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World Lion Day is celebrated on the 10th August every year in order to raise awareness of the struggles lions face in the wild, and celebrate the conservation efforts that are helping to protect and save wild lion populations from extinction. Last year, we held a celebration at Loisaba’s Conservation Centre for all our stakeholders and lion rangers in order to explain our recent research and exciting results, and to thank our partners, lion rangers, and funders for their dedicated support. This year, we were hoping to celebrate our work with all our local partners and stakeholders again but the numbers of dedicated people we partner or collaborate with, and who are essential to the ongoing success of carnivore conservation in Laikipia, are great and this will have to be postponed until we can all safely gather. Although we are not able to celebrate together as planned, we are proud to share with you the activities that are still ongoing despite Covid-19, and include you in our conservation efforts! How can you help to celebrate World Lion Day? Our Lion Rangers are vital in protecting wild lions and promoting human-carnivore coexistence. Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of building local capacity to carry out conservation work and the Lion Rangers provide a great example of a program that is locally embedded and able to continue operations throughout the global pandemic. There are challenges, however, the biggest being a complete cessation of income through tourism, Zoos and events, which provides vital support for Ranger activity in Laikipia. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lion Rangers are having to work harder to protect wildlife and local livelihoods with less resources and lower salaries. We are very proud that Laikipia’s Lion Rangers are taking part in the pan-African Wildlife Ranger Challenge organised by Tusk. This is a multi-million-pound fundraising initiative to support the men and women across Africa’s protected areas who are enduring drastic cuts in salaries and resources due to the devastating economic impact of Covid-19 and yet are still working tirelessly to safeguard the continent’s iconic wildlife. On 3rd October 2020 up to 50 ranger teams spanning the African continent will unite to compete in a half marathon race carrying their typical 25kg backpack and equipment - building camaraderie and raising awareness of the hardship currently faced by those in their profession. Our Lion Rangers Team will be undertaking their half marathon race in Laikipia, home to Kenya’s third largest lion population, consisting of more than 300 lions! Please donate to the team’s efforts and help keep our Lion Rangers in the field! Every dollar that our team raises via our JustGiving page will attract an additional 25% match from the Scheinberg Relief Fund. Furthermore, they will donate the equivalent of 75% of the amount each project raises to the Tusk Ranger Fund so additional grants may be made to those protected areas deemed most in need, doubling the overall impact of your contributions.  Whether it is a donation of $20 or $1000, your contribution is not only directly supporting the Lion Rangers - you are also helping to unlock vital funds for other Ranger teams across Africa. ​Save Wild Lions, Promote Coexistence, Support our Lion Rangers. Five prides now collared across Laikipia in our Collaring for Coexistence Program We are also excited to resume our Collaring for Coexistence program i.e. the collaring of lion prides that are frequently killing livestock in community areas. This program deploys satellite collars on lion prides, which provide real-time lion movement maps via a mobile phone App developed by Save The Elephants. This allows livestock owners to keep their livestock away from lions, and Lion Rangers to act quickly to prevent conflict when lions move into high risk areas. This program is extremely popular with both community and commercial livestock owners but was on hold until government changes in permit allocations were completed. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has now renewed our permit, specifically to help with the overwhelming conflict in certain communities. Technology allowing this kind of remote sensing and information sharing between conservation organisations and local stakeholders is ideal during COVID-19. We have successfully collared four new lion prides in the last few months with immediate positive feedback from livestock owners, and our goal is to bring the total number of lion prides collared and monitored to ten in the next 12 months. All collaring is done with permission and support from the Kenya Wildlife Service. Collar map of all the lions across Laikipia We know from experience that real-time data from lion collars helps foster coexistence between lions and people in the following ways: It provides the basis for our ongoing research efforts to reduce human-lion conflict It warns Lion Rangers and livestock owners when a lion moves into a potentially dangerous area and allows a quick response before conflict occurs. It allows Lion Rangers to keep livestock owners informed of lion movements so they are able to keep livestock away from lions or increase efforts to guard their livestock. Real-time information about the lives of lions helps all stakeholders to feel engaged with the lions they share their landscape with. Getting to know individual prides in such detail fosters understanding and tolerance. Narok is the oldest lioness that we monitor in Laikipia. She is now 17 years old  - two years older than the natural lifespan of a lioness in the wild. She has had many cubs over her lifetime, and the Narok pride is made up of her daughters, granddaughters and their descendants. Narok’s age and experience makes her an extremely valuable member of her pride and she is supported in her older age by the younger members of her pride, who now do the majority of the hunting. Narok is still a formidable predator but with age, a lion’s teeth naturally wear down  - making it harder to hunt wild prey species. This means that older lions like Narok are prone to hunting livestock and causing conflict with local communities. Narok has been collared multiple times in her lifetime with support from Loisaba Conservancy and KWS, and now wears a satellite GPS collar that allows the Lion Rangers to keep track of her movements and warn community livestock herdsmen to avoid areas where she is resting. This careful monitoring will help Narok survive for more years to come. Jangili means “thief” in Kiswahili. When he was first reported to us, he was a desperately skinny lion close to starvation who had killed 11 camels in one night in an uncharacteristic feeding frenzy. He was fitted with a GPS satellite collar with the support of KWS and Mpala Ranch. Since we fitted this collar, our Lion Rangers have been carefully monitoring his movements and working with local livestock owners to make sure he stops his ‘thieving’ livestock behaviour. Jangili is now a strong and healthy lion, who has found another male to form a coalition. Coalitions are normally formed between