Ewaso Lions

Category: Other news | Date: Dec 22 2008 | By: ewasolions

It has been a really successful year with a lot happening; good and some bad but mostly great and exciting. Below are some of the highlights of the year.

-  The Ewaso Lions (El) team was formed early in the year.  Raphael (community officer), Joseph (camp manager and cook), Lekuraiyo and Ricila (trackers) and Jeneria, Francis and Jeremiah (Ewaso Lions scouts) joined by myself formed the team.  I am so fortunate to have such a fantastic team to work with and we have had many memorable moments this year.

The Ewaso Lions team

-  The lion population has changed during the year.  Nashipai and the rest of the pride gave me many worrying moments by disappearing for weeks but then coming back eventually.  A new female Naibor was seen in Samburu including a few new females in Ngare Mara.  Nashipai, Nabo and Uni were the most commonly seen lionesses and I spent an interesting afternoon in October watching Nabo attempt killing a waterbuck.

Nashipai and Nabo - the two sisters

- The best news of the year was when Nashipai and Nabo gave birth to cubs and we now have 5 healthy cubs roaming the reserve with their mothers.  I saw the cubs recently upon return to the reserve and will blog about this soon.  Samburu did not have cubs for more than 2 years so this is very exciting!

Nashipai’s two cubs in October

- It was really exciting to see lions in the conservation area of West Gate.  I was fortunate to have 4 sightings of these wild “Real Lions“.   But it was pretty scary when these 3 new males entered the reserve when the cubs were very small and Nabo had to fight them off. They have now become resident and the females are doing a great job keeping the cubs away.

Lguret watching me from the bushes

- We set up the Ewaso Lions (Echo Lima) camp in West Gate Conservancy and spent a few months there.  It was a fantastic set up and we had some great experiences.  It is located in the heart of the conservancy and we use this as a base to find lions, work with the communities, and much more.  We have recently moved back there and will be there until the middle of February 2009.  It is great to be back!

Mess tent in the camp

- We’ve had 2 staff weddings this year - Jeremiah and Raph both got married in 2008 and the weddings were colourful, fun and vibrant.

Joseph and Jeneria dance at Raph’s wedding

-  Sadly, there was a bad event that took place during the year as well. I got robbed in August but thanks to the fantastic efforts of the entire EL team, the thief was found and my money was recovered. I learned a lot from this experience.  Also, my hard drive crashed on my computer in September and I lost many photos and valuable information.  I definitely learned from this lesson too!

- The rains finally arrived in October after a very dry year where people, their livestock and the wildlife really suffered.  However it only rained for under 3 weeks and the area is already beginning to dry up.  We hope that there will be some more rain before the next rains which are due in April.

Koitogor Hill, in the heart of Samburu, becomes green after the first rains in October

-  I started the Ewaso Lions tree project in February this year.  To date more than 70 trees have been planted in schools, villages, community areas and in our camp.  It has been very successful and I am thrilled to report that we have had a more than 80% tree survival rate.  We intend to expand the tree project next year within more villages.

Students from Attan Primary plant their tree

-  We had a few carnivore deaths during the year.  One male lion was killed by another during a fight in October.  Also, a zebra killed a cheetah in June which was very fascinating and we spent many hours guarding this dead cheetah from scavengers. A striped hyena was also found dead in March but the cause of death was not established.

Performing the necropsy on the cheetah

-  We were in the news this year!  The project had 2 articles published  -in the Daily Nation and also the East African.

-  I began showing wildlife films in West Gate to the local communities. This was a huge success and I hope to continue with more wildlife film showing in 2009.  The showing of films is so important and it is a great way to spread important conservation messages to the local communities. Many of them have never seen these animals properly nor a video before.

Wildlife video projected on Gypsy

- Thanks to donations, I was able to purchase a fantastic vehicle - Gypsy!  This car has been the best thing I have ever bought.  She is extremely tough in the bush, never gets stuck and has gone through very difficult terrain.  She has transported sick people to hospitals, wedding parties to villages and I have been able to monitor all the lions and move within the communities.  Gypsy is one of the only vehicles in West Gate and the communities and wildlife scouts depend on her greatly to assist with emergencies that may arise.

Driving Gypsy through West Gate

So, as you can see, its been a really good year and we could not have achieved what we have done without your support and donations.  We look forward to your continued support,  interest and enthusiasm in the Ewaso Lion Project in 2009.

Ashe Oleng!

 Shivani

Tags: Africa, Conservation, environment, Ewaso Nyiro, Kenya, Lions, Samburu, trees, wildlife

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

Here is a short update on the trees project.  With the recent arrival of the rains, the trees planted early in the year are doing really well.  This is especially the case at Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate.  Roy Juma’s Neem tree has grown to more than half a metre!

Roy (centre of photo) shows Raphael and myself his tree

In the recent East African article about the Ewaso Lion Project, the writer mentioned Roy.  Here is what she said:

“Driving though the conservancy, we stop by one of the schools where Bhalla has set up a tree planting project. For the young Roy Juma, who is in Standard Four at Lpus Leluai, guarding his tree is a way of bringing rain to the land in future. He is the face of the next generation in conservation.”

Click here for the full article in the East African newspaper

In early September, Chip Owen, one of the project’s main donors and friends, visited us in Samburu.  We took Chip to all the schools where trees were planted and also planted our own trees at Raphael and Joseph’s house in West Gate.  The timing was perfect because the following week, it poured with rain!

Chip with Jimmy’s (in blue shorts) tree at Lpus Leluai Primary

So, to date (between February and October), 79 trees have been planted in schools, villages and homes.  I am looking forward to expanding the tree project in 2009 where more and more trees will be planted in villages especially.

Raphael waters his newly planted seedling

Joseph waters his tree

If you would like to support the Ewaso Lions Tree Project, please do make a donation.  Large seedlings cost Kenya Shillings 50 and  I normally provide some chicken wire to fence the tree to prevent goats and dik diks from destroying the seedling.  So, for about $1.50 - one tree can be planted in an area where trees are sooo important.  Every tree planted makes a difference in this dry, arid part of Kenya.

Newly planted tree seedling with wire protection

Tags: Conservation, environment, Lions, trees, wildlife

3 responses so far