 boys and 3 girls who he said deserved a special treat for doing really well academically.  I am glad Johnson made the selection  -I would have really struggled to chose the children  -hoping to take them all!

We entered Samburu and after about 20 minutes or so, we began to see giraffe, tons of elephants close-up and were fortunate to see one of the Samburu lionesses, walk in the middle of the Ewaso Nyiro River.  The students were thrilled.  For most of them, they have never really seen animals close-up.  They may have seen the tail of a lion disappearing when they were young children herding livestock, or elephants running away from villages.  This time, the students got to see the animal’s behaviour and what they actually look like.

Edward and Moses learn how to use a camera with Ricila’s help

We stopped at about 10 am for some chai (tea) and a break.  I also gave the students a talk on the lions of Samburu - why they are important and the need to conserve them.  I also showed them how each one is identified individually and we went through the various lion IDs of the reserve.  The students had many questions.  One good question was had the numbers of lions changed over the years in the area.  Our question and answer session went on for about 30 minutes by which time we headed back.

Explaining about the importance of wildlife

Showing the students lion IDs with Steve’s help

The students were really excited to have gone out on a game drive with us.  We stopped at the Save the Elephants research camp on the way back and they were given a talk on elephants by the researchers.   It was a fun time for them all and they chatted animatedly all the way back to school and relayed their experiences to the other students.

A few weeks later I happened to be reading some wildlife essays that the students of West Gate had written when I came across one written by Scholastica.  She had written about her experience when she saw a Samburu lioness for the first time!  It was a great essay and a step forward in getting the students to know some of the Ewaso Lions.

Tags: elephants, Ewaso Nyiro, Lioness, Samburu, Save the Elephants, wildlife

One response so far

Category: Community | Date: Nov 02 2009 | By: ewasolions

Ewaso Lions has recently joined hands with Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate Community Conservancy.  To increase awareness of the importance of lion conservation, we are working with students and teachers at the school.  Students are requested to write and/or illustrate stories about lions in English/Swahili/Samburu.  The best stories and artwork will be put together and printed in the form of a booklet.  These copies will be distributed locally and internationally to increase awareness of lions.  Using these Simba Stories booklets, funds will also be raised for the school’s educational needs.

All art material has been donated by Shalini Bhalla of SB Management. Lindsay Morency, from Canada, has sponsored editing of the Simba Stories booklet and the Panthera Foundation has sponsored production and printing of some of the booklets.

The students have already begun working on their artwork and have produced some great drawings.  Some of them had never painted before until they received boxes of paints and brushes.

Jeremiah working on his drawing

Samson learning how to paint

Some of the completed drawings

I will send an update on their progress soon!

Tags: artwork, awareness, Community, Conservation, Lions, School, West Gate Conservancy

3 responses so far