Ewaso Lions

Category: Lions | Date: Sep 28 2008 | By: ewasolions

Hello all,

I have a few blogs that will be posted over the next few days but in the meantime I wanted to send you the following 2 links where Ewaso Lions has been featured in the news over the past week.

Best wishes from Samburu,

Shivani

Click on the links below:

On the trail of lions

Counting Samburu’s vanishing lions

Two of Samburu’s lionesses -Nabo and Nashipai

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Category: West Gate | Date: Sep 08 2008 | By: ewasolions

Many of you have asked me what it is like to live at the Ewaso Lions research camp or Echo Lima camp as its known. It has been an amazing few months in this small bush remote camp in the West Gate Community Conservancy and I want to share with you some of our experiences here.

We set up the camp on June 6th. We decided on the location as it was the only flat bit of land we could find which had a few trees and was within close proximity to the nearby Sasaab Lodge staff quarters where we would get water. Our site is open and is at the base of a small rocky hill. On the other side of the hill is the Pukur lugga (sand river) where livestock come to drink during the day and hyenas and lions at night. The views are spectacular as we are surrounded by hills and the Samburu sacred mountain, Ol Lolokwe, is in the distance.

The Pukur lugga near camp

We put up a small mess tent using a canvas sheet and some ropes, a bush kitchen, dug a hole in the ground as a loo, erected some posts for a bathroom and 2 tents for sleeping. We collected dead logs and trees pushed over by elephants to form the posts of the loo, bathroom and kitchen and surrounded them with sack material.

Joseph in the kitchen

The Bathroom

We live in perpetual dust and have had some strong winds over the past few weeks. This is the windiest time of the year and our camp has blown away a few times with the materials surrounding the loo, bathroom and kitchen collapsing. And since the structures are held up by dead trees, everything is always falling over!

We have many animal friends visit our camp on a daily basis. The nearby lodge camels often graze on our site as do donkeys who stray from the Pukur lugga during the day. However they vanished once after they got a whiff of the lion scat near the bush laboratory in camp, and nowadays keep their distance.

We have 2 dik diks that have become so accustomed to our presence that they feed on the Acacia pods in the mess tent whilst we are sitting there! 15 kudus also ran through camp a few days ago which was great to see.

The birdlife is amazing. We have all kinds of hornbills, yellow spotted petronias, various weaver species in camp everyday feeding on the crumbs in the kitchen and near the mess tent.

We also have predators in camp. Hyenas are heard almost on a daily basis and on one occasion 2 hyenas killed a donkey in the Pukur lugga. We’ve also had lions walk through without us knowing it as we saw their tracks in the morning in between my tent and the warriors tent.

Shower and tent area

Big bull elephants love the area. The Kipsing lugga a few kilometers away is one of their favourite resting areas and it is where all the lone bulls come together and hang out in their bachelor groups. Often in the evenings, they leave the Ewaso Nyiro River and move towards the hills feeding well into the night. We have had elephants in camp often at night, and on one occasion 2 huge bulls came and knocked over one of our Acacia trees to the ground. We only had 4 large trees on our site… and now its down to 3.

Unfortunately we also live with termites; a real nightmare to live with! They have been eating away at the loo for a few months now. However much we try to get rid of them, they return. I am worried that they will eat the entire loo and it will collapse at some stage. I may need to get a plastic loo seat soon.

The termite infested loo!

We have many human visitors too during the day. Warriors often walk through camp. Women from the nearby Sasaab village stop by to ask for lifts to West Gate or Archers Post. We chat about the weather, livestock, the village and more. The lodge staff or conservancy scouts and personnel come to say hi often and for a quick cup of chai as we catch up on news within the group ranch. The Echo Lima camp has become a popular spot over the past few months and it has been great meeting new people and getting to know the community.

I am able to power my laptop and charge our phones using a fantastic solar set-up which has worked out really well so far. Thank you so much for your contributions to date towards paying off the loan for the solar system. I still require $200 to complete payments and am grateful for any donation towards this.