related lions who grow up together as cubs in the same pride but some lions, like Jangili, can find their coalition partners later in life. Jangili’s coalition partner has since been named Zion, and together they have been successfully killing wild prey including zebra, buffalo and oryx. Jangili has not been stealing any more livestock and is coexisting peacefully with the pastoral people he shares his home range with. We continue to keep a close eye on Jangili to make sure he keeps out of trouble. Erica is a lioness who was collared on the 30th of May 2020. Erica spends her time on Ol Maisor Ranch in Northern Laikipia. She is a shy lioness who has spent her life afraid of humans. This fear of people is a survival mechanism, allowing lions to avoid people and livestock whilst living among them, but it also makes collars vital to understanding these elusive lions’ movements and behaviours. Erica was thought to be a lioness who was killing a lot of livestock in neighbouring communities and she was collared with support from Ol Maisor ranch and KWS to keep track of her location and warn herdsmen of her whereabouts. Immediately after being collared, Erica gave birth to three cubs who she keeps perfectly hidden in thick bush on Ol Maisor Ranch. She can't wander too far from her cubs when she hunts while they are small, and so she hasn't strayed back into the community in recent weeks. However, as the demands of her cubs grow and they become more mobile, Erica may well be tempted to hunt livestock again. Dawn is a lioness who was collared on Sosian Ranch in collaboration with KWS and Sosian Ranch. Dawn is a very strong lioness who spends her time with another female who currently has young cubs. Dawn was initially collared as she was one of the females recognised to be causing a lot of conflict with the communities bordering Sosian Ranch. Since she was collared, she has only visited the community once, and was immediately followed by Sosian Ranch based Lion Rangers. She quickly returned and has since spent her time on Sosian Ranch, Suyian Ranch and Ngorare Ranch. She has an incredible ability to hide and so tracking the movements of her small pride without a collar would be impossible. In July 2020, Laikipia experienced torrential storms and the rivers burst their banks. Dawn has shown us that lions can cross amazing obstacles as her collar tracks her movements across the Ewaso Narok, a giant river that feeds into the Samburu. Like Erica, as the cubs of her pride mate grow and become more mobile, the temptation to visit the neighbouring community and kill livestock will likely increase and so careful monitoring remains important. Felix is a young male lion. Young males leave their maternal pride when they reach approximately 3 years of age to start a difficult period of dispersal. During this time, young males do not have the support of their maternal pride mates and also have little experience of their own. Normal activities such as hunting are harder without the rest of the pride, and this is made harder still by the need to avoid older territorial males. Young dispersing male lions often band together with brothers, cousins or unrelated lions of a similar age to form nomadic coalitions. This helps them to survive the dispersal period but also helps them to take-over and hold a territory of their own once they are mature enough. These young, bold and inexperienced male coalitions commonly make the rash decision to kill livestock, and need careful monitoring to guide them through to becoming fully mature territorial males with a new pride of their own. Felix is a fine member of just such a coalition, who appear to be settling in the Loisaba Conservancy area but still spend time in the neighbouring communities. Felix is often seen with 2 or 3 other males of a similar age to him, and who are probably brothers or cousins. This handsome group is being carefully monitored with the help of a satellite collar, and unlike Dawn and Erica, are happy to show themselves and be admired posing against the beautiful Loisaba Conservancy backdrop. Look out for our next newsletter where we will tell you more about how you can support our collared lion prides directly and learn much more about their amazing lives!

When we spoke about Jangili in April, he had been recently collared and was beginning to recover his condition. When we originally found him, he was a desperately skinny, lion close to starvation, who was terrorising a camel boma. Jangili's capture went extremely well with the support of KWS and one of our partners Mpala Ranch. Since we fitted his GPS collar we have been carefully monitoring his movements and working with local livestock owners to make sure he stops his livestock killing behaviour. We recently caught up with Jangili in person and discovered that he is now part of a two lion coalition (a coalition is a group of males who live together) and looking back to his full strength. Jangili tends to prefer spending his time on Ngorare ranch with occasional short visits to Northern Segera, and has been successfully killing wild prey. We recently caught up with Jangili in person and discovered that he was part of a two lion coalition (a group of males who live together). Coalitions are normally made up of lions that are brothers, and often half-brothers and cousins. They usually have their beginnings when these males are all still cubs, living in their natal pride. Jangili’s coalition partner has since been named Zion by David Hanegraaf, one of our Laikipia partners on Ngorare ranch. Jangili Zion Jangili and Zion have been very well behaved with no known livestock conflicts reported. They have both been seen eating wild prey including zebra, buffalo and oryx. Zion is a much larger lion but Jangili seems to be the dominant male in this coalition. They were first spotted together by Sean Outram (one of our Laikipia partners based on Sosian) who noticed recent wounds and suggested that there must have been a feisty scrap. We will never know if the two males were fighting another male or having a disagreement between themselves. Luckily it did not seem to be anything serious, just a few scratches. Last week the GPS collar data showed that Jangili had suddenly stopped moving and we were all very worried. Thomas Mojong, our Conservation & Research officer, rushed over to check on him. Due to his history, we tend to worry that he may have been involved in a human-wildlife conflict incident when his collar data shows him to be stationary. After a few hours, Thomas messaged us to say that Jangili was alone on a buffalo kill. “I have checked Jangili and he is still at Ngorare, all alone. He has made a kill of an adult buffalo and he is enjoying the meat. Jangili has vultures as neighbours for a while” The fact that Jangili was able to bring down an adult buffalo is very encouraging as it suggests that Jangili is back to his full prime. Having vultures in the landscape is also extremely important as they are a good indication of low conflict, low poisoning in the area and a healthier ecosystem. To find out more about our Coexistence Co-op and the work we do in partnership with the Peregrine Fund, click here.

