an interview with the Lion Guardians Options

[Ross]

Antony kasanga, assistant director of the Lion Guardians program

I first came across wildlifedirect.org late last year and was immediately drawn to the blog of the Lion Guardians.
Being an admirer of big cats and especially the lions, I was both fascinated and intrigued by the Guardians and their role for I knew that Maasai people killed lions, both as a way of proving their manhood and to also protect their livestock.
Now a cow is an easy target for a lion and it’s even easier for a Maasai Murran to go hunting but the role of the Guardians is to protect the lions and they do so by educating their own communities.
Maasai villages who had cows killed by lions now get compensated for their loss with the money used being donations from sponsors and friends of the wildlifedirect organisation.

Who is Antony kasanga?

I am a Maasai murran and I help in running of the Lion Guardian Program as the assistant director.

What is the history of wildlifedirect.org?

WildlifeDirect was established by Dr Richard Leakey in response to the chronic underfunding of conservation work in Africa, particularly for protected areas. Based in Nairobi, Kenya we have captured the attention of a growing global audience, interested and ready to support conservation projects through the internet.
We have gained this audience by using both the internet and the world’s media, to raise awareness for the crucial conservation work being done out in the field. We are connecting conservationists with anyone from around the world who is interested in supporting good conservation. Our website provides a platform that empowers conservationists enabling them to create an online community; to communicate, share ideas, and raise funds for the conservation work on the ground.
On our website, we enable conservationists to talk about their work through an online journal, known as a blog. These genuine voices from the front line of conservation are a compelling reason for visitors to become interested and willing to support a project. We help to set up all the blogs, and provide all the support that is needed to blog effectively. We also have a Communications Department to help bring stories to the international media generating greater public awareness of conservation.
Individuals interested in supporting a project can donate directly to the cause through a blog. 100% of the donations are transferred directly on the ground to the conservation projects as WildlifeDirect does not take any administration fees.

Is WildlifeDirect involved in any other conservation projects?

The WildlifeDirect model was first tested in DR Congo, where the news of the crisis faced by the rangers protecting the mountain gorillas in DR Congo spread around the world. This helped generate significant funds to support the rangers in the form of salary supplements, the purchase of uniforms, rations and other essential items, as well as training. In 2007, Congo blogs raised approximately US $350,000 enabling the rangers to carry out their duties in protecting the parks and the resident gorilla populations within.
WildlifeDirect currently has 60 blogs across Africa and elsewhere.

Who are the Lion Guardians and how did the program came to be?

Lion Guardians are local Murrans popularly known as warriors. These are people between the age bracket of 15 -32 years. The program came to be as a way of reducing lion killings by the warriors by providing income in form of employment. Currently we have 9 Lion Guardians patrolling Mbirikani Group Ranch.

Exactly, what is the role of a Lion Guardian?

A Lion Guardians has two main roles
(1) A Lion Guardian tracks and monitor lions. Both collared and uncollared ones. If there is any uncollared lions in his area, then he reports it for possible collaring.
(2) A Guardian helps his community in a number of ways. These include: fencing of weak boma (a thornbush enclosure) to prevent carnivores from taking livestock at night, looking for lost livestock that get lost before they are killed by carnivores, informing herders of the direction of carnivores while grazing, and educating the community on better livestock husbandry techniques.

This female lion had her paws cut off suggesting she was killed by trophy hunters

How many lions is each Guardian responsible for?

A Lion Guardian does not have specific lions he is responsible for. But if a lion moves to his area, he is responsible for its monitoring while that lion resides in his area until the lions move to another area.

Knowing that to this day lions still get hunted and poisoned, how did you manage to recruit the Maasai people for such a role?

The murrans are excited to be involved in a program where they are carrying out their traditional duties of helping their communities and tracking carnivores. They are happy to have employment as they are mostly uneducated and non-literate. Though the job is tough, (trying to stop lion spearing and preempt poisoning efforts) they happily volunteer for vacant positions to prove they are hard working and can handle the job. We have no problems recruiting Maasai murrans for Guardian roles.

How did the whole Maasai community in general react to such a program?

The community in general is positive to the program; they are supporting the Guardians by reporting to them lions that move to the area. We carry out surveys twice a year to collect their views on the program. In fact, these surveys show the community strongly and increasingly supports the program since it was established over one year ago.

Where are the Lion Guardians based and are there any other parts of Kenya where this program is active?

