Ewaso Lions

Category: Other news | Date: Oct 26 2009 | By: ewasolions

I am sooo excited to report that I have had 2 very special sightings of wild dogs recently! (My first proper sighting of them was in February this year in Samburu Reserve).

The first sighting was on the 9th of September and was about 10 minutes away from camp in the Conservation Area in West Gate Community Conservancy.  The second sighting was on the 13th of October and it was so close to camp!  In September we saw a pack of 7 dogs and in October we saw only 2 dogs, however later on a pack of 12 were reported nearby at the Sasaab lodge.

The wild dogs looked in great shape and sent the guinea-fowl and dikdiks into a frenzy.  I always enjoy seeing them - it is so rare to see the endangered wild dogs and considering they are not really resident in the area, I feel extremely fortunate to have seen them.

Wild dogs on the 9th of September

Pack of 7 move in the Conservation Area

One of the wild dogs seen on the 13th of October with Mt Kenya in the background

Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of this, but on the 4th of September, I was driving at night in Sasaab and at around 8:00 pm, I literally bumped into an aardvark!  This is my first time to see one and funnily enough it was only a few days before that I had mentioned that the one animal I would love to see is an aardvark.  This one walked across the road slowly and gave us a great showing.  It really is the coolest creature to see!  The Samburu people believe that it is very good luck to see an aardvark.  I was thrilled!

Tags: Aardvark, Conservation, Endangered, Samburu, Sasaab, West Gate Community Conservancy, Wild dogs

2 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Oct 16 2009 | By: ewasolions

The rains are finally here!!! This is the worst drought that most people can remember.  Livestock and wildlife have died in large numbers over the past few months and the river remained dry for most of the year.  It has been desperate and the most difficult period that I can remember during my years in Samburu.

One of the last surviving warthogs died a few weeks ago

Arid landscape

Digging waterholes in the river for the wildlife

A few weeks ago, we began to see signs of rain.  Dark clouds were forming daily and the days were scorching.  It eventually began to rain all around us but never quite reached Samburu.  The Samburu ladies sang in the river, throwing milk and praying for rain to come.  Each day we would look at the river and wonder if today was the last day we would be digging.  This went on for days.

Rains in the distance

Finally on the 10th of October, the river flowed!  This was such an exciting moment.  We had seen signs of rain all around us and knew that the river had to flow soon.  We got word that the river was seen flowing 20 kms upstream from camp and there was a buzz in camp as we knew that we would see the great Ewaso Nyiro River flow very soon.  At 2 am, we heard it! We rushed down to the river at 5:30 am and saw the river flowing – it was amazing to see large volumes of water come past us.

The Kipsing lugga flowed into the Ewaso Nyiro

Clear views of Mount Kenya and the Ewaso Nyiro the day after the river flowed

All signs of rain then vanished and we had clear skies for a few days.  The river was also beginning to disappear again and dropped to low levels.  People were getting very disappointed and some were beginning to lose hope that it would ever rain at all.  But, on the 14th of October at 4:00 pm, it finally began to rain – properly!!! We rushed around camp, packing everything up and throwing stuff into Gypsy (project vehicle) and sat under our shade and watched the rain fall.  It was amazing.  We recorded our very first rainfall amount with our new camp rain gauge.

Rain close to camp

Jeneria, Ewaso Lions scout, excited after feeling rain for the first time in a year

The Ewaso Nyiro flowing on the 15th of  October

A warthog family walk down to the flowing Ewaso Nyiro to have their first drink of water from the river in months

A dikdik drinks from the small waterholes that have filled many of the roads in the reserve

After months and months of dryness and death all around us, everyone is so excited.  I just hope this is not temporary and the rains will continue over the next few months.  It needs to rain pretty much everyday.  Eventually the area will recover and the wildlife and livestock will come back.  Samburu is a stunning area when its green and lush  - its been so long since I have seen it that way and I can’t wait to see what the area will look like in December.

In the meantime, I am heading home to Nairobi very soon.  It has been a long long field season – and a very difficult one because of the conditions here.  We will be packing up camp over the next few days and I will then be in the reserve watching how everything will respond to the new rains, including how lion movements will begin to change after they have spent months and months along the river.