Happy Birthday, Lion Landscapes! We have made it to four years old - thanks to all your support, hard-working teams and fantastic partners. This feels significant for us - although we still have a lot to learn, we feel like we are up and running, and looking forward to the years ahead. Recently, we have been asked by Tusk for a contribution to Tusk Talk Magazine and we would like to share a couple of those insights with you here. What successes and positive impact have you seen? Lion Landscapes' biggest achievement has been to take real steps towards landscape-scale management of lions, and human-lion conflict. We have done this in Laikipia through our Coexistence Co-op initiative, run in partnership with The Peregrine Fund and key conservation land managers in the region. Within the co-op, we have co-developed our conservation programs so that they address the loss of livestock to carnivores and the resulting wildlife poisoning - the biggest threat to lions and vultures - in a fully integrated way. In Zambia we are able to impact large areas through partnering with Bio-carbon Partners (BCP) on the ‘Lion Carbon’ initiative. BCP is an African forest conservation company working to sustainably manage natural resources by linking payment to local communities in return for long term wildlife habitat protection agreements.  Payments are generated through the sale of verified forest carbon offsets through an avoided deforestation mechanism known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation). Working with partners allows us to share resources and expertise, learn from each other's mistakes and find efficiencies in our efforts. For the same amount of funding, we are able to achieve much more. In the last year alone working with The Peregrine Fund and land managers in Laikipia we have provided training to nearly 800 community members (40% of whom were women), 130 predator-proof bomas  (livestock enclosures) have been built and hundreds more have been strengthened, 8 new Lion Ranger units (45 Rangers) were trained, equipped and supported, and 100% of conflict events reported have been responded to. Working with BioCarbon Partners, 67 anti-poaching scouts have been trained, equipped, deployed and managed, and we have developed community based biodiversity monitoring plans for over 1 million hectares of threatened lion habitat. Coordinated landscape-scale management in both the landscapes we work was wishful thinking 5 years ago but attitudes have changed. Land managers and conservation organisations realise that they are not effective enough working independently and the only way to tackle conservation challenges is through meaningful collaboration with other conservationists, enterprises, governments, and local communities who share the landscape with wildlife. 'Land Connected, Life Protected' is the motto of Loisaba Conservancy, one of Lion Landscape's key partners in Laikipia, and we agree. In reality, connecting land is all about connecting the groups of people who depend on that land with each other and with their wildlife. Building effective partnerships are key to the way Lion Landscapes works, and it is exciting to see meaningful collaboration becoming the accepted gold standard for conservation. Another huge success is finding ways to scale-up collaboration through the Pride Lion Conservation Alliance; Pride members have joined forces, sharing experience, expertise and resources and working together as a united front to impact lion conservation on a meaningful scale. Pride continues to be a shining example of the power of true collaboration. What, in your opinion, do the next 30 years hold for the species? If we are going to still be talking about the conservation of viable populations of wild lions in 30 years time then the equation is simple; lions, their habitats and prey must be more valuable to African communities and governments than alternate land uses. It is not realistic to expect those with the least economic resilience to continue to bear all the costs of living with species like lions, elephants and rhinos. Likewise, we cannot expect people in lion range countries not to want better and better lifestyles. We need to be thinking of ways to conserve lion landscapes,  and by that, I mean a landscape that supports people, large carnivores, their prey and habitat, in a continent that looks very different to how it looks today. In some ways this is very exciting; the numbers of people living in poverty are declining, as are child mortality rates and birth rates. There is plenty to be hopeful about but there will be many challenges ahead. Lion landscapes by definition need to be BIG and all of us need to get realistic about what it costs to conserve enough of them to ensure that larger wide-ranging species like lions make it through the next 30 years. This is billions of US dollars, a huge amount for most of us individually but not so much when we look globally; the global cosmetic products market is estimated to be valued at US$ 69 billion in the year 2025. We can do it. We just need to value healthy ecosystems that can support people and wildlife, all the way up to the large carnivores, correctly. We also need to develop more mechanisms that allow those of us who value these big healthy ecosystems to pay for them. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) mechanisms, like the Lion Carbon initiative in Zambia, are starting to gain traction but we need a lot more, a lot faster, to make sure that lion landscapes are worth more to African people and governments than, degraded landscapes, intensive livestock farming and agriculture, or unplanned infrastructure developments. Help us celebrate by taking part in our quiz and Q&A sessions on social media over the coming weeks. We would love to celebrate with as many people as possible so please share with friends and family.