Joseph packing away the solar system every evening from the mess tent, which is the shadiest and coolest place in camp

We get water for our camp from the nearby lodge staff quarters. I carry 4 20-litre plastic jerricans in Gypsy and fill them up there. The 4 cans last us about 3 days depending on how many we are in camp. We put 1 jerrican out in the sun for hot water – its amazing how hot it actually gets! Water is scarce in the entire region, and living here has definitely taught me how to use only what is absolutely necessary. It is incredible how quickly one gets used to living off a small bucket of water a day.

Camp tap – a plastic bottle with a hole and covered with duct tape

Meals are simple but wholesome. Our main meal is ugali and dengu (green lentils) which we eat almost every day. I get vegetables once a week from the reserve and this lasts us a few days. We eat a lot of rice too. Joseph recently made bread in a small hole in the ground with some tin foil, coals and pots. It was amazing and the best bush bread I have ever eaten!

The bush oven

Joseph putting the finishing touches on the bread

Bush bread!

We planted 2 umbrella thorn Acacia trees in camp with the intention of planting more. One of our trees was doing really well but sadly we woke up one morning to find it totally eaten. We saw gerenuk tracks all around. The other tree is doing well and we are keeping the dik diks away from it.

Raphael and Joseph plant an Acacia tree in camp

Every morning I leave camp at 5 30 am to drive through the Conservation Area looking for tracks and predators. We are normally back by 8 am by which time Jeneria is ready to leave on his patrol. We then have a radio-call with all the scouts to check that everything is ok before they leave on their patrols and to also see whether anyone heard lions at night or received a report.

I then normally head out again after a quick breakfast of camel milk chai and bush bread. I attend community meetings, conduct recces within the conservancy, map the group ranch, follow the scouts on their routes, visit schools, look for lions or sit in villages and chat to the community about lions. Every day is different and is planned the night before. However, I have learned that it is sometimes best to just head out and see what happens during the day as every day something new and unexpected happens and being flexible is the key to working and living out here. Sometimes planning just doesn’t work!

I normally head back to camp by 3 or 4 pm, have a late lunch and then sit on my laptop doing emails, report writing, funding applications or writing these blogs. By 6 pm, I have a “shower”, we eat dinner by 7 30 and chat and laugh until about 8 or 8 30 and then its off to bed.

Living at the Echo Lima camp is quite an experience. I love every single day of being here. The hot, dusty, windy days with stunning sunsets and starry nights, and working with a great team, has been fantastic and I look forward to new adventures that each day brings.

Heading out on a new adventure…

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Category: Donors | Date: Sep 08 2008 | By: ewasolions

Tasleem and Madeliene,

A huge thank you from all of us at Ewaso Lions for your donations to the project. All donations made go straight towards field costs. Your encouragement and support is really appreciated and again, thank you so much.

Shivani and the rest of the Ewaso Lions team

A stunning sunset in Samburu 

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Category: Other news | Date: Sep 05 2008 | By: ewasolions

I am breaking away from lion news to write about something different - a Samburu wedding!

Jeremiah Letoole, one of the Ewaso Lion Scouts took his 1-month leave in July to prepare for his wedding towards the end of the month. Jeremiah was marrying a beautiful young bride named Miriam and the wedding date was set for the 26th in a remote village in Samburu District, called Ndikir, where Miriam’s family comes from.

We set off from Echo Lima camp at 5 am on the 25th of July heading for Wamba. Wamba is a small town near the Mathews Ranges in the heart of Samburu District. Gypsy was full of camping gear, food, jerricans (plastic containers) of water and sacks of sugar for the wedding.

We arrived in Wamba town at 7 30 am and bought more sugar, tea-leaves and tobacco for the wedding. It is customary in Samburu tradition that the groom arrive at the bride’s village laden with gifts. In most cases the gifts comprise of sugar and tea leaves. By the end of our shopping, Gypsy had 100 kgs of sugar inside and lots more!

We left Wamba at around 11 am after all the shopping was done, and took the main road towards Maralal. Near a small village called Nkaroni, we met Jeremiah’s father who showed us the way to Miriam’s “manyatta” (village). It really was in the middle of nowhere as we finally arrived after driving through luggas and thick bush.

