Ewaso Lions

I have worked with Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate Community Conservancy for many years.  It is a school I believe in greatly which has a lot of potential and some smart kids.  The school struggled for many years with food shortages, strong winds blew the classroom roofs away, lack of teachers and many more problems.

The roofless classrooms

However, over the past year and a half, the school is on its way up!  The new headmaster Johnson is fantastic and has not only revived the school (together with a brilliant volunteer teacher from England, Euan), but he has given it hope once again.  Four new classrooms were built, solar panels put in (this is the only power in the entire area!), and now a new girls dormitory is currently under construction. The children have flooded in from all over the area and unfortunately some have to be turned away because the school has exceeded the maximum number of children they can have.

I have always liked this school and have helped in small ways such as giving posters for their classrooms, donating desks and mattresses (through my previous work with Save the Elephants) and more recently, teaching the students about wildlife and taking them out on game drives.  I am focusing all my efforts on this school now and want to help it as much as possible.

Thanks to a donation from my mum and her friends, Ksh 40,000 was raised (USD 530) for school books for Lpus Leluai.  With the influx of new students, Johnson the headmaster was struggling with the few books they had and often 4 or 5 children would share one book.

But not any more! We have donated enough books for the entire school; Science, Maths, Geography and more.  We visited the school a few weeks ago and donated the books to the school together with some brown wrapping paper to cover and protect them from wear and tear.

Johnson the Headmaster receiving the donated books

Johnson doing an inventory of the books with the deputy headmaster, Raphael

The students and teachers were thrilled!  They said this was the first time that they have ever seen so many books and now the children will be able to study in their own time.

Happy students with their new books

Head boy Edward with his new Science book

Students with their new books

Here is short excerpt of Johnson’s letter to my mum:

“Your support came at a time when our school is experiencing a lot of problems.  Madam, your support is of great importance to us as we try to ensure that the students of Lpus Leluai get enough instructional materials to improve their academic standards.  I once again thank you for the donation of the books and promise we shall take good care of the books to last longer and benefit many children in the future. ” Johnson Lenasalia – Headmaster Lpus Leluai Primary School.  

The school continues to need our help.  The new girls dormitory needs to be furnished, they need more classrooms, more books and stationary for the large number of students and much more!   If you would like to help this school, please do make a donation!

Magilani.  She is a beautiful lioness surviving by herself in the Conservation Area in West Gate Community Conservancy.  Here is her story…

Last year I was fortunate to see my first group of “Real Lions“.  These lions are community lions. They live in community areas and struggle to survive surrounded by people and livestock.  The first 3 “Real Lions” I identified moved over to Samburu National Reserve in September 2008, but one female stayed.

And this is Magilani.  Magilani is a 4 year old female.  Her name means “The clever one” in the local Samburu language.  The community scouts named her during a recent workshop I held with them.  The name suits her perfectly.

Magilani lives alone in the Conservation Area.  I have never seen her with other lions and for a long time I thought she may have cubs that she has hidden in the area which is why she never leaves.  I used to only see her tracks for days, but then finally got a sighting of her in January when she killed a donkey that had strayed into the Conservation Area.  Over weeks, we could only get a glimpse of her coming out of the thick Salvadora persica (toothbrush tree) bushes.  There is a certain gap that she normally emerges through between 6:30 pm and 7:00pm.  It is as if she is almost remote controlled!  I would sit and wait at the gap and sure enough, between that time, her head would pop out.

We would not move.  I would try and balance my camera and be ready for her to get an ID photograph.  Any movement or sound in the car would scare her off.  Often because the light was so poor at this time, I would change the ISO speed on my camera to the maximum, try to be steady (although I’ve always been so excited to see her, my hands would be a bit shaky!) and take some photos, whilst trying to look at her whisker spots at the same time with binoculars – all without moving much!

The first full view we had of Magilani – taken a few weeks ago.  Photo is a bit blurry because of the time of day and I did not want to use a flash to scare her away. 

We figured out in the end that she does not have cubs.  However, she still stays pretty much in the same area.  She feels safe here. But I do wonder how this 4 year old female in her prime is surviving out here by herself.  I have seen tracks of males in the same area a few times but they disappear for days and she stays behind.  She comes out of the thick bushes to hunt in the evening and returns late at night to the same place.

Magilani hiding in the bushes – Photo: Steve Kendrot (USDA)

Recently, we have worried about her because of the livestock pressure in the area.  Although I have not seen her in 2 weeks, I have seen her tracks. We are dedicating a lot of time and effort to the Conservation Area, together with the West Gate Community scouts, to try and ensure that the wildlife continue to feel safe here.

Magilani is really hiding now; coming out very briefly to look for food and then returning.  I hope that I see her soon. By watching her over the next few months, I can learn more about what makes her stay where she is and how she survives alone.  However, I am leaving West Gate within the next week to return to Samburu National Reserve and then to Nairobi. I hope she is still around when I return.

I will keep you posted on this very special female.  She is a community lion and a real survivor…

The community scouts in West Gate Community Conservancy patrol the area daily to keep livestock out of the Conservation Area, monitor and record wildlife species and generally maintain security within the Conservancy.  Ewaso Lions has 3 scouts that are part of the West Gate scouts network.  Often the scouts work and stay out in the field at night.  Recently, they stayed overnight with the young female elephant who died in January and also “Esidai”, a bull elephant who died a few weeks ago (I will blog about him soon).

Jeneria Lekilele (Ewaso Lions scout) herding goats away from the Conservation Area, after they strayed across the river

However, the scouts have struggled to stay out in the field at night due to the mosquitoes and the cold that springs upon them late at night.  We decided to donate one of our small camp tents to assist them with their duties. Stephen, the Head of Security of West Gate, was very grateful and said that now nothing will stop them from protecting the increasing wildlife in the Conservation Area.

Stephen with the tent at the West Gate Headquarters

I felt that the community scouts needed this tent a lot more than we did.  This tent stayed pretty much in my car if/when I happened to get stuck out in the field overnight.  However the reality is that we are short of a tent now. If you are able to make a small donation for us to get one again, we would really appreciate it.  The one we donated to West Gate cost us approximately $6o.