The second week of February was an exciting week at Lion Landscapes as we were trying to collar a big male lion! Our first introduction to this particular male lion began with a phone call from Mpala Ranch notifying us that a very skinny lion had snuck into one of their camel bomas (a boma is an enclosure to protect herds of livestock) and spent two hours there, sadly resulting in seven dead and ten injured camels. When we arrived at the boma to inspect it, it was chaotic to say the least. After receiving some images our lion rangers had managed to take of this lion, we confirmed that he was in extremely poor condition. It looked as though he must have been stuck somewhere and that he was starving as he had no visible injuries, and didn’t seem to be sick as he ate one of the camels with much enthusiasm… but we needed to be sure. After several days of tracking him and keeping an eye on his whereabouts, the KWS team arrived to assist us with his capture. Collaring him was a huge success, but not without challenges. It was dark when he was tranquilised by the KWS vet, Dr Mathew Mutinda, and our team had to walk through extremely rugged and bushy terrain to get to him. His general health was checked and one of our Satellite GPS Collars was fitted. He has since been aptly named "Jangili" by the Lion Rangers on Mpala. Jangili has a few meanings including thief, poacher or someone who sneaks around getting up to no good! Jangili’s movements are being monitored through real-time data which is accessed via a mobile phone app developed by Save the Elephants. This allows Lion Landscapes, our Lion Ranger units and the Mpala team to closely monitor his movements with the hope of preventing any future human-livestock encounters, as well as being able to keep an eye on his health. Since his collaring Jangili has started to gain weight and is looking a lot healthier. Jangili spends his time across a Segera, Mpala and Sosian, these cross boundary movements emphasize the importance of landscape scale management when it comes to monitoring lions and mitigating conflict. Special thanks to the Mpala team and the KWS vet service for their assistance. This blog was written by Glen Behr who has joined us as our Kenyan Field Operations Manager. A Kenyan national who has made Laikipia his home, Glen has many years of experience running safaris and projects across the country. Glen: "After spending my life surrounded by, volunteering my time to and making a profession from nature and wildlife, I never felt that I was doing enough to protect what has ultimately given me so much. Having the opportunity to join this dedicated group of people who make up Lion Landscapes has finally allowed me the chance to focus on conservation and assist communities to safeguard their livelihoods. Co-existence is the key to conservation; which is what Lion Landscapes is all about".

It is important for us as a team to take a moment, take a breath and take stock of what we have achieved. This helps us to focus and  stay motivated while moving in the right direction. Recently, the pathways 2020 conference was held in Nairobi by Pride Lion Conservation Alliance. During the conference, a lot of focus was placed on mindfulness, self care and appreciation. This was a new direction for a conservation conference where the norm is a sense of gloom and doom, and lack of time to have real lasting impacts - causing a lot of eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety is a recognised disorder, and defined as "a chronic fear of environmental doom". In order to prevent eco-anxiety, it is important to recognise that we are making a difference, we are having a positive impact and we will continue to do so. The coexistence coop team has had a long and stressful 2019 with vehicle breakdowns, flooded houses and other field complications ...but we have achieved a lot! Check out this slideshow which highlights our achievements, since we started the Coexistence Co-op at the beginning of 2019.

During the first year of the Lion Rangers program, Lion Landscapes has been extremely busy training new Lion Ranger units in the area. As the program turns out to be in such demand, we have stretched our resources to train three more units than we set out to do in our first year. As a result we have eight Lion Ranger Units in Laikipia and we are currently fundraising to deploy one more Lion Ranger Unit as soon as possible. The Lion Rangers program is part of the Coexistence Co-op, a partnership between Lion Landscapes and The Peregrine Fund, carried out in collaboration with Living With Lions, KWS and Laikipia Ranches and Conservancies. It is a holistic education, training and conflict management program designed to reduce livestock lost to carnivores and stop the retaliatory poisoning of wildlife. The Lion Rangers program works to train and equip a unit of selected National Police Reserves on each property to prevent or respond quickly and effectively to incidences of human-carnivore conflict, including responding to cases of potential wildlife poisoning. Training new Lion Rangers runs over four full days: Day one aims to teach large carnivore identification and basic ecology, with lectures in the morning run by our dedicated Lion Landscapes training team. The afternoon then involves a game drive to help reinforce all that is taught in the morning. The curiosity and enthusiasm for new information among the recruits is always exciting. Often stories are swapped between recruits about their different experiences of large carnivores; many Lion Rangers are pastoralists and own livestock or have been herdsmen, meaning they are only too familiar with conflict between livestock and large carnivores. Day two is comprised of conflict prevention and mitigation in the form of Livestock Husbandry and boma (protective livestock enclosures) advice. During the morning lessons, the rangers are taught how to maintain predator-proof bomas, and are given other effective livestock husbandry techniques that protect livestock from large carnivores. During the theoretical part of the day, we tackle the broader issues that contribute to conflict e.g. managing overall ecosystem health so there are enough wild prey for large carnivores. The group practises conducting compassionate conversations with community members facing conflict by using role-playing exercises so that both perspectives are really understood. This is then backed up by a practical session in the afternoon where the rangers practice giving advice on boma construction. We use a game to help them see the weakest points in a livestock boma that need improving. During the game a third of the group are night watchmen, another third sheep and the final third pretend to be lion who try to get into the boma and steal a sheep. Though this is always a lot of fun, the lessons learnt from thinking like a lion, and imagining how a lion would find the weakest points of a boma, really reinforces what is taught in the lectures. Day three is the day we focus on data collection using the cybertracker plugin of SMART on smartphones. The day involves practising collecting data on all aspects of wildlife ecology, conflict incidences and other useful management information. The importance of collecting data that can inform conservation managers and help us all to improve our conservation activities is emphasised. Day four is run by our partner, The Peregrine Fund. This final day focuses on the negative aspects of poison, how to identify it and respond to poisoning reports. The increasing use of poisons is mostly in response to livestock losses to lions in the region and poses a serious threat to lions, critically endangered vultures, all other scavenging mammals and birds, as well as to human and livestock health due to environmental exposure. The Lion Ranger teams are then equipped with technologies (e.g. smart phones, binoculars, GPS and powerful torches) to assist them in theirconflict prevention role, and collect data monitored by our research team. We now have eight Lion Ranger teams on different ranches and conservancies in Laikipia including Loisaba, El Karama, Mugie, Mpala, Ol Maisor, Lewa, Borana and Sosian. If you have any questions about our Lion Ranger program please do not hesitate to reach out to us at info@lionlandscapes.org Any donation to our Lion Ranger Program is very much appreciated. If you would like to make a donation to our Lion Ranger program please click here.