We set up a small camp near the family home and this would be our base for the next 3 days. I hung out with all the women of the village in their house drinking tea (with lots and lots of sugar!) and watching them prepare and talk about the wedding. We were surrounded by children and it was a relaxed scene that evening. The warriors (Jeremiah, Raphael and Paul) were all getting ready; putting on their beads, “shukas” (cloths) and red ochre mixed with goat fat over their bodies. It was fascinating to watch. Raphael was Jeremiah’s best man and Paul was assisting him.

Jeremiah putting red ochre

Putting on my beads with the help of Naramat, Jeremiah’s sister

Raphael and Jeremiah during the evening of the 25th

Early the next morning the wedding events started. Raphael, had a huge role to play during the wedding. It was his duty to make sure that everything was in order; the elders were kept happy and that all Jeremiah’s responsibilities were carried out. Miriam’s mother removed Raph and Jeremiah’s shoes and they had to walk barefoot for the whole day. They spent the day giving sheep and cows to the family, collecting wood and bushes for the wedding house and chatting to the elders. They had to present 4 various pieces of meat to Miriam’s mother after a long bull skinning process. The women, warriors and elders danced in the afternoon as the sun was setting.

Miriam, the bride

Marking the cows

In the evening, the elders cleared away an area where the wedding house would be built. They blessed the site as the women were making the house sticks and preparing to put it all together. It was fascinating to watch the house being built. After 2 hours and 7 women working, there it was – the wedding house. Everyone was drinking tea, meat was being roasted and it was a typical village scene. More blessings, dances and the wedding day ended at midnight with the elders giving the married couple advice on their future.

Building the house

The finished house

Another early start on the 27th. As the sun came up, we all congregated in the wedding village. Raph and Jeremiah were given their shoes back (goat skin sandals) and Miriam started to pack her belongings. More tea for everyone as I packed up our little camp. By 10 am, we had everything placed outside Gypsy ready to be packed. I was carrying the entire wedding party in the car plus the wedding house! It is customary that the house be transported to the groom’s home and set up in his family manyatta. Paul did a fantastic packing job and we managed to squeeze 7 people, plus all the gear and the iron sheets, skins and sticks for the house inside Gypsy. We were quite a sight as we left our home for the last few days and made our way back to Wamba.

A full Gypsy

As I drove into Wamba town, people stopped and stared at the wedding procession. Everyone was fascinated by Gypsy and the group. I did some shopping for camp and managed to squeeze it in the car and we left for West Gate at around 2 pm. At 5 pm, we drove into Jeremiah’s village manyatta to be greeted by his entire family and more tea. We were all exhausted as I drove back to Echo Lima camp arriving at around 6 pm.

It had been a brilliant experience. Not only the entire wedding but also living in a manyatta and experiencing a true Samburu lifestyle. I hope to return to this remote manyatta in a few months time to present the wedding album to the family. I really am looking forward to going back.

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Category: Lions | Date: Sep 04 2008 | By: ewasolions

I returned to Echo Lima camp on the evening of the 24th of July from the reserve. Jeneria greeted us and immediately told me of an abandoned elephant calf that had been killed by lions.

The day before, the community scouts had come across a young 6-8 month old elephant in the Conservation Area of West Gate Community Conservancy late in the evening. The family was nowhere to be seen and it was clear that the calf got lost or somehow had been abandoned. The bush in this area is very very thick – in fact it contains the most bush in the entire Conservation Area. Maybe the family left the river area and wandered into the hills leaving the calf behind?

The scouts returned to the site that morning and stumbled across 4 lions who had killed the young calf during the night. When I received this report from Jeneria, I rushed immediately to the site. Luckily I had the GPS location of the elephant that the scouts had provided me.

The terrain was tough and I struggled to get close to the GPS location. It was getting late as I was finally able to maneuver my way round to the site of the elephant carcass. We stumbled across 2 male lions (see Real Lions 2) feeding on the elephant just as it got dark.

