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Ewaso Lions

Kenya is home to less than 2000 lions.

In Northern Kenya, outside protected areas, lions and people are learning to coexist.
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Ewaso Lions works with communities to ensure their lands serve as important habitat for big cats.

The diverse tribes that traverse the wilds of northern Kenya are primarily pastoralists who raise sheep, goats, camels, and cows, the wealth of their land. As these nomadic pastoralists traverse the landscape, they cross paths with carnivores, the biggest of which are lions. Though cultural respect for wildlife abounded for generations, now the human reaction to lions attacking livestock is to fight back. When lions kill livestock, herders often retaliate with guns, spears or poison.

Confined to parks, the lion population dwindled and was on the brink of disappearing. Only 2,000 remain in Kenya. In 2007, only 11 were found in the protected areas of the Samburu-Isiolo ecosystem, with few, if any, outside parks. Then, Ewaso Lions began working with communities to reverse this trend, creating one of the few places in Africa where lions exist outside protected areas, allowing community lands to once again serve as an important habitat for big cats. Ewaso Lions’ programs engage local people in conservation, provide training, working together to find and implement creative solutions to human-wildlife conflict.

With over 50 lions now roaming the area, many of whom have made permanent residence in community lands, it is clear that the key to saving lions in northern Kenya lies in involving local people in conservation.

 

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Ewaso Lions (Dr. Shivani Bhalla)
Lion conservation is about people. The success of lion conservation hinges on the involvement of the local people who live alongside lions.
Dr. Shivani Bhalla

Dr. Shivani Bhalla, Founder and Executive Director

Born and raised in Kenya, Shivani believes the key to lion conservation is working in partnership with local communities. She founded Ewaso Lions in 2007 to promote co-existence between carnivores and people.

Shivani’s commitment to Kenya’s lions has earned her a 2014 Whitley Award, the 2013 Rabinowitz-Kaplan Prize for the Next Generation in Wild Cat Conservation, the ‘Africa’s Young Women Conservation Biologist of 2009′ award by the Society of Conservation Biology, the Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation from the Born Free Foundation, and she has been named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic.

She is a member of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, African Lion Working Group, Large Carnivore Taskforce and a founding member of the Pride Lion Conservation Alliance. Shivani has a BSc. in Environmental Science from Lancaster University, received her MSc. in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from Edinburgh Napier University and was awarded her DPhil in Zoology from Oxford University in 2017.

Previously, she has worked for the Kenya Wildlife Service and Save The Elephants. Shivani moved to Samburu in 2002 and lives in the Ewaso Lions Camp in Westgate Conservancy.

A Unique Conservation Approach

Warrior Watch

Warrior Watch

Samburu warriors are young men on their way to becoming junior elders in their society. They spend more time in wildlife areas than anyone but have never before been involved in conservation. Warrior Watch promotes human-carnivore coexistence, reduces human-wildlife conflict, builds capacity, and increases awareness of the importance of wildlife to the local area by engaging Samburu warriors as decision makers.

Lion Kids Camp

Lion Kids Camp

In pastoralist communities, young children are often charged with tending livestock while out grazing. Each day their actions impact wildlife. Yet, they have limited, if any, exposure to conservation education and training, whether they are enrolled in formal education, or are full time herders. Ewaso Lions’ Lion Kids Camps excite children about the wildlife they have always lived with, inspiring a new generation of wildlife conservationists through a combination of wildlife education, safaris, and conservation-themed games.

Mama Simba

Mama Simba

The “Mothers of lions” are a proud group of 19 women from Kenya’s Westgate Conservancy who demanded to be included in conservation training and education. Women are often left alone when warriors are away with cattle during the dry season, and have to deal with human-carnivore conflict first-hand should a predator attack livestock inside their village at night. Now, with the training they desired, the ladies work closely with other women from their communities, spreading conservation messages to their peers, reporting sightings of lions and conflict incidents, and participating in beadwork initiatives and literacy program: the Mama Simba School. The women who were once excluded from conservation now love lions as much as they do their own livestock.

Icon_scouts

Warrior Watch

Warrior Watch

Samburu warriors are young men on their way to becoming junior elders in their society. They spend more time in wildlife areas than anyone but have never before been involved...
Icon_children

Lion Kids Camp

Lion Kids Camp

In pastoralist communities, young children are often charged with tending livestock while out grazing. Each day their actions impact wildlife. Yet, they have limited, if any, exposure to conservation education...
Icon_community

Mama Simba

Mama Simba

The “Mothers of lions” are a proud group of 19 women from Kenya’s Westgate Conservancy who demanded to be included in conservation training and education. Women are often left alone...

Warrior Watch

Warrior Watch

Samburu warriors are young men on their way to becoming junior elders in their society. They spend more time in wildlife areas than anyone but have never before been involved in conservation. Warrior Watch promotes human-carnivore coexistence, reduces human-wildlife conflict, builds capacity, and increases awareness of the importance of wildlife to the local area by engaging Samburu warriors as decision makers.

Lion Kids Camp

Lion Kids Camp

In pastoralist communities, young children are often charged with tending livestock while out grazing. Each day their actions impact wildlife. Yet, they have limited, if any, exposure to conservation education and training, whether they are enrolled in formal education, or are full time herders. Ewaso Lions’ Lion Kids Camps excite children about the wildlife they have always lived with, inspiring a new generation of wildlife conservationists through a combination of wildlife education, safaris, and conservation-themed games.

Mama Simba

Mama Simba

The “Mothers of lions” are a proud group of 19 women from Kenya’s Westgate Conservancy who demanded to be included in conservation training and education. Women are often left alone when warriors are away with cattle during the dry season, and have to deal with human-carnivore conflict first-hand should a predator attack livestock inside their village at night. Now, with the training they desired, the ladies work closely with other women from their communities, spreading conservation messages to their peers, reporting sightings of lions and conflict incidents, and participating in beadwork initiatives and literacy program: the Mama Simba School. The women who were once excluded from conservation now love lions as much as they do their own livestock.

Impact by the Numbers

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lions killed due to human wildlife conflict in 2019

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patrols conducted to monitor wildlife and stop conflict in 2018

$250 will furnish the Warrior Watch program with smartphones they need to record lion data.

$3,000 will fund a Lion Kids Camp and inspire a new generation of conservationists.

$10,000 will cover quick response to attending conflict incidents when they occur to prevent any retaliatory attacks on lions for an entire year.

Ewaso Lions is in need of monthly donors who can walk beside us to keep warriors on the front lines, and women and children working towards a brighter future for lions. To do so, please select “Monthly” after you submit your donation amount.

Learn What it's like Protecting Lions in Samburu at Expo

Ewaso Lions works with communities to reverse the decline of lion populations in Kenya. Dr. Shivani Bhalla, Resson Kantai Duff, and Jeneria Lekilelei take you into their camp at the virtual Expo.

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Photography Credits: Karen Blixen, Nina Fascione, Jon McCormack
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