This month the Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) spent time with our project. The LRF is a collaborative granting initiative created by the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, with a bold vision to double the number of lions in Africa, bringing back the half we have lost. The LRF is managed by WCN and draws on a coalition of advisors with expertise in conservation and philanthropy to guide grantmaking and ensure that decisions are rooted in sound science and financial integrity. LRF is one of our key donors, supporting our Coexistence coop including our Lion Ranger program, Community Coexistence training and our Collaring for Coexistence Program. During their visit, the group were part of a new exciting pilot of a tourism partnership between Lion Landscapes and El Karama Ecolodge. This involved an immersion into the role of Lion Rangers on the Ranch. We started the day early with a patrol across beautiful El Karama. Our patrol included a visit to one of the nearby livestock enclosures (bomas) to check on any large carnivore events during the night. Livestock are kept inside bomas at night to keep them protected but large carnivores, such as lions, often still visit and try their luck. Once at the boma we had a chance to hear all about various techniques used to ensure the livestock were kept safe including some very exciting stories from the night watchman himself! The cows were then let out of their bomas to graze and we followed the herd, learning all about the livestock husbandry techniques that the herdsmen use during the day to make sure the cows are protected from lions. Once the cows were on their way to find water we split off and finished the patrol, all the while learning about large carnivore ecology from Joseph, one of El Karamas highly trained guides and Lion Ranger. After we had our fill of delicious brunch, we headed off to Loisaba to meet Lion Landscape’s first Lion Ranger team. En route, we spotted a lost sheep with a sore leg and picked her up. Though a little muddy the sheep was very well behaved and we managed to reunite her with the rest of her flock and a very grateful herdsman. Ensuring that lost animals are safely returned to their herder is another key way in which Lion Rangers prevent large carnivore-livestock conflict, protecting lives and local livelihoods. At Loisaba, the LRF team learnt all about the importance of Lion Ranger work for maintaining coexistence on the conservancies and the surrounding communities from the Lion Rangers themselves. Together we recollected fun stories of lion adventures, including memories of Sansa. We are still in mourning for Sansa, who was put down last week as a result of serious hunting injuries, and seeing a team of strong Lion Rangers so visibly upset about losing a Lioness was deeply moving “She was our daughter and we are sad she is gone, but we must continue to look after her pride”. Luckily we received a report that one of the Loisaba male lions had been seen so off we all dashed, and after some offroading through thick bush, we managed to see him with a new ‘girlfriend’. What a spectacular end to a very busy day! Thank you to LRF for taking the time to visit our programs and for your continued support! We could not do what we do without the generosity of our Donors. Would you like to help too? Due to high demand we are currently fundraising to put one more Lion Ranger Unit in the field. For this unit we will train and equip 6 new Lion Rangers. With the help of this new Lion Ranger Unit we will be able to help even more local communities to live with lions in Laikipia, one of the key source populations for wild lions in northern Kenya. Go to lionlandscapes.org/rangers to learn more about the Lion Rangers Program or Go to lionlandscapes.org/donate to make your donation. Save Wild Lions. Promote Co-existence. Support our Lion Rangers.