Speaking of the lions; they are doing great and have had an easy time over the past few months.  I’ll be writing about them soon but in the meantime, here is a photo of Nanyiro, that I took a few days ago.

Nanyiro looking great a few days ago

Its raining all around me and I can hear thunder everywhere as I post this blog!

Tags: drought, Ewaso Nyiro, Lions, Livestock, Samburu, wildlife

8 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Sep 09 2009 | By: ewasolions

The drought is continuing. This has been the worst drought that most people can remember. I have been in Samburu for 7 years and I’ve never seen it this bad. People working and living here for more than 30 years say they have never seen it this bad. Here is an update of the current situation.

The last few months have been very difficult in the area. The local people, their livestock and the wildlife have all really struggled to survive during this ongoing persistent drought. The rains totally failed in April and the river has barely flowed this whole year. In most places, the Ewaso Nyiro River is the only source of water and the drying of the river has greatly affected the local people. They struggle to find enough water for their livestock who have begun to die daily. They now need to move further in search of pasture and water including inside wildlife areas. But now even these wildlife areas have reduced to nothing. There is not a blade of grass or vegetation cover. Only dust, sand and soil.

Jeneria, Ewaso Lions scout,  gives water to goats from a dug hole with the Samburu elephants in the background

Unfortunately, due to the lack of water, waterbuck, impala, buffalo, warthog, cattle, donkeys and sheep have begun to die everyday. Large groups of close to 20 warthogs that were around in April and May have now reduced to 1 or 2 warthogs and even they have begun to die. I watched a crocodile die the other day. He had come out of hibernation and literally dropped dead outside his hole. More animals will die over the next few weeks reducing the species numbers and diversity within the area. Pressure on the reserves from livestock will continue. Animals are dying; every week, every day, every minute.

Crocodile dies in the Ewaso Nyiro

Vulterine Guineafowl search for water in the dry Ewaso Nyiro

The animals that are still alive are weak and some barely able to move. They traverse through this arid landscape in search of whatever pasture they can find. We have seen animals walking in the river Ewaso Nyiro in zig zigs searching for water and trying to dig.

A thin warthog struggles to stay alive

I have never experienced such a difficult field period and I apologize to everyone for not having written a blog in so long. We are so busy in the field, trying to help in whatever way possible to ease the pressure of the drought on the local people and the wildlife. Every day we are talking to people to try and ask them to tolerate the predators. The local people are losing everything – livestock to the drought and also all remaining livestock are weak and lethargic and get lost, often becoming prey to the roaming predators. We speak to the herders daily, assisting them to find lost livestock, informing them of predator locations and giving advice on where to graze and where not to graze. We are digging waterholes daily, but even this does not appear to be enough, but we are trying to do as much as possible. Each day I drive around and smell death and see carcasses littered all over the landscape during my drives.

Ewaso Lion Scouts digging in the dry river bed

A waterbuck carcass in the Ewaso landscape

On a positive note, the Ewaso Lions are all doing pretty well. They have not really moved far away from the river over the past few months. As the Ewaso Nyiro is one of the only water sources in the area, the lions lay along the river and wait in ambush for prey to come down to drink from the few waterholes that have been dug. They are doing well currently in this dry season as there is lots of food around. With many animals dying, the lions have plenty to choose from. However, due to the drought and the river drying up, there is more pressure on the reserves from livestock, increasing the human threat to lions and we are working hard to try and monitor all individual lions inside the reserves.

Loirish, Kofafeti and her 2 cubs healthy and happy in July after they fed on a giraffe for a few days

I hope to catch up with writing more blogs soon. In the meantime, I hope you can all bear with me as we get through this difficult period. Please do help anyone working and living in a drought stricken area. We need your help as I am sure my fellow bloggers do who are also working hard to help the situation. You can help by making a donation to allow us to keep going with our efforts in helping the people, their livestock and the wildlife.

It is now the middle of September. Everyone is saying rain is on the way and we also see a few signs of clouds building up. Lets hope the rain comes soon. We need it NOW as things are so desperate. I’ve almost forgotten what the river flowing looks like… but believe me, when it does flow, I will be amongst many in Samburu, celebrating.

