Ewaso Lions

We’ve just completed a grueling but successful lion collaring operation in the reserves. The four-day operation was sponsored by Save The Elephants (STE) and involved putting tracking collars on eight elephants and one lion. To be efficient and utilize the time of the visiting Kenya Wildlife Service vet, decided to re-collar Lguret, the male lion we collared a year ago.

Lguret and his brother Loirish spent most of the time hiding in deep bush, in a river that made getting to him impossible. On a few occasions they emerged, and we frantically radioed the vet to come, but as soon as the vet came, the lions disappeared back into hiding. It was frustrating and exhausting work.

On the last day, just when we were starting to lose hope, we tracked for hours and then Jeneria spotted the lions lying under a bush. The vet and an STE car arrived and we prepared ourselves. The anxiety and tension was palpable: it was now or never.

We carefully approached the lions, and the vet successfully made the shot, anesthetizing Lguret while his brother ran off. We jumped into action to remove his old collar, affix his new one, take his measurements, and collect samples. He eventually entered a deep sleep and we finished our tasks quickly.

After administering the antidote, we stayed with the lion to make sure he recovered well. Not bothered by his collar, he eventually walked away to sleep off his wooziness.

The tracking collar will provide valuable data on the lion’s movements in and out of the reserves. The collar does not harm the animal, nor does it even seem to bother him.

After the vet anesthetized Lguret, we waited for him to fall asleep.

Shivani and Jeneria take measurements.

My what big teeth you have!

The Ewaso Lions team and the vets with Lguret. His head is covered to protect his eyes from the sun.

A bit groggy, Lguret woke up and recovered nicely.

This has marked the end of a long attempt to collar Lguret. It has been no easy task: a total of 60 field days over the past 8 months, averaging 12 hours each day, and driving nearly two thousand kilometers! Now we can breathe a sigh of relief that the search is over and now we will be able to capture valuable data that can help ensure the long-term conservation of these incredible animals.

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Thanks to Panthera, we now have two camera traps to assist us in documenting night visitors. Camera traps are digital cameras equipped with motion sensors, which take photos automatically when an animal (lion, leopard, hyena, etc.) passes by and sets off the camera.

I’ve never used one before, but I’ve been intrigued for some time, having followed the adventures (and often the misadventures) of fellow camera trappers like Nakedi Maputla, who studies leopards in the Kruger, and the “Camera Trap Codger” who has turned his interest in trapping into an art form.

We hope that our camera traps will give us close-up photos of animals that we normally couldn’t get close to. They’ll help document the numbers and types of species which are not always easy to spot from a vehicle or during the day time. Plus, the candid photos of wildlife in the absence of humans may give us insight into some of their natural behaviors.

The other night we set up a camera trap in the Conservation Area near camp here in West Gate. After fiddling with the settings, tying it to a tree trunk with several ropes, and giving it a blessing that no hyena shall eat it, we left the trap to do its thing.

A key part of the camera trapping process is the anticipation leading up to checking your camera to see what it may have captured. This morning on our dawn patrol through the Conservation Area, we came across three hyenas plodding down the road. We were both excited that they may have passed our camera and terrified that our brand new camera may have become hyena chow.

The camera had some slight scratches from a hyena tooth, but luckily, the camera was still in one piece. Back at camp we downloaded the images and were thrilled to find that some curious hyenas passed by the trap and posed nicely.

This is just the beginning. We will continue to use the camera traps in various areas around Samburu and see what other photogenic wildlife we can “capture”.

This photo caught a bull elephant, clearly showing he is in musth.

A curious hyena stops to inspect the strange object.

The camera got a close-up of the hyena’s belly as it took a bite of the casing, but left no lasting damage.

Between January and May this year I collected 17 lion faecal samples in the reserve and Francis, one of the Ewaso Lion scouts has collected 10 samples in the community area. This is an important component of my project where I want to compare lion’s diet in the reserves and in West Gate Community Conservancy.

After collecting all the samples, I dried and put them in a crate for preservation until I was ready to begin analysis. A Kenyan student from Oxford University, Will, has recently arrived to help me. He has brought a microscope with him and has begun plucking the hairs from the scat and mounting them on slides.

This bush laboratory has intrigued everyone who passes by camp including the staff from the nearby lodge. Many have wandered in to have a peek in the microscope and see what’s going on! Camels and donkeys that usually graze in the camp area got a scare a few days ago when they got a whiff of all the lion scat. They scampered off in all directions and now tread cautiously in the area!

Learamu looking through the microscope under Will’s supervision