SPECIES
AFRICAN LIONS
LOCATION
KENYA
PROJECT
COEXISTENCE TOOLKIT
My Neighbour is a Lion
Coexistence Story has supported Lion Guardians in enabling the expansion
of their vital conflict mitigation programs. These programs are essential for achieving
sustainable coexistence between the Indigenous Maasai communities and lions within the
Amboseli ecosystem. Lion Guardians has developed a toolkit that blends scientific methods with
traditional Maasai practices to prevent conflicts between humans, lions, and livestock. This
toolkit includes strategies such as mock hunts, which are modeled after traditional Maasai hunts
and serve to redirect lions away from communities and discourage future livestock attacks. The
team also establishes conflict camps to provide a reassuring presence and organize their
efforts, conducts night patrols to protect livestock and monitor ongoing situations, and fortifies
community fencing to prevent further incidents.
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In May 2024, the Lion Guardians team received reports of a lioness causing trouble in the
Mbirikani Group Ranch of the Amboseli ecosystem. The lioness had been breaking into
community bomas (livestock enclosures) at night, seeking food for her first litter of four cubs.
Concerned about the community's patience wearing thin and the risks to the lioness, who had
already been injured by a spear, Lion Guardians, along with Big Life and Kenya Wildlife Service
(KWS), took action. The Lion Guardians team set up a ‘conflict camp’ and gathered experienced
Guardians to do their utmost to de-escalate the conflict.
Despite their efforts, the lioness Mirurai continued to raid bomas. The Lion Guardians team
coordinated with a KWS vet to fit a GPS collar on her, allowing them to monitor her movements
day and night. They implemented new mitigation strategies, including hiring additional
personnel, using lion lights, and constructing a secure livestock pen, which was especially
appreciated by a livestock owner who had lost over 10 goats.
The teams also used a night-time thermal imaging scope to detect and safely deter Mirurai from approaching bomas. All of these mitigation tools proved to be invaluable in helping the teams achieve their goal of encouraging Mirurai to return to hunting wild prey and leaving livestock alone.
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Saving Mirurai and her cubs while supporting the impacted community required a significant
effort, highlighting the importance of Indigenous knowledge, strong partnerships, and effective
toolkits in promoting human-wildlife coexistence in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem.
Lion Guardians is a conservation organization dedicated to finding and enacting long-term solutions for people and lions to coexist. Lion Guardians’ conservation model is adaptable to various cultures and wildlife species. Founded on local value systems, community participation and science, it is based on a decade of research and rigorous measures of success. Their approach involves recruiting young, traditional Maasai and other pastoralist warriors to learn the skills needed to effectively mitigate conflicts between people and wildlife, monitor lion populations, and help their own communities live with lions.