My name is Davinia Bartolome and I am a MSc. student from University of West England working in collaboration with Lion Landscapes to study human-wildlife coexistence across Laikipia county. My professional interests are carnivores and landscapes, with a particular passion for feline conservation. My current project is a case-study of the effects of the 2017 drought on livestock killing behaviour in large carnivores, and resulting threats to coexistence. Coexistence between humans, livestock and large carnivores is key for a healthy Laikipia landscape, where conservation and sustainable development are both possible. Many Laikipia properties are participating in this study by sharing data on the livestock influxes into the region during the 2017 drought, and causes of livestock mortality before, during and after the event. Without the participation from so many Laikipia properties, this study would be impossible. Livestock influxes, in search of grazing during the drought, left carnivores exposed to large numbers of weak and poorly guarded livestock, which has led to an increase in livestock predation. I plan to put numbers to this climate-driven problem by assessing the extent of the carnivore’s livestock killing and also the consequent economical effects, as this situation can lead to long lasting losses of profit for local livestock owners, as well as retaliatory killing of large carnivores. Carnivores play an important role in African ecosystem structure and function, and are a key tourism species. However, many people in the Laikipia ecosystem are dependent on livestock for their livelihoods and any increase in livestock killing by carnivores threatens people’s ability to coexist with them. Human and livestock populations are increasing, and climate change is leading to more frequent droughts, which put pressure on available resources. A good understanding of the wider consequences of the 2017 drought helps Lion Landscapes and other local stakeholders, plan appropriate mitigation strategies, which protect local livelihoods and carnivores. If anyone would like to contribute to the project or find out more contact Davinia.bart@gmail.com or antonia.leckie@lionlandscapes.org #laikipialandinvasions #laikipia #lionlandscapes #Pridelionalliance #Msc #UniversityofWestEngland #Livestock

Narok resting in the heat of the day. Photograph by Ami Vitale “If we cannot measure it, we cannot manage it, for how can we conserve what we do not know” ~Dr. John Waithaka—KWS Board Chairman at the official launch of Kenya’s National Lion Survey About the survey Lions are one of the most iconic species on earth. Yet lions are in trouble: they have lost 90% of their historic range and their numbers are thought to be declining rapidly with half of all wild lions estimated to have been lost in the past 25 years and with as few as 20,000 remaining in Africa. At the heart of conservation is population monitoring: Conducting surveys is the best way of ‘taking stock’ and trying to assess whether or not our conservation efforts are having the desired effect. Knowing how many there are and where they are allows us to plan and prioritize conservation interventions and monitor their progress. No country in Africa has ever conducted a national survey of lions, or any other predator. The Kenyan government, together with numerous NGOs, is trying to change this. In a hugely ambitious exercise, we aim to count lions within all source populations and assess their presence or absence throughout the country. While lions are the focus of the survey, we are gathering data on all predators and for Laikipia we are also particularly interested in cheetah and wild dog numbers and distribution. 77,595 km² will be intensively surveyed to provide accurate estimates of lion numbers in all potential source populations. Teams of researchers will search for and individually identify lions, using a standardized, cutting edge methodology . 580,367 km² will be surveyed by through > 3500 interviews with local experts. These data will be analyzed to assess distribution of lions and other large carnivores throughout Kenya. How you can help Right now, multiple teams of trained personnel are working in laikipia to find and photograph as many lions as possible. With only three months to conduct each survey, it’s a race against time. In this area we are also trying to count the cheetahs and wild dogs, so please keep a look out for all three predators. Here’s what you can do to help: 1. Report the sighting ASAP Photograph by Antonia Leckie on Loisaba Conservancy Ideally one of the trained teams will attend the sighting to take photos and record additional data. So a quick report of your lion, cheetah or wild dog sighting would be extremely helpful. Even repeat sightings of the same individuals are useful. Ask your guide to report the sighting to the local survey team (your guide should know who they are) or to Antonia Leckie on +254 793 790 233, or Thomas Mojong on +254 707 154539. 2. Take and share photos The types of photographs we need to ID Lion It may take time for a survey team to arrive. In the meantime, please take as many pictures as possible of any lions, cheetahs and wild dogs you see. Remember to have the date and GPS correctly set on your camera. Key tips to make your photos usable are to focus on one individual at a time and take a picture of the ground or sky when switching to a new individual. For wild dog and cheetah, full body side shots of both sides are best. For lions please see our guide for taking ID pictures below. If your camera doesn’t have a GPS, ask your guide for a rough location and make a note. Photos and info can be sent to: info@lionlandscapes.org #lionlandscapes #Pridelionalliance #laikipia #lions #kws #laikiipia #wildCRU #Survey #WapiSimba