We left after about 10 minutes as I did not want to disturb the lions on their kill. I returned to the site a few weeks later and we walked to the carcass through the thick bush. I was surprised to see that the carcass was still pretty much intact and the hyenas had not finished it off.

However, I returned a few days ago to find it almost gone. The jaw, skull and other bones were scattered. There was a small hole in the thick Salvadora bush where the lions had obviously rested whilst feeding on their kill.

Remains of the elephant calf

The young calf’s jaw

This was the first time that I have seen lions kill an elephant in the region. The last report was in 2002, when a young calf in Samburu National Reserve was killed by some females. A few months ago, Nabo, Uni and Nashipai did have a go at chasing a young calf only to have the mother come tearing out of the bushes and chase the lions away. During my years in Samburu, I have only seen lions feeding on elephants that have died from natural causes.
Thanks for all your comments on Real Lions and the maneless males of Samburu. I will reply to your questions soon!

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Category: Lions | Date: Aug 20 2008 | By: ewasolions

I spent a few days in Samburu and Buffalo Springs between the 7th and 10th of August monitoring the resident lions and checking up on Nashipai, Nabo, her cubs and the others. It was a good few days and I also found some new lions near Ngare Mara.

I returned to Echo Lima camp in the evening of the 10th and received a message from the manager of the nearby lodge that their driver guide had seen 4 lions that evening in the Conservation Area! But the lions were nervous and kept hiding so he did not get a good look at them. I was excited by this sighting and decided to leave early the following morning to see if I could find them; hoping they hadn’t moved away.

I left camp at 5 30 am and entered the Conservation Area. I followed the main road all the way along the river but did not see anything. We saw the previous nights tracks of where the lions had been sighted. I continued to the end of the Conservation Area and turned back thinking these lions had left the area.

As I came round a corner, I bumped into a lion! He was sitting on the road and at the same time another lion who had been sitting there with him stood up and disappeared. Gypsy is a very quiet car and I think I surprised the lions as much as they surprised me. This male was huge and almost looked like a female as he had no mane. He watched me keenly and we didn’t move a muscle as I really did not want him to run away.

Eventually he stood up, walked off and joined the other lion who I noticed was sitting and hiding in some bushes. They sat together as I tried to take some photos. I tried drawing their whisker spots but the second male was nervous and wary of my movements. They got up and walked off and I then realized that about 20 metres away, another male had been watching me. This was a coalition of 3 males! The big one who seemed a bit more relaxed then the other 2 sat down on the road again however the other 2 kept their distance and watched me through the bushes. The males then wandered off and disappeared in the thick Salvadora.

The big male

The two nervous lions keeping a watchful eye

This was amazing. I had finally had my first proper sighting of these community area lions. I then realized that I had actually seen 2 of them before on the elephant carcass and was sure that it was the same 2; the big male and the smaller male who was beginning to grow a mane. I saw female tracks on the 12th and 13th of August and this lioness may have been the 4th lion that the lodge driver had seen. I also saw a lot of livestock across the river and also some on this side. We went to speak to the herders to inform them of the lions presence and they were grateful for the information and advice and quickly moved off away from the thick bushes.

A bit of information on male coalitions; they are formed after males from the same litter stay together after leaving their pride. They operate as a team whilst they are competing for a territory. Male coalitions also have a reproductive advantage with pride females and this often forces unrelated males to join together.

So I hope there will be many more Real Lions blogs because that would mean I have seen many more lions out here in West Gate!

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Category: Lions | Date: Aug 19 2008 | By: ewasolions

After spending one night in the reserve monitoring the resident lions, I returned to Echo Lima camp on the 24th of July. Jeneria and Joseph greeted me and immediately told me that 4 lions had killed a young elephant in the Conservation Area that morning. The calf had been lost or abandoned and was roaming the area alone until the lions came across it. I decided to quickly head for the area knowing that since this was a large kill, there were greater chances that the lions would still be there.

I was fortunate to have the GPS location of the carcass as some community scouts had been there that morning. I realized later that if it hadn’t been for that GPS I would never have found the carcass because of the thick impenetrable bush.