I have no knowledge of any similar programs active in Kenya. The program is unique to a ranch called Mbirikani Group Ranch. The ranch is located in southern Kenya between Amboseli National Park and Tsavo National Park.

If not, are there any plans in place to spread the program to other parts of Kenya and or the rest of Africa?

We have a plan to spread the program to the adjacent group ranches where lion killing is happening at an alarming rate. The program has proved to be effective on Mbirikani and now we are ready to expand to other ranches in the ecosystem.

Sangale and his female companion

After reading about the latest poisoning of Sangale, how did the Maasai community and the Lion Guardians respond to the death of this lion?

The community was really upset and frustrated. Due to the Lion Guardians monitoring Sangale as he moved all over the ranch, the communities knew him by name. They also appreciated him for his beauty, size, and the fact that he did not eat livestock. He was a well-known lion. Not only did the Guardians mourn his death, many communities were sad that such a great lion had been killed.

When a lion dies from unnatural causes such as poisoning, do the Guardians investigate in order to find out who done it?

Yes, they do, and they try to find out possible solutions they can take to avoid future conflicts of the same nature occurring.

If the person responsible is found and actually found guilty, do the Guardians and or the Maasai community take any action of punishment?

The Guardians don’t take any action against the culprit. But sometimes the community does, by fining the individual. There are also local game scouts that arrest the individual and arraign him/her in a court of law.

this young male and another male were paralyzed. One recovered but this one was killed by a grown up male. Tests are carried out to see if the young males were poisoned or not. the problem the vets face is that if poison was used, then it would be difficult to detect for such a test should be done immediately and before the poison works it's way out of the body.

How important is sponsorship to the program?

Of course, running the program needs funding, without funds our goals may not be attained. Salaries, equipment, motorbike fuel, and phone credit are the supplies that keep the program running. We are looking for sponsors for each of the Guardians (at $80 USD/month). This would pay for their salaries and phone credit so they can report back to our camp any happenings of the lions or upsets in the communities. We are trying to run on minimal cost so we can expand this program to areas where it is really needed. Without funds, we cannot support Guardians and provide the necessary tools for their jobs. If all these are not in place then we are losing the war.

What happens to the Guardians when the lions they protect die? Do they get assigned to another lion and or project?

A Lion Guardian works in a specific area, which in most occasions, is his home area. They don’t have a base station they stay in or camp they reside in. If a lion is killed in his area, there are several clauses in the Guardians’ self-written by-laws. One clause states that “if a lion is speared in an area where a Lion Guardian represents, then the Guardian loses his position as a Lion Guardian. Not only him who loses the position but future murrans who want the position will not be considered for the fit for the job.”

When the Guardians are out in the bush, do they communicate with each other and how?

We rely heavily on mobile phones, but we also have our monthly meeting where we all meet and share different experiences from every area. Plus, I visit them each week to collect forms, distribute phone credit, and make sure everyone (lions and people) is doing good.

How did the Guardians take to using mobile phones?

The first phones were donated to the program are wearing out. Network reception here has not reached all over the eco-system so some areas do not get reception. Most Guardians have phones and are able to travel to areas of reception (a tall tree or high hill) to phone camp and report in. As most of the Guardians are non-literate it is tough at first for them to learn how to use the phone, but we practice together and they learn quickly.

the whole Lion Guardian team

What are the challenges the Guardians face when out in the bush?

They have several challenges ranging from lack of food, cold weather in the morning, a hot scorching sun in the afternoons, pouring rain in several seasons, lack of torches (flashlights) while out at night looking for lost livestock and while guarding bomas targeted by
carnivores.

What do you and the Guardians see in the future for the Lion Guardian program?

It is a good approach in solving conflict in communities since the program address both issues affecting wildlife and the community. Through opportunities like Wildlife Direct, we, the Maasai murrans and the Lion Guardian program, are becoming more self-sustaining. We hope to see the program continuing on into the future and expanding out into the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem where lions continued to be slaughtered.

How can safaritalk help such a program?

Safaritalk can help in publicizing the program, supporting the work we are doing and helping us look for sponsors of the Guardians. Through publicity and awareness, we can increase the number of Guardians in the ecosystem, which will help reduce the number of lions being killed. Lions are declining quickly, southern Maasailand is one of their last strongholds in Kenya. We urgently need to address this problem on a larger scale.

The lion Guardians using radios and satellite technology to track collared lions.

