Porcupine occupied the conference hall

This porcupine has been visiting and spending the night in the conference hall without appointment! S/he forgot to check out of the room before day light. 

Another Zebra lost to road traffic

This morning, on our way to Emali town, we found a female zebra killed by a car, 15 kilometers away from Maasai Simba Camp. The animal was killed by a motorist at around 6:00am. Livestock and wildlife are killed by road traffic nearly every day in this part of the world. Unfortunately there aren't enough wildlife crossing signs on Emali-Loitokitok highway. The few signs available are often located in wrong places along the highway.

Maasai Association is raising funds to install animal crossing signs between Emali and Imbirikani trading center. Animal crossing signs will deter motorists from driving too fast in wildlife crossings.


Let us know if you or someone you know is interested on sponsoring animal crossing sign for Emali-Loitokitok highway. Our goal is to cover a stretch of 35 kilometers from Emali town.

The cost for animal crossing sign is $30 each.

Visit our website:
www.maasai-association.org/contact.html and donate towards animal crossing sign project.

Elephants visit Maasai Simba Camp

A herd of elephants visited Maasai Simba Camp last night. Several banana trees in the borehole compound was eaten to the ground.

Reteti, the boy pictured here, examined the elephant poo. He discovered that elephants eat lots of different species of plants. He also discovered a variety of seeds in the elephant poo. We used a portion of the elephant poo to fertilize our small garden. Elephant poo can make good fertilizer! This boy loves animal tracking. Next to him is his dog named Simba.

Good news for Nasha and Ole Mepukori

From the meeting held on August 13, Eseriani Wildlife Association agreed to compensate Nasha and Ole Mepukori for the loss of their cows to lions. Today Eseriani Wildlife Association came with two checks. Each herder received an estimated $300 for each cow. According to Nasha "the amount is not much but it is better than nothing."

Nasha receiving a check from Ibrahim Kantet, Director of Eseriani Wildlife Association

Ole Mepukori receiving a check from Ibrahim Kantet

Merueshi Leaders Meeting- Human Wildlife Conflicts Mitigatory Measures

Today we got all the leaders together and discussed about human wildlife conflicts in the Chyulu/Tsavo/Amboseli/Merueshi ecosystem. Leaders included area Chiefs, village elders, area chairman, volunteers and leaders from the game scout unit.The meeting held at Maasai Simba Camp was facilitated by Kakuta Maimai of Maasai Association and chaired by Daniel Sampu from The Big Life Foundation.

We discussed about challenges, failures, successes, and positive initiatives to successfully tackle human wildlife conflict in Merrueshi area.

ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED

• Big Life Foundation (BLF)
• Eseriani Wildlife Association (EWA)
• Maasai Association (MA)

RESOLUTIONS.

1. Eseriani Wildlife Association was officially accepted in Merueshi area. Eseriani Wildlife Association will provide the game scouts with cameras needed to document predator activities in the area  The association will contact Kenya Wildlife Service and request resources for capacity building and community out reach missions.

2. Meruesh community will be fully involved in wildlife conservation in the area.

3. Maasai Association will provide an office where game scouts will dispatch reports to partners for wildlife conservation in Merrueshi area. In addition to Maasai Association staff the scouts will take photos of every incidents by lions using GPS points and disburse the information through email, phone call, and text.

4. The Biglife Foundation will train and employ  two game scouts and equip them with GPSs and Cell phones. The organization will continue to provide a rescue vehicle and encounter poaching activities in the area.

Next meeting will be held at the Chief’s office in Merrueshi. The purpose of the meeting is to bring all the village elders together and show them how they can benefit from wildlife. Stay tuned for update.

Another cow was killed by a lion last night

A lioness with two cubs entered into a village last night and mauled one cow. The cow belongs to Nasha Musoongo. Other cows were not hurt. The lion struck the village at mid night. We went in to investigate the kill and found that carcass is the only part left of the animal. 

Judging from the lion's footprint the cubs were about 6 months old. The lioness and her cubs remain at large in Merruesi village. We called the game scout unit from the Big Life Foundation; they are on the way to the scene. Other partners for wildlife conservation such as Eseriani Wildlife Association have been informed.  We are hopeful that the game scout unit will arrive soon and scare the lion away into Chyulu Hills National Park. Very likely the lions will return to the area because many zebras and wildebeest are plenty in Merrueshi. Stay tuned for more update.

Nasha, pictured above, is not very happy about the loss of her cow. We must compensate her for the loss of her cow in order to deter the warriors from hunting the lion. "I'm debating whether to accept compensation for the loss of my cow or have the lion killed" said Nasha. 

Three lions killed a donkey

Three lions entered a village last nigh and killed a donkey. The donkey belongs to Lalepo Sipoi. Unfortunately none of the conservation organization compensate for the loss of a donkey.

Ole Kimpo showing us a carcass of the donkey killed by a lion last night.

Ruth, Ethan, Acacia and Reteti are perplexed over the donkey killed by the lion. The lion killed the donkey several yards away and dragged it into the bushes where he can eat without disturbance from the hungry hyenas.

Ethan and Acacia examining lion bites on the donkey's neck.

Above is the lion's foot prints. Kids herding goats have spotted the lions in a nearby ravine.

Land Rover got stack in the mud

We got stack in the mud last night when trying to get home. This is exactly where the lions killed 47 goats and 1 cow two weeks ago. The vehicle got stack at about mid night. We had to walk through the rain back home. Lots of hyenas were laughing at us, as we passed by their den. Thanks to our friends who came to push us out of the mud this morning. 

Lions Mauled 47 goats and one Cow in Merrueshi village

March 20, 2013

Prides of lions are on the rise in Merrushi area and causing serious problems. The predators are hunting cows and goats daily. Samuel Ntauti, for example, lost 47 sheep and goats and one cow to lions in one single night.

In the Maasai society losing a cow to a lion is equivalent to losing a saving account to a thief in the western world.

Regular lion attacks have upset the locals, causing the warriors to retaliate. The warriors killed one lion that also attacked and injured one warrior. After receiving stitches from Merrueshi Village Center, the warrior was referred to Shalom Referral Hospital in Athi River town for x-ray and further treatment. 

One lion was killed while 14 others escaped to Chyulu Hills National Park. The warriors killed the lion when they realized that rangers from Kenya Wildlife Service failed to show up for help.

Muterian Ntika is being  carried away by colleagues after a lion attack. The lion bit him in the leg.

A pride of lions struck a village last night

A pride of lions entered into a village at about 2am last night. The owner heard the cows mooing and got out to help. He discovered that a pride of 10 lions were in each corner of his cattle coral. The cow died later from severe head injuries. Maasai Association compensated the man for the loss of his cow. See the cows head for injuries from the lion.