What do the Lion Guardians do? 1) Monitor lions and other carnivores 2) Aid their communities by: informing herders when to avoid areas where lions are present improving livestock enclosures (bomas) helping herders find lost livestock left out in the bush providing education about the importance of carnivores and their conservation 3) Prevent further lion killing by deterring other murrans from carrying out lion hunts. Lion Guardians across the ecosystem play an essential role in monitoring carnivores. They conduct weekly spoor surveys for density of predators and their prey, monitor lions in their areas using GPS units and telemetry receivers, and assist in lion hair and scat collection for DNA analysis. Every Guardian has a cell phone which is used to report any sightings of lions or any illegal activity. All lions have been given Maasai names by the Guardians, greatly increasing lion awareness in the broader community by personalizing each lion. Given that the Guardians come from the communities in which they work, and are older murrans (many have also killed lions in the past) they are very well respected by their communities and can assuage a tense situation when angry warriors seek revenge for their dead cow.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 09:32:29 +0000
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