Love Laikipia Visits Lion Landscapes at Loisaba Conservancy A few weeks back I received an invitation by Antonia Leckie, the Project Manager for Laikipia Lion Landscapes, to visit the project to document their work and meet the lion rangers. This was an opportunity I wouldn’t miss out because we are all about conservation, awareness, and advocacy and all matters regarding the greater Laikipia region. Getting to meet actual people on the front line was bucket-list worthy. You might have seen Antonia in the latest Land Rover video testing the new defender at Borana Conservancy in conjunction with Tusk Org collaring 2 lions, yes she is the one. A biologist from Mombasa Kenya, She had earlier told me that what drew her to Lion Landscapes was that it is one of the few conservation organisations which truly works through partnerships and collaboration, and combines conservation with purposeful research. I quickly looked through my list of possible collaborators who had reached out to me and Joe Kiswili – @StudioRanch on Instagram, a brilliant former Ad Man and now content creator with a Nikon D 850 camera and a bias towards human interest stories - ticked all the boxes, and so we agreed to do a day visit to Loisaba Conservancy, in Laikipia. We met up at 5 AM on a bitterly cold Nairobi morning and set off for Nanyuki to meet Antonia in by 7.30 AM but we had car trouble at Sagana, Joe’s car radiator started acting up and by the time we got to Karatina we couldn’t proceed without major repairs. The car was fixed and by 9 AM we headed to Nanyuki but more car trouble slowed progress; the alternator was barely charging the batteries for the Pajero and it was overheating. We had to stop again at Naru Moro. The car was fixed again but it was then noon and we contemplated calling off the visit because we had already inconvenienced the team. We soldiered on and got to Nanyuki at 1 PM and after a quick lunch we proceeded to Loisaba Conservancy, a 57,000 acre wildlife conservancy and cattle ranch, in the Lion Landscapes Land Cruiser accompanied by Will Woof, a volunteer from the UK. Car trouble hit again – Antonia’s car had a slow puncture just after BATUK and we had to change the tire and return to Nanyuki to get their other spare, which was being repaired. Just as we were approaching Nanyuki we had another tire burst. What a messed up day it was turning out to be! Antonia changed the tire in a flash just before I had finished snapping a few photos of her and updating Love Laikipia’s Instagram stories about our journey. She later told me she is used to tire bursts and doing minor repairs on the car because most of the time she would be all by herself in one of the vast conservancies in tough terrain and things were bound to happen. We got to the garage and Antonia picked up the spare tire but not before the mechanic told her that it was the last time that he would be repairing her extremely worn out tires. She took it lightly and said that they would be getting some new ones in the coming week. The Trusty Lion Landscapes vehicle Off we went to Loisaba Conservancy and during the long bumpy drive we saw tons of wildlife from elephants, zebra, buffalo, hyena and Joe was gasping while clicking away. The Nanyuki-Rumuruti Road, although rough and bumpy, put on a great show for us with all the wildlife on display and great views. We got to Loisaba Conservancy at 5 PM and we had less than 2 hours of daylight to meet the rangers and track some lions. The lion rangers had been waiting for us most of the day and it was such a relief when we finally met. We hit it off with Tom, Boniface and Peterson and I realized they came from my home area of Rumuruti, Laikipia a short distance from Loisaba. It was like a mini get-together of sorts. The team had been in constant communication and had a rough idea where the Victoria Pride of lions were located via GPS data from one of the collars and we headed to a quiet corner of Loisaba. The lions were on the move constantly and we initially hit a dead end when we got to the area and the handheld GPS device said the lions were about 1.9 Kms away. Tom used his VHF receiver and it indicated that it was up a rocky hill and even the old Land Rover stood no chance. Unfazed, we had to go back a longer route to get to the top of the hill, which took us almost 30 minutes with time not on our side. The Lion Ranger team tracking Victoria We sighted a temporary cattle boma along the way and the team inspected it and explained to the owner, Lembara a jovial Samburu herder, how best to protect his cattle with thorn bush and at what height it should be. Lembara, Peterson and Boniface made the necessary adjustments to his boma and we could feel their pride as they conversed in Samburu and finished the thorny upgrades. The rangers were all in unison that the best part of their job was imparting knowledge to the local community on how best to avoid conflict with large carnivores through preventive measures and understanding the long-term value of wildlife. Boniface with Lembara We were losing light fast and Joe Kiswili couldn’t hide his disappointment. The lions were now 300 meters ahead on rocky terrain and we could hear from Tom’s receiver the soft metallic sound the collar emitted as the lions moved ahead of us. The excitement was palpable as the Land Rover’s headlights helped us maneuver through huge rock boulders and nearer to the lions. It was now pitch black and the lions were only 70 meters away. I looked at the time it was 7.17 PM. losing to the fading light The rocky terrain got even worse and it was clear that the Victoria Pride were now resting just below the hill barely 40 Meters away. They had decided to rest and probably hunt later in the night, when not being followed by a bumping Landrover. I could almost smell the lions but we decided to call off the mission as it was deemed too dangerous to move on foot at night. Crushed we took solace that we had spent some quality time with the Lion Landscapes Rangers and experienced first-hand their work and challenges. We bid farewell to the rangers and headed back to Nanyuki and true to form the Nanyuki-Rumuruti Road came alive at night with lots of elephants along the way with one mock charging our car, a cute hyena puppy running ahead of us. Although my arthritic back felt like the end of the world due to the bumpy ride, the trip was worth it and I can’t wait to be back. #LandDrover #borana #thelionrecoveryfund #SavannahTracking #Pridelionalliance #lionlandscapes #thenatureconservancy #lions #kws #collaringlions #LionRangers #HoustonZoo #collaringforcoexistence #LoisabaConservancy