Safaritalk already has a connection with wildlifedirect and the Lion Guardians and you can learn more about it by reading safaritalk topic

You can support this program by making an online donation and you can do so while knowing that 100% of all donations go directly to the program.
You can read the Lion Guardians' blog by visiting wildlifedirect.org

Images from the Maratriangle can be viewed at wildlifedirect's flickr acount

The views expressed therein are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Safaritalk.

[Ross]

Antony kasanga, assistant director of the Lion Guardians program

I first came across wildlifedirect.org late last year and was immediately drawn to the blog of the Lion Guardians.
Being an admirer of big cats and especially the lions, I was both fascinated and intrigued by the Guardians and their role for I knew that Maasai people killed lions, both as a way of proving their manhood and to also protect their livestock.
Now a cow is an easy target for a lion and it’s even easier for a Maasai Murran to go hunting but the role of the Guardians is to protect the lions and they do so by educating their own communities.
Maasai villages who had cows killed by lions now get compensated for their loss with the money used being donations from sponsors and friends of the wildlifedirect organisation.

Who is Antony kasanga?

I am a Maasai murran and I help in running of the Lion Guardian Program as the assistant director.

What is the history of wildlifedirect.org?

WildlifeDirect was established by Dr Richard Leakey in response to the chronic underfunding of conservation work in Africa, particularly for protected areas. Based in Nairobi, Kenya we have captured the attention of a growing global audience, interested and ready to support conservation projects through the internet.
We have gained this audience by using both the internet and the world’s media, to raise awareness for the crucial conservation work being done out in the field. We are connecting conservationists with anyone from around the world who is interested in supporting good conservation. Our website provides a platform that empowers conservationists enabling them to create an online community; to communicate, share ideas, and raise funds for the conservation work on the ground.
On our website, we enable conservationists to talk about their work through an online journal, known as a blog. These genuine voices from the front line of conservation are a compelling reason for visitors to become interested and willing to support a project. We help to set up all the blogs, and provide all the support that is needed to blog effectively. We also have a Communications Department to help bring stories to the international media generating greater public awareness of conservation.
Individuals interested in supporting a project can donate directly to the cause through a blog. 100% of the donations are transferred directly on the ground to the conservation projects as WildlifeDirect does not take any administration fees.

Is WildlifeDirect involved in any other conservation projects?

The WildlifeDirect model was first tested in DR Congo, where the news of the crisis faced by the rangers protecting the mountain gorillas in DR Congo spread around the world. This helped generate significant funds to support the rangers in the form of salary supplements, the purchase of uniforms, rations and other essential items, as well as training. In 2007, Congo blogs raised approximately US $350,000 enabling the rangers to carry out their duties in protecting the parks and the resident gorilla populations within.
WildlifeDirect currently has 60 blogs across Africa and elsewhere.

Who are the Lion Guardians and how did the program came to be?

Lion Guardians are local Murrans popularly known as warriors. These are people between the age bracket of 15 -32 years. The program came to be as a way of reducing lion killings by the warriors by providing income in form of employment. Currently we have 9 Lion Guardians patrolling Mbirikani Group Ranch.

Exactly, what is the role of a Lion Guardian?

A Lion Guardians has two main roles
(1) A Lion Guardian tracks and monitor lions. Both collared and uncollared ones. If there is any uncollared lions in his area, then he reports it for possible collaring.
(2) A Guardian helps his community in a number of ways. These include: fencing of weak boma (a thornbush enclosure) to prevent carnivores from taking livestock at night, looking for lost livestock that get lost before they are killed by carnivores, informing herders of the direction of carnivores while grazing, and educating the community on better livestock husbandry techniques.

This female lion had her paws cut off suggesting she was killed by trophy hunters

How many lions is each Guardian responsible for?

A Lion Guardian does not have specific lions he is responsible for. But if a lion moves to his area, he is responsible for its monitoring while that lion resides in his area until the lions move to another area.

Knowing that to this day lions still get hunted and poisoned, how did you manage to recruit the Maasai people for such a role?

The murrans are excited to be involved in a program where they are carrying out their traditional duties of helping their communities and tracking carnivores. They are happy to have employment as they are mostly uneducated and non-literate. Though the job is tough, (trying to stop lion spearing and preempt poisoning efforts) they happily volunteer for vacant positions to prove they are hard working and can handle the job. We have no problems recruiting Maasai murrans for Guardian roles.

How did the whole Maasai community in general react to such a program?

The community in general is positive to the program; they are supporting the Guardians by reporting to them lions that move to the area. We carry out surveys twice a year to collect their views on the program. In fact, these surveys show the community strongly and increasingly supports the program since it was established over one year ago.

Where are the Lion Guardians based and are there any other parts of Kenya where this program is active?

I have no knowledge of any similar programs active in Kenya. The program is unique to a ranch called Mbirikani Group Ranch. The ranch is located in southern Kenya between Amboseli National Park and Tsavo National Park.

If not, are there any plans in place to spread the program to other parts of Kenya and or the rest of Africa?

We have a plan to spread the program to the adjacent group ranches where lion killing is happening at an alarming rate. The program has proved to be effective on Mbirikani and now we are ready to expand to other ranches in the ecosystem.

Sangale and his female companion

After reading about the latest poisoning of Sangale, how did the Maasai community and the Lion Guardians respond to the death of this lion?

The community was really upset and frustrated. Due to the Lion Guardians monitoring Sangale as he moved all over the ranch, the communities knew him by name. They also appreciated him for his beauty, size, and the fact that he did not eat livestock. He was a well-known lion. Not only did the Guardians mourn his death, many communities were sad that such a great lion had been killed.

When a lion dies from unnatural causes such as poisoning, do the Guardians investigate in order to find out who done it?

Yes, they do, and they try to find out possible solutions they can take to avoid future conflicts of the same nature occurring.

If the person responsible is found and actually found guilty, do the Guardians and or the Maasai community take any action of punishment?

The Guardians don’t take any action against the culprit. But sometimes the community does, by fining the individual. There are also local game scouts that arrest the individual and arraign him/her in a court of law.

this young male and another male were paralyzed. One recovered but this one was killed by a grown up male. Tests are carried out to see if the young males were poisoned or not. the problem the vets face is that if poison was used, then it would be difficult to detect for such a test should be done immediately and before the poison works it's way out of the body.

How important is sponsorship to the program?

Of course, running the program needs funding, without funds our goals may not be attained. Salaries, equipment, motorbike fuel, and phone credit are the supplies that keep the program running. We are looking for sponsors for each of the Guardians (at $80 USD/month). This would pay for their salaries and phone credit so they can report back to our camp any happenings of the lions or upsets in the communities. We are trying to run on minimal cost so we can expand this program to areas where it is really needed. Without funds, we cannot support Guardians and provide the necessary tools for their jobs. If all these are not in place then we are losing the war.

What happens to the Guardians when the lions they protect die? Do they get assigned to another lion and or project?

A Lion Guardian works in a specific area, which in most occasions, is his home area. They don’t have a base station they stay in or camp they reside in. If a lion is killed in his area, there are several clauses in the Guardians’ self-written by-laws. One clause states that “if a lion is speared in an area where a Lion Guardian represents, then the Guardian loses his position as a Lion Guardian. Not only him who loses the position but future murrans who want the position will not be considered for the fit for the job.”

When the Guardians are out in the bush, do they communicate with each other and how?

We rely heavily on mobile phones, but we also have our monthly meeting where we all meet and share different experiences from every area. Plus, I visit them each week to collect forms, distribute phone credit, and make sure everyone (lions and people) is doing good.

How did the Guardians take to using mobile phones?

The first phones were donated to the program are wearing out. Network reception here has not reached all over the eco-system so some areas do not get reception. Most Guardians have phones and are able to travel to areas of reception (a tall tree or high hill) to phone camp and report in. As most of the Guardians are non-literate it is tough at first for them to learn how to use the phone, but we practice together and they learn quickly.

the whole Lion Guardian team

What are the challenges the Guardians face when out in the bush?

They have several challenges ranging from lack of food, cold weather in the morning, a hot scorching sun in the afternoons, pouring rain in several seasons, lack of torches (flashlights) while out at night looking for lost livestock and while guarding bomas targeted by
carnivores.

What do you and the Guardians see in the future for the Lion Guardian program?

It is a good approach in solving conflict in communities since the program address both issues affecting wildlife and the community. Through opportunities like Wildlife Direct, we, the Maasai murrans and the Lion Guardian program, are becoming more self-sustaining. We hope to see the program continuing on into the future and expanding out into the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem where lions continued to be slaughtered.

How can safaritalk help such a program?

Safaritalk can help in publicizing the program, supporting the work we are doing and helping us look for sponsors of the Guardians. Through publicity and awareness, we can increase the number of Guardians in the ecosystem, which will help reduce the number of lions being killed. Lions are declining quickly, southern Maasailand is one of their last strongholds in Kenya. We urgently need to address this problem on a larger scale.

The lion Guardians using radios and satellite technology to track collared lions.

Safaritalk already has a connection with wildlifedirect and the Lion Guardians and you can learn more about it by reading safaritalk topic

You can support this program by making an online donation and you can do so while knowing that 100% of all donations go directly to the program.
You can read the Lion Guardians' blog by visiting wildlifedirect.org

Images from the Maratriangle can be viewed at wildlifedirect's flickr acount

The views expressed therein are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Safaritalk.

[Ross]

The following is a report kindly given to me by Antony but unfortunately for me, the report contains images aswel as graphs which refure to copy/paste so I will have to ask the Warden about what is the best way of posting the complete report.

Lion Guardian Report
(September-December 2007)
Written by: Antony Kasanga and Leela Hazzah

General Summary
This year has been a successful one; owing to the fact that as a participatory program the community continues to help the Guardians track and report new lions. Community involvement is central to the success of this program. The Lion Guardian (LG) program has been running for one year now. Since LG started, there have been no lions killed on Mbirikani Group Ranch; the longest respite since the late 1990’s. Lions continue to be killed on adjacent ranches. In November and the earlier part of December, there have been a minimum of seven lions killed on two adjacent group ranches.
During the past four months, four new lions have been collared—bringing us to a total of nine lions (both inside and outside of Mbirikani). Each lion continues to be monitored by the Lion Guardians. Also, through the Guardian’s community work they are helping bring hundreds of lost livestock back to the bomas that would otherwise be killed by carnivores.
In early November the Assistant Director had at an opportunity to visit New York City for seven days to participate in an art auction for lion conservation. This will be discussed further in the report. Lastly, the Lion Guardian Director is back in Kenya and will be here for the next few months.
Lion Monitoring
Lion monitoring is what the Guardians devote half their time to (the other half goes to community service—see below). There have been a total of eight lions collared since the LG program started. Each Guardian who helps Seamus Maclennan (the Living with Lion Biologist) collar the lion is given the opportunity to the name the lion. The names of the collared lions are as follows: Sangale (referred to a clever person because he out smarted the traps three times before getting caught), Nemasi (hill where she was collared), Nempakai (area where she was collared “dam”), Lentim (means very thick-bush because the LG’s believe he likes to live in thick-bush), Ndelie (“cooking pot” because his paws are as big as a cooking pot), Nosero (“young girl of the bush”), Nywele (a lion with a lot of hair), Kasayio (a route which is used to connect the northern part of the ranch with the densely bushed southern part).
As we know, lions like to move from one area to the next; especially, males who search to find a viable territory and females to mate with. An example of this is Ndelie, who has since moved Tsavo-West N.P. (to the southwest of Mbirikani). Nosero and Nywele reside mostly on the border of Mbirikani and Kuku Group Ranches, although more often in Kuku. The Guardians are not solely restricted to one group ranch, because lions do not recognize boundaries, so the Guardians follow them.
Radio-telemetry has been extremely useful at preempting livestock attacks. Some examples are as follows. One of our Lion Guardians (Koikai) had been camping with herders at temporary bomas during the drought season. He was able to prevent Nemasi from breaking into a boma by tracking her position at night---she was approaching the boma and he was able to scare her away before she broke in. Another example is when Koikai informed herders about the position of Sangale resting near a very large herd of cows. The herders subsequently moved their herd to a safer location. He has gained trust with the livestock owners by preventing attacks that could have cost them their favorite cows.
Lion Guardians track and monitor lions and other carnivores three times a week. Figure 1, illustrates different methods of observations that were recorded for lions. Over half of the lion data recorded is in the form of tracks, followed by both visual sightings of the lions and tracks--meaning that they visually saw the lion and also its tracks.


Figure 2 below shows the locations (in red) of all the lion observations made by the Lion Guardians between August and December 2007. The circles are scaled according to how many individuals were recorded at that point. The yellow circles show all the locations of all the lions on Mbirikani between 2004 and 2006, as recorded by the researchers. The lighter shading in the background represents the core range of lions on Mbirikani, and where one is most likely to find them. Two important features that these data illustrate are that 1)the larger prides are found around Ol Donyo Wuas (in the north-eastern part of the ranch) and 2)the Lion Guardians observations match quite closely with data gathered in the past using radio-telemetry, both in accuracy and distribution.

Competition for pasture, water shortage, and young herders are contributing to the rampant loss of livestock along the Chyulu Hills. The short rains have come to an end and the closest water points are 30 kilometers away for some Maasai. During this time, Lion Guardians have had to focus much of their time on community work—specifically, finding lost/weak livestock.


When I (Antony) met the boy in the company of two Lion Guardians, he was herding cows, shoats (goats and sheep), calves and taking care of a baby lamb that was born two hours prior. Young school boys are inexperienced to care for livestock in times of limited water and pastures because they spend the majority of the year in a classroom instead of herding livestock. In this situation, Lion Guardians help these young herders return their livestock back to their bomas safely. When reaching the boma the Lion Guardians explain to the livestock owners the risk of entrusting young boys to care for large herds.
Last week (December 9th) late one night it was discovered that 400 shoats were lost. Very early in the morning, two Lion Guardians (Olubi and Lekina) began searching for the lost shoats. Fortunately, they found all of the lost shoats except four that were killed.
In the past four months the Lion Guardians have spent much of their time helping their communities (n=1325 events were recorded) in nine areas on Mbirikani. Below Table 1, illustrates the community activities carried out by Lion Guardians between August and early December. Overall, the figure illustrates that the majority of help is in way of informing herders about carnivore presence followed by educating their community about the importance of carnivores and the role of a Lion Guardian.

Our Blog

Our blog is a very important part of the LG program; because it provides an opportunity for people around the world to follow the daily happenings of the Guardians on the ranch. The blog was started at the end of September and has increasingly gained popularity. For example, in one month alone (November-December), the blog was viewed 2854 times. Donations have varied as well. During October, the blog earned $215, November $290, and up until the 21 December $170. There are plans to expand the readership and improve the quality of the postings. Our hope is to one day have the entire project funded through the blog. The link to the blog is: http://www.wildlifedirect.org/blogAdmin/lionguardians. Check it out!

Neighboring Group Ranches

In September we had a warrior from Eselenkei group ranch visit us to confirm for himself that this ‘crazy’ idea of murrans conserving lions is really working and to see whether it would work in his community. Mirishi Kitashu is from Eselenkei group ranch and he has been working around the clock to see that lions in his area are not killed. His wish is to see a Lion Guardian program started in his area and other neighboring group ranches. He is a murran who loves lions, and simply enjoys watching them for hours in the bush near his home.
Among the things he has been doing is talking to his peers to stop killing lions in hope that one day they will see the benefits of conserving them. Mirishi is not the only murran who wants the program in his area. There are many others who visit us at our camp or speak with us about future possibilities when we visit their areas.

Assistant Director’s Trip to America (by Antony)
It was unbelievable to me when the director informed me that I might have a chance of visiting the United States in November. It seemed like November would never arrive. Finally, when the time came I was so excited. I got to set foot in the country people termed ‘land of opportunity’! The purpose of going was to help raise money for lion conservation through an art auction. I would like to especially thank Tom Hill (Maasailand Preservation Trust) for providing me this opportunity.
We (me and the chairman of Mbirikani) were well received when we arrived in NY. We formed very strong bonds with some of the people we met. Now some people even think of us as family. We really enjoyed our stay and we miss the people we met. There are two things, however, that I will surely never miss about America. One is the weather. It almost made me want to come back right away. It was so cold that the shukas (traditional Maasai clothes) I wore felt like paper. The second thing I will not miss is the food offered in the restaurants and markets. I am used to ugali and nyama or ugali and milk, these were no where to be found on any American menu! With all this said I still had a wonderful time and thank everyone who made my trip possible.
Here are some the photos that we took at the Bronx Zoo, courtesy of Julie Maher WCS:


Acknowledgements
We would like to thank WCS Big Cats program for helping make Lion Guardians a success, specifically Luke Hunter, Nicole Williams and also Julie Maher for donations of gear. Also, many thanks to all the blog readers for their constant interest and donations. We wish you all a very Happy Holiday season!!

[Nyamera]

Thanks for the interview, Ross. The Lion Guardians are one of the most interesting initiatives I’ve heard about.

[Ross]

Thank you Nyamera!

Doing this interview was a real pleasure for me I hope in the future to have regular updates from the Lion Guardians and I also plan on visiting them while in Kenya.

Ross

[kellyhayes]

These Lion Guardians are one of the most interesting initiatives I’ve read about. Nice interview Ross. Giveus more knowledge about it.


regards,
kelly

_______________
Simulation pret

[Atravelynn]

Welcome to safaritalk, KellyHayes! There are quite a few interesting and worthwhile programs discussed here. Glad Lion Guardians caught your eye.