Lion Guardians

Overview

In partnership with the Kenyan-based Lion Guardians organization, Panthera is employing Kenya's traditional lion hunters - Maasai warriors - to protect, rather than kill, African lions.

Threats Facing the African Lion

Retaliatory and traditional spearing of lions by Maasai warriors poses the greatest threat to the lions of southern Kenya. The Lion Guardians Project has formed strong partnerships with the most influential members of Maasai communities to reverse this trend and educate local villagers about the benefits of lion conservation.

Lion Guardians in Action

Monitoring lions' movements using GPS collars is one way in which Lion Guardians help mitigate human-lion conflicts. The Lion Guardians use data gathered through these tracking collars to inform local livestock owners of lions' presence and areas to avoid.
Partnering with the Maasai to Protect Kenya's Lions

Panthera partners with the Kenyan-based Lion Guardians organization to carry out the Lion Guardians Program in Kenya's Maasailand.

The Lion Guardians Program grew out of Living with Lions’ research and conservation efforts in southern Kenya.  Leela Hazzah conceived of the program, and with the Maasai community developed it into a uniquely effective force to address spearing and poisoning of lions by Maasai warriors.  Stephanie Dolrenry subsequently trained the Guardians as skilled field biologists.  The resulting tight knit team of warriors and scientists successfully monitors and protects the lions in over 1,500 square miles of African wilderness. Recognizing the potential of this program to save lions from extinction, Panthera has supported the Lion Guardians Program from its inception. Today, the Lion Guardians team and Panthera are collaborating to expand the successful Lion Guardian model to areas in Tanzania where lion populations are in decline due to conflict with local people.

The program involves train­ing local Maasai warriors to respond to conflict situations; they then become the front line in reducing human-lion conflicts by informing herders of areas occupied by lions, helping farmers improve their cattle husbandry and track down lost live­stock, and by discouraging other Maasai warriors from hunting lions in the future.  In addition to employing local Maasai, this project provides these individuals with literacy schooling and technical training in conservation research methodologies.

Lion Guardians ©www.f-l-l.nl

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Maasai warrior holding the paw of an anesthetized lion Lion Guardians | Partnering with the Maasai to Protect Kenya's Lions

Panthera on the Ground

The Maasai warriors

The Maasai warriors who participate in the Lion Guardians program are well-trained in the art of tracking lions – a process that often involves searching for signs of lion scat and spoor (lion foot prints). Kamunu, one of the Lion Guardians shown here, frequently uses his Spoor Guide to properly track, measure and identify individual lions based on paw prints left in the dirt of Kenya’s savannahs and deserts. Today, nearly 30 Lion Guardians work with Panthera and the Kenyan-based Living with Lions organization to resolve human-lion conflicts and monitor the region’s lion populations.

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