During a particularly exciting week, Lion landscapes were involved in the final stages of field testing of the new Land Rover Defender aka 'Hero' on the Borana-Lewa landscape. Thomas Mojong, our Lion Rangers leader and I were part of the team that took the new Defender to find and collar a male lion - aptly named Defender - as part of our Tusk funded Collaring for Coexistence program. Two new satellite GPS collars were kindly donated by Land Rover. Real-time data from these collars, accessible to local livestock owners via a mobile phone app, allow Lion Landscapes, Lion Rangers and Lewa-Borana staff to closely monitor lion movements, and keep people and livestock away from known lion locations. Collaring Defender was successful but challenging; like the Land Rover itself, Defender the lion did not pay much heed to rough terrain and it took 4 days of tracking through thick bush and rocks to catch up with him, with a tummy full of Zebra. The KWS vet Dr Matthew Mutinda tranquilised the lion and our team moved him to a safe, shaded spot to fit the collar and check his general health. Moving a 300kg male lion took twelve people and a lot of grunting! Dr Mutinda then administered the reversal drugs and we all watched with smiles as a sleepy Defender woke up and walked off into the bush with his newly fitter satellite GPS collar. His movements are now carefully monitored, and teams standing by to respond should he move near livestock or into areas where the risk of conflict with people is high. The Land Rover film clip has helped us reach new audiences who were not yet aware that lion are in trouble. This, combined with Tusk Trusts #YearoftheLion, has allowed us to highlight the plight of the lion. As Charlie Mayhew, Tusk Trust’s CEO pointed out “We have less Lion in the world then we have Rhino, that's a pretty shocking inditement”. Conservation organisations like us are working on the ground with local people to secure a future for African lions, but we have clearly not done a good job of making the world aware of the problem. Since the release of the Land Rover footage, multiple stakeholders and supporters have reached out to express their surprise at how few lions are left on the planet. Stopping the loss of lions is a challenge that has to be addressed here and now. Lions can only thrive where they have value to African people and governments, and so the costs of living with lions have to be minimised, and any cultural or economic value with protecting lions and intact ecosystems needs to be realised. Big challenges can only be overcome by working together. The new Land Rover Defender video has taken a step in the right direction by helping the world to know - there are only 20,000 lions left in the wild today. If you care about this then spread the word and support a reputable lion conservation organisation like Lion Landscapes, Pride Lion Conservation Alliance, Tusk Trust or The Lion Recovery Fund. Watch the Land Rover Defender final field test film clip here, starring Defender the lion, Tusk, Borana Conservancy, Lewa, Kenya Wildlife Service and Lion Landscapes! Antonia #LionLandscapes #collaringforcoexistence #collaringlions #Defender #LandDrover #lewaconservancy #borana #lion #kws

Mary Burak is a Ph.D. candidate from Yale University and National Geographic Explorer working in collaboration with Lion Landscapes to study large carnivore connectivity across Laikipia and Samburu counties. Her professional interests span wildlife, landscape, and molecular ecology, with a particular passion for uniting scientific research with conservation. Mary’s current project is focused on understanding how human activities and land use can affect wildlife abundance and connectivity. Human-wildlife interactions in non-protected areas are of particular interest to her since land use management is often a trade-off between biodiversity conservation and land development. Mary Burak collecting data in Laikipia For her doctoral research, Mary is building upon Lion Landscapes’ carnivore monitoring work. She is using a variety of field and genetic techniques to take a “landscape genetics” approach to measure the effects of human land use and activity on carnivore populations in the ecosystem. Landscape genetics is a growing scientific field that gets its name from landscape ecology and populations genetics. This uses spatial information in the landscape as well as in carnivore genetics in order to understand what is helping or hindering species connectivity. More specifically, by measuring how related every lion is from one another, and knowing where they are all located in the ecosystem, we can then measure exactly how things like roads, livestock grazing areas, or water availability is helping or hurting carnivore connectivity. Lion within the Laikipia Landscape overlooked by Mt.Kenya Landscape genetics uses a mixture of spatial statistics and genetic analysis that will produce heat maps showing areas where carnivores are most likely connected and mating. This is an incredibly useful piece of information which complements Lion Landscapes’ collar data. While collaring provides comprehensive movement behaviour data, landscape genetics data will inform us about mating and reproduction which is vital to ensure that carnivore populations will continue into the future. Although we understand certain elements of the carnivore populations, there are still many unanswered questions that genetic data can help us answer. Exactly how many lions exist in the Laikipia ecosystem? How healthy and connected are the large carnivore populations? What impact is human land use having on carnivore populations today, and how will these effects impact carnivore populations into the future? Mary will be able to use the project results to describe carnivore populations as they are today – with measurements about population size, genetic population viability, and how far individuals have traveled to mate and contribute to genetic diversity – and will also build predictive models that can better inform land management decisions and better support human-wildlife coexistence into the future. If we know how carnivores are reacting to certain types of human activity, we can be better prepared for spatially planning human activities in the future. one of the El Karama guides helping Mary at a scat collection site Successful human-carnivore coexistence is about trade-offs, some of these trade-offs involve strategically planning where human activities should be spatially located – with activities that hinder carnivore connectivity in locations that minimize negative effects on future population survival. To obtain genetic data, Mary is collecting carnivore scat fresh from the field. Scat provides both spatial and genetic data. Unlike blood sampling, scat is a non-invasive collection method that provides the same information. In the field, Mary is working with local groups of rangers and guides to collect project data. These groups play an important role in keeping track of where carnivore populations are on a daily basis and so where to find carnivore scat. Without this participation from so many properties and individuals on the Laikipia landscape, this study would be impossible. Over the next year, she will be collecting spatial and genetic data that will be incorporated into laboratory work. Mary collecting scat If anyone would like to contribute to the project or find out more contact mary.burak@yale.edu or antonia.leckie@lionlandscapes.org #YaleUniversity #NationalGeographicExplorer #landscapegenetics