Tags: crocodile, drought, elephants, Ewaso Nyiro River, Lions, rains, Samburu, wildlife

8 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Aug 18 2009 | By: ewasolions

I traveled to Beijing, China, in July 2009 for 10 days.  My main aim was to attend the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) annual conference and to receive an award but I was fortunate to travel for a few days prior to the conference.

I arrived in the very smoggy, crowded city of Beijing and spent 3 days exploring the area and visiting a few of the sites.  After getting used to the spotless, easy to figure out subway system, I traveled from place to place armed with a map and some good walking shoes.  After feeling like I had walked the entire city and being totally overwhelmed by the large numbers of people, the pollution and the strange foods at the night food market, I moved over to the conference centre for the SCB conference which was definitely a relief!

Views from the New Summer Palace

I had attended one SCB conference prior to this one; in South Africa a few years back, and was excited to meet colleagues and professionals working in the same field.  The awards ceremony took place on the 11th of July.  I have to admit - I was a bit nervous giving a 2 minute speech in front of more than 1000 people!  It was a privilege to receive the award for “Africa’s Young Women Conservation Biologist” of the Year and I am extremely grateful to the SCB for this great honour.

Receiving the award from Georgina Mace, the President of the SCB

With the other awardees

The conference took place between the 11th and 16th of July.  I attended numerous talks and sessions which were all very useful and interesting.  We had a day off on the 14th and took a tour to the Great Wall of China.  This was a fantastic day and it was amazing to walk up a small section of it.

On the Great Wall of China

A huge thanks to WWF, SCB and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, for funding my trip to China and enabling me to receive this award and attending the conference.

Tags: , Biology, Conservation

2 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: May 27 2009 | By: ewasolions

Here is another blog from guest blogger Nina Fascione- Click here for 1st blog

One day, Steve and I accompanied Shivani when she gave a presentation to the 25  West Gate Community Community scouts who patrol the conservancy monitoring wildlife, enforcing security in the area, preventing illegal grazing in protected core areas, and sensitizing communities to the importance of wildlife.

Working in the bush can be difficult, and giving a PowerPoint talk presented its own unique set of problems. First, we had to borrow a generator and projector to show the PowerPoint images. However, we quickly realized that the village rotunda where Shivani planned to give her talk was far too light from the bright African sun for the pictures to show on the screen.  So, we gathered shukas (traditional, colorful wraps) and hung them around the rotunda to try to block out the light.  No luck.

Setting up the equipment - projector, screen, generator

We then moved the equipment into a near-by office at the Conservancy Headquarters and covered the windows with blankets.  It worked to block out the light, but quickly became a sauna with so many bodies crammed into such a small and airless place.  Nonetheless we persevered, and Shivani gave her presentation. She focused on conflict with wildlife and led a discussion on how to prevent it.  She also showed images of various wildlife tracks and worked with the scouts to identify the various paw prints.  It was a very productive talk.  Interestingly, the suggestions from the scouts as to what tools might work to prevent conflicts with lions, hyenas and other African predators were identical to the methods used in the United States, such as guard dogs and compensation programs to reimburse for livestock killed by predators. One interesting idea was the suggestion from one scout that they practice “natural selection of livestock” to breed livestock that would be more resistant to predators.

Raphael and Shivani going through tracks of different predators

After lunch, I gave a presentation on my work at Defenders of Wildlife.  I was struck by the similarities with Shivani’s talk: human-wildlife conflicts, habitat loss, the problem of pesticides such as carbofuran hurting the environment in both countries and so on.  The topics were the same, the species different.

Explaining about human-wolf conflict in the US

The scouts were fascinated by my slides of North American wildlife – most of them had never seen images of our animals before.  While they thought that wolves were interesting – we explained they were like wild dogs – they thought that grizzly bears were really cool. I had never had such a rapt audience in my life.  I had also never given a talk where every audience member carried a gun!  It was a little disconcerting but without a doubt the most enjoyable presentation I have ever given.

Scouts listening intently

Upon returning to work back in Washington, DC, it was fun to then give a presentation on the wildlife and people of Samburu to my co-workers, completing the sharing of information across continents.