I drove quickly to the Conservation Area with the guys. When we got close to the location where the carcass was, I slowed down and headed for some thick Salvadora bushes. The GPS stated that we were 60 metres away however I could get no closer. I turned off the engine and waited and listened. We sat there for about 20 minutes and then heard a sound. It was the crunching of a bone. The lions were there!

Thick Salvadora persica bushes in the Conservation Area

I decided to try another route to get to the carcass. I went round the area towards the river and then back in again through the thick bush. Again, we waited and listened. The GPS now stated that we were 30 metres away from the carcass. We were in a small clearing where I hoped the lions would eventually emerge through as they headed down to the river. However, it was getting dark and we didn’t see or hear anything.

Jeneria noticed a small gap in the bushes and indicated that we should try go through there. I creeped slowly through the bushes and then we saw him. There was a huge male lion, maneless, standing on what appeared to be a mound (which was actually the elephant) staring at us. I couldn’t believe it. With the sound and sight of the car and us, he did not run away. He stood his ground and just looked at us. It was pretty dark by now and all we could make out was the faint outline of his head which was covered with blood.

I was thrilled to see him but did not want to disturb him on the carcass. I turned around in a very small space and we then saw another male. He was smaller and appeared to be growing a small mane. He also just stared at us.

I left the scene, very excited by what we had just seen. Jeneria was also thrilled. This was the first time he had seen lions properly and so close. These lions were definitely bolder and not as nervous as the female I had seen a few weeks before. I really hoped I would see them again…

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Category: Lions | Date: Aug 18 2008 | By: ewasolions

Towards the end of June, everyone was hearing lions at night; the nearby lodge staff to our South, the community headquarters staff to our North and the Sasaab village people a few kilometers away. However, for some reason all of us at the Echo Lima camp were not hearing anything! Every morning, people would walk by the camp and ask us “Did you guys hear the lions last night?” and our answer every morning was “No!” I think we are all very deep sleepers and we would sleep through anything.

Finally on the 2nd of July, at 5 am, Joseph heard lions calling out and came rushing out of his tent and woke us all up. We jumped in the car and headed into the Conservation Area. However just as I came to the Ewaso Nyiro River Gypsy got a flat tyre on a very steep rocky hill. It took a while to change the tyre and it was getting light by the time we proceeded.

I continued to the interior of the Conservation Area in West Gate. Lekuraiyo who was standing out of the roof hatch said “Ninaona nyayo” meaning “I can see tracks”. I slowed down and he began to track what turned out to be tracks of 3 lions. They had clearly walked on the road a few hours ago but had now wandered into the thick Salvadora bushes. Lekuraiyo told me which way to go and we managed to find an opening heading to the river. He told me the lions were definitely within a 50 metres radius of us in some very very thick bush. We sat at the river for a while and then decided to leave that spot and try going around the area.

As I was turning Gypsy, I suddenly heard Lekuraiyo say “Shivani! Simba!”. I turned off the engine quickly and froze as Lekuraiyo came down from the hatch slowly. And then I saw her. A female popped her head out of the Salvadora bushes and was in a narrow opening. She saw us and froze. No one moved – neither us nor the lioness. I knew that any movement on our part would make her disappear. She stared at us for about 10 seconds…frozen. And then she was gone. She vanished so quickly that I barely knew what had happened.

She was a young female and still had spots on her. She was clearly very nervous and Gypsy may have been the first car she had ever seen. I drove to where she had stood and measured and took a photo of her tracks (see below). She had disappeared into the thick bushes along the river and I knew it would be impossible to see her again. Most likely she had joined the other 2 lions we had been tracking.

Tracks of the first “Real Lion”

Lions in community areas are very nervous of people, vehicles, sound and generally spend most of their time hiding in thick bushy areas. West Gate Community Conservancy is such a place where wildlife, people and their livestock live together in the same area. Within this conservancy, there is a Conservation Area which is situated about 1km away from the Echo Lima camp. There are no villages here and livestock is excluded from the Conservation Area. I spend most mornings driving here along the main road near the river. The bush is very thick and it is hard to see much however wildlife is increasing here which is great to see. The main habitat is Salvadora which is a thick evergreen bush, also known as the “toothbrush tree”.

