Ewaso Lions–Learn more at Wildlife Conservation Network

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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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.

Conservation Solutions

Boosting Local Economies

Guiding Policy

Promoting Health

Honoring Culture

Warrior Watch

Ewaso Lions trains Samburu warriors, a group historically neglected in conservation decision-making, on conservation topics to map wildlife presence and reduce human-wildlife conflict. Following lion attacks on livestock, Warriors encourage herders not to take retaliatory action and help recover lost livestock. Warriors also receive educational lessons in English, Kiswahili, and arithmetic.

Lion Populations

Ewaso Lions has identified all lion prides and individuals in the Samburu–Isiolo ecosystem of northern Kenya, conducting daily patrols to monitor lions and record wild prey and livestock locations to measure the health of the conservation landscape. They also conduct social science to measure the impact of lions and other carnivores on local livelihoods and implement strategies to reduce human-carnivore conflict.

Lion Kids Camp & Scholarships

Ewaso Lions’ Lion Kids Camp teaches children, the future stewards of Kenya’s wildlife, about lions’ value, threats, and techniques to promote peaceful coexistence. They also provide scholarships for formal secondary and tertiary education, coupled with mentorship from Ewaso Lions, ensuring that as students learn, they do not forget their culture or devalue where they came from.

Mama Simba

To empower women in all aspects of their lives, the Mama Simba program includes weekly literacy classes, drawing on issues of daily Samburu life to make learning more practical and enjoyable. Mama Simba ladies are provided with the knowledge and skills they need to reduce their environmental impact, improve livelihoods, and help conserve and coexist with wildlife.

Mama Simba

Mama Simba is an Ewaso Lions program initiated at the request of Samburu women who wanted to be involved in lion conservation. Through their famous beadwork skills, the Mama Simba ladies hone in on their creativity and craft skills. Ewaso Lions works to access a stable market for their products to increase their economic standing while preserving their traditional way of life and sharing that culture with the world.

Bio-Infrastructure

Taking a collaborative approach, Ewaso Lions works with the Grevy’s Zebra Trust to safeguard wildlife corridors that are due to face major impacts from development projects cutting across the region over the next decade. Ewaso Lions ensures community participation in decision making as new infrastructure is designed, and mitigates impacts to the ecosystem from these projects.

Kura's Pride

Kura’s Pride (named after Ewaso Lions’ famous first dog) addresses the challenges that communities and domestic dogs face in the Samburu landscape. Vaccinating domestic animals against rabies and distemper leads to healthier dogs, less human-carnivore conflict, reduced disease transmission to wild carnivores, and an overall healthier balance between people, livestock, wildlife, and the environment.

Beyond Boundaries KE

Through @BeyondBoundariesKE, Ewaso Lions amplifies discussions about decolonizing conservation, speaking courageously and empathetically about issues of power, privilege, and race. They hold university symposia with Kenyan students and wider discussions to achieve a new inclusive and diverse form of conservation that is challenging the misconception that wildlife is only found within national parks.

Reducing Conflict

Beyond Boundaries KE

Impact by the Numbers

new lion cubs born in 2020 from Samburu's solitary lionesses

these lions have adapted to life outside of prides, and these new births demonstrate their resilient spirits

2,642

domestic animals vaccinated against rabies and canine distemper

to prevent the spread of diseases to other wildlife in Samburu County

Where Your Money Goes

$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.