As someone who has maintained both a personal and professional interest in wildlife conservation for years, I cannot praise Shivani’s work enough. While her main focus is on the lion population in West Gate Community Conservancy and the nearby Samburu National Reserve, Shivani knows that any successful conservation program must be comprehensive, incorporating both biological and sociological components. The relationships she’s building with the Samburu people, along with the outreach and education she provides, will clearly help Northern Kenya’s lions and other wildlife for years to come. I encourage all of you who care about Africa’s predators to support her work. And by all means, plan a visit to see this wonderful country and these magical creatures with your own eyes.  Steve and I were sad to leave Shivani and her staff, and we can’t wait until our next trip!

Tags: Conservation, Kenya, Lions, Samburu, West Gate Community Conservancy, wildlife, Wolf

7 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: May 25 2009 | By: ewasolions

I was thrilled to have Nina Fascione and her husband Steve Kendrot come and stay with us at the Ewaso Lions camp a while back.  Nina is the Vice President for Field Conservation for Defenders of Wildlife and a renowned human-wildlife conflict expert.  Today we have a special guest blog written by Nina!

After looking for her intently for so long that my eyes strained, I wasn’t actually expecting to see her when we did come upon her. Lekuraiyo, standing next to me with our heads sticking out of the top of the jeep (his head sticking out much farther than mine!), gently tapped me on the shoulder and said “lion.”  And there she was, standing partially hidden in the brush and still as a statue, staring at us without moving a muscle, the better to remain unseen.  In my excitement, I leaned down, punched Shivani on the arm and hissed “lion!”  Shivani was thrilled to see Magilani, the lioness she had been monitoring for several weeks, but not as much as I was, as this was my first wild lion. Indeed, it was my first trip to Africa.  Despite having worked with animals and in the conservation world since 1980, I had never before made this journey to the epitome of wildlife meccas.  My husband Steve, also a wildlife biologist, and I traveled to Northern Kenya to visit Shivani and learn more about her work.

Nina with Francis (Ewaso Lions Scout) and Lekuraiyo (Ewaso Lions tracker) standing in Gypsy

I met Shivani when she became a student in the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) class, a leadership training program that I co-founded and teach.

Shivani’s large carnivore conservation resonated with me because it parallels the work I oversee in North America as vice-president for field conservation for Defenders of Wildlife. Defenders has successfully worked to restore wolves, grizzly bears and other endangered species to parts of the United States, and the challenges we encounter while doing so are similar to the challenges Shivani faces in her work studying and protecting lions in Kenya: primarily, conflict with humans, including direct conflict as well as human-caused habitat loss and fragmentation.

Conflicts between humans and wildlife can seem like overwhelming obstacles to successful conservation programs.  In the United States, some ranchers and hunters object to the restoration of large carnivores, as they view them as a threat to their livelihoods.  Defenders has helped ameliorate these conflicts through several successful programs, such as our livestock compensation trust, in which we reimburse ranchers for verified livestock losses to wolves and grizzly bears.

We also maintain a proactive program, through which we work with ranchers to take steps to prevent livestock losses.  Defenders will fund the purchase and implementation of tools to keep wolves and bears away from livestock. These methods include livestock guarding dogs, fencing, employing range riders to monitor livestock and so on.

These programs have gone a long way in preventing conflicts, as well as reducing the animosity some local residents feel toward large carnivores and, presumably, the legal or illegal killing of carnivores. Through the Ewaso Lion project, Shivani is similarly working with local people – the Samburu – to understand the causes of and find solutions to prevent conflict and animosity towards predators and other wildlife in Kenya. For example, Shivani is working with local villages to ensure that bomas, the pens made out of brush where the livestock are housed at night, are strong enough to deter predators.

Biological studies are increasingly demonstrating that predators are essential to a healthy ecosystem. In addition, they bring vital economic benefits to regions through ecotourism. And perhaps most importantly, carnivores provide us with deep-rooted cultural and aesthetic values. Whether working to protect wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the United States or lions in the Samburu ecosystem in Kenya, we should all care about their conservation.

Tags: Africa, Conservation, Ewaso Lions, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Kenya, Lions, Samburu, wildlife

3 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Mar 12 2009 | By: ewasolions

A few weeks ago, whilst we were in camp we heard that a bull elephant had died about 1 km away.  This big bull is a known individual, called Esidai, and has been studied for many years by the Save the Elephants researchers.

I used to see him often here in West Gate, hanging out with other big bulls.  The bulls like this area; there is plenty of shade, food and water.  When the bulls come into musth, they leave the area and head for the reserves, where they look for females to mate with.

Esidai fell on the river bank and died a few hours later.  We went to see him, together with the researchers from Save the Elephants.  The cause of death could not be established and to this date, we do not know what happened to him.  There were no visible wounds on him.  This is now the second elephant to have died in the area for unknown reasons.

Esidai’s death attracted a lot of interest from the local people

Researchers from Save the Elephants measure his tusks and take various samples

I have gone back a few times to see Esidai after his tusks were removed by the Kenya Wildlife Service.  The hyenas have eaten a small part of him and dragged his trunk to the middle of the river.  But he is pretty much still there, sloped on the river bank…

Esidai - A great loss to West Gate

These are tough times for the residents of Samburu. The local communities, their livestock and the wildlife are struggling now.  The area is terribly dry and there is not much food remaining.  The Ewaso Nyiro river has been dry for months now and elephants are digging into the dry river bed for water, helping the other animals too.

We are all hoping for rain soon.  We did have a huge thunderstorm last night.  I hope this is the beginning of the much awaited for and desperately needed rains…

Tags: elephants, Ewaso Nyiro, hyenas, Samburu, Save the Elephants, West Gate Community Conservancy

3 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: Other news | Date: Jan 22 2009 | By: ewasolions

Kenyan Kids on Safari is a great programme where Kenyan children are provided with the opportunity to join tourists and other visitors on a safari experience in Kenyan reserves.  Most Kenyan children have never had the experience of a game drive and they miss out on viewing wildlife due to the high cost of safaris.  Many rangers and employees’s children who live at the safari camps and lodges have also never been on a safari.  The Kenyan Kids on Safari programme encourages visitors on safari to invite one or two local children, from either nearby schools or villages, to join them on various safari game drives for the day.

The programme has successfully started in Maasai Mara and more recently in Samburu, where I am very proud to be a volunteer to help get the programme going.  In December 2008, Todd Cromwell who started this programme and is also a friend and donor for Ewaso Lions,visited us in Samburu to network with the tourist establishments and provide selected lodges/camps with digital cameras and print stations for the children to use when they accompany tourists on a game drive.  At the end of each game drive, the children would go back to the lodge where selected photos they took would be printed, giving them the chance to remember this memorable safari and the wildlife they saw.

Teaching the kids how to use the cameras

Children watching and taking photos of the elephants 

During Todd’s visit we arranged for children from Samburu Intrepids Camp to be taken out on a game drive.  6 children were taken out and were taught how to use the cameras.  The drive was fantastic!  We were fortunate to see Nabo, one of the main Samburu lionesses, and lots of elephants including a mating pair!  The kids were taught about wildlife and conservation and overall, they had a great experience.

Below are a few photos that 2 of the kids, Saruni and Elvis, took during their game-drive experience

My name is Saruni Lesabouwa. I am 16 years old and go to Kipsing primary school, where I am in class 7. Our school is located in Isiolo District. It was my first time to be in a car! Not only to be in a car, but also to be on a Safari where we managed to see the following animals: elephants, gazelles, buffalo, lioness, impala and ostrich.

It was my first time to hear the lion roar and also be that close to a lioness and elephants. I know that a buffalo is the most feared animal in Africa, but today I was happy to have seen it very close that I can even take a picture. I love Stephen, Todd and Doriana for the guiding and above all for the camera which made me feel special. Thank you all again and my thoughts will be with you.

My name is Elvis Lenamunyi from Gir Gir primary school. I am 9 years old and in class two. While I was playing with other kids, I received good news from Doriana of Intrepid that I was selected to be among the children who will be taught how to use the cameras and later to go for game drive! I am extremely happy. I never believed what I heard; I thought it was a dream! The session of Camera Handling started and I was very excited since I have never even handled a camera any other day. Doriana was my teacher but first I thought I will not know anything. I was shown how to put the camera on and off and from there I could see some people who were in front of the camera on the back of the camera display.

The game drive started. On the way, Stephen, the Intrepid naturalist, kept on talking about plants and birds which seemed to me impossible for a person to know them all by their names! I manage to know the Kenyan Green Hart Pepper Bark tooth brush tree in English, which is called Enkikee Ngige in Samburu, and some birds. After a few minutes, we saw lioness, elephants, guinea fowl, antelopes, buffalo and even dik diks. I managed to take 111 pictures of all the animals I have seen. Later I found that I was the only one who took more than 100 pictures. It was very interesting, and I wish I could do this every day. I loved the whole trip and I am very happy with the Kenyan Kids on Safari program.

To date, 16 cameras have been distributed in Samburu at 3 different camps, Samburu Intrepids, Samburu Serena and Sasaab Lodge.   Kids are being taken out often and are getting to see what Samburu has to offer!

For more information on Kenyan Kids on Safari, please visit their website.

Tags: Conservation, Kenya, Kids, Lions, Photography, Safari, wildlife

6 responses so far

Category: Other news | Date: Jan 14 2009 | By: ewasolions

I want to take this opportunity to write about a recent trip I made to the US and the wildlife programme I was involved in.

I traveled to Washington DC in early December 2008 to graduate from the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) programme.  The EWCL process is guided by a Board of Directors comprised of established wildlife professionals who offer training, lectures, career advice, and guidance on the group projects.

EWCL is jointly funded by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Defenders of Wildlife, White Oak Conservation Center/Howard Gilman Foundation, the Wildlife Conservation Network and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

This was a 2- year programme  which included 1 week in the US in April 2007 (click here for a summary of the first training session) and 1 week in April 2008 (click here for a report from this session) at the White Oak Conservation Centre near Jacksonville, Florida, and then a few days in Washington DC to wrap up and graduate from the programme.

The training during the 2 sessions at White Oak included formal lectures, discussions, and exercises taught by seasoned wildlife conservation professionals as well as trainers in the field of leadership development and personal growth. Session topics included leadership skills, monitoring and evaluation, fundraising, team building, international campaigning, marketing, integrating media, building collaborations, public speaking, negotiation, networking and more. We also had the opportunity to gain advice on career goals and next steps during one-on-one mentor sessions with EWCL Board Members and EWCL Alumni from the previous class.

The 2007/2008 EWCL class

Our class of 21 conservationists selected four conservation topics that were addressed in strategic projects over the two years using skills acquired through EWCL training.  I was part of the Okapi Conservation Education Project.  We worked on this project for 2 years, in collaboration with Gilman International Conservation and their team in Epulu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (see their blog with WildlifeDirect  -click here).

With an okapi at the White Oak Centre

The EWCL Okapi project group assisted  in the creation of a conservation education video focusing on the importance of invaluable, and increasingly exploited, wildlife and natural resources in the DRC’s Okapi Wildlife Reserve (OWR) - using the Okapi as a flagship species.  To date, our project group raised over $7,000.00 to assist in training Gilman International Conservation’s (GIC) Education Director based in the OWR to compile and edit video footage gathered in the field.

EWCL okapi project group members from left to right: Kate Eschelbach (US Fish & Wildlife), me,  Nilanga Jayasinghe (Defenders of Wildlife) and Coffy Bennis (Busch Gardens)

The last training session in Washington DC included presentations on communications, foreign assistance reform and climate change.  We were also given the opportunity to present our respective projects to EWCL friends, board members and invited VIP guests.  The training ended with a graduation ceremony.

Receiving the graduation certificate (Photo credit: Melissa Normann)

It was a fantastic and rewarding 2-year experience and I was very honoured to be one of the first international participants.  For me personally, it was great to get a different perspective of conservation and experiences that all the US participants had to offer and I hope that I was able to offer a small insight into conservation issues faced in Kenya.  The training received has been so useful and the timing perfect as I set up the Ewaso Lion Project.

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