A view of the Conservation Area in West Gate Community Conservancy

Anyway, back to “Real Lions”. Less than a month in West Gate and I had seen my first lion outside of a protected area. I really couldn’t and still cannot believe it. The first words that came out of my mouth a few moments after seeing the female, were “Now this is a real lion”. I couldn’t wait to find more and hoped that I would see either this young female again or others.

And the good news is that I have! Stay tuned to this week’s blog for part 2 of “Real Lions”.

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Category: Donors | Date: Aug 15 2008 | By: ewasolions

Sauwah, thank you for your donation to Ewaso Lions!

We really are grateful for this donation and for your continued support.

Thank you again,

Best wishes from the Ewaso Lions team

The photo below shows a new female I found in Buffalo Springs last week

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Category: Other news | Date: Aug 15 2008 | By: ewasolions

So here is a little about myself!

I was born and brought up in Nairobi the capital city of Kenya. I attended primary and secondary school in Nairobi, and it was whilst in secondary school that I developed a passion for wildlife conservation. Occasional school camping trips and safaris organised by my parents confirmed my passion in wildlife. I remember spotting my first cheetah in Samburu when I was 9 years old and that memory has always remained with me!

I left Kenya for Lancaster University, England, in 1996 to undertake a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Environmental Science, that included a year’s exchange to the State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA.

Upon successful completion of my studies, I returned to Kenya where I worked with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which included a strong involvement in the CITES conference in Nairobi in 2000 where I campaigned for the continued ban on the ivory trade. The more I immersed myself in wildlife conservation, the more passionate I have become working towards saving Africa’s fauna.

My work within KWS subsequently enabled me to gain employment as a wildlife biologist and education officer with Save the Elephants (STE) in 2000. However, I soon developed a greater interest in lions, especially in 2002, when a lioness named Kamunyak adopted a baby oryx antelope in Samburu.

In December 2002, I moved to Samburu National Reserve, Northern Kenya, where I still reside. I worked with students and schools in the area as part of my position with STE, including liaising with the local communities on the establishment and maintenance of environmental and wildlife conservation programmes.

During my time here in Samburu, I have completed a Master of Science degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation by Distance Learning with Napier University, Scotland. The focus of my Masters research was on the population size, structure and movements of lions within the reserves in the area. I have since commenced my PhD with the University of Oxford in 2007, where the focus of my research is a continuation of the lion study I initiated in 2003. And this is how Ewaso Lions started!

Below are a few photos in the field - collecting lion scat, identifying lions, measuring manyattas and working in the mess tent at the Echo Lima camp

I often spend time under Gypsy trying to fix something or placing the jack to change a tyre… but more often am sitting on the top of the hatch!

I have had many memorable moments during my years in Samburu. One being in 2003, when I witnessed the death of an elephant matriarch and watched how other elephants reacted to her death and also saw a pride of lions feed on her for a week. I have also participated in many elephant radio-collaring operations as well as assisted with the treatment of 2 cheetahs with mange in 2004. I also took part in 2 district wide cheetah censuses in 2006 which was a fantastic experience.

However, the highlight of all my years in Samburu has definitely been this year as I have worked on my own project with a fantastic team (see previous blogs) and also a great group of volunteers; Paul Thomson from the African Wildlife Foundation, Shane Dallas a public servant from Australia, Nilanga Jayasinghe from Defenders of Wildlife in the US and Shalini Bhalla from SB-Management in the UK.

I have had great support from various organizations who have funded my project to date and from readers of WildlifeDirect. It is thanks to you all that my project is able to continue and I am able to work in this region doing what I can do to conserve the Ewaso ecosystem’s lions. I have enjoyed every minute of working in the Samburu region and I look forward to many more years to come working in this beautiful area.

And now I think I have given you the full picture of the Ewaso Lions team. For more information and photos, please click here: www.ewasolions.org/aboutus

If you have any questions on the project, the Ewaso Lions team or anything, please feel free to ask!

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