Counting Samburu's vanishing Lions

For the cats outside the protected areas, there is no space inside because all the territory is taken up. It usually also means when there’s no other recourse, lions will fight to the bitter end in order to claim a territory or to defend it.

Environmental impact assessments fall short of many requirements in deciphering animal behaviour or issues of fragile lands; when it is a question of money versus wildlife, money almost always becomes the deciding factor.

It is not that construction cannot happen elsewhere where it would impact less on wildlife — it can. Unfortunately, from the point of view of investors, the “best” sites are where the animals are — which unfortunately drives the animals away.

The Ewaso Nyiro is a key dry season refuge for all animals. Yet there are far too many lodges along its shores. The droughts of 2002 and 2006 were devastating for all the animals, leaving thousands dead and lying everywhere.

Upstream developments affect the water