#ewasolions

[zookeeperrick]

Awe... A purrrfect way to start off your #Caturday! #Repost @ewasolions ・・・ We are excited that first-time mother, Namunyak, has two cubs. Both cubs are doing well and Namunyak is hunting almost daily with Nanai. These two new cubs bring new genes and are vital to Samburu's lion population. We look forward to watching them grow. (Photo by Dani Moore). #lion #cub #Samburu #pride #conservation #ewasolions #wildlife #Kenya #bigcatsofinstagram #instacat (at Samburu National Reserve)

[davidapringle]

Adopted two more animals Malawi (elephant) and Nadala (Ewaso Lion) #fahlo #elephant #ewasolions #savetheelephants https://www.instagram.com/p/CkrgM9xvrnmjs2fKg9emRSIGzppqCgQEAV46Xc0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rhimaniuk]

OCTOBER 2020 - EWASO LIONS

Last year Rhimani hosted a pop-up stall at the annual Tusk conservation lecture. The event was hosted at the Royal Geographical Society in London and focused on the ‘Year of the Lion’. Two women from the ‘Pride Conservation Alliance’, Dr Alayne Cotterill of Lion Landscapes and Dr Amy Dickman of the Ruaha Carnivore Project spoke about their work at the forefront of lion conservation.

Here I learnt that the lion population is under serious threat. As mentioned on the Ewaso website, ‘the African lion population has disappeared from 92% of their historical range.’ … 92%! Based in Northern Kenya, Ewaso Lions is a not-for-profit, independent organisation that works to secure the future of lions.

The rapid decline of lions has occurred mainly due to habitat loss, climate change and ‘the human-carnivore conflict’.

The human-carnivore conflict is the on-going fight between local farmers and lions. Lions can invite themselves onto peoples land and prey on people’s livestock. When this does occur, a typical reaction from the farmers is to poison or shoot the lions to ensure it does not happen again.

The organisation has a variety of ongoing projects that help support lion conservation. One of these, and a key project for Ewaso Lions, is improving the human-carnivore conflict and developing actions to stop the conflict taking place. After conducting a study with Imperial College London, Ewaso Lions developed key strategies to help stop livestock being killed by lions. They mention,

‘To reduce livestock loss to carnivores, the study recommended improving livestock farming by avoiding densely vegetated areas, using dogs to accompany grazing herds and not leaving livestock to graze unattended.’

Rhimani’s October monthly donation to Ewaso Lions will support their incredible efforts in saving the lion population in Northern Kenya. Approximately there are 30,000 lions roaming in Africa… one hundred years ago there were roughly 200,000 lions roaming.

Typically lions are not seen as under threat. I certainly hadn’t realised how seriously endangered lions are before I learnt about it at the Tusk conservation lecture. However, as evidence suggests, these majestic mammals need to be put in the same bracket as elephants, rhinos and pangolins. They need be considered by us all as species on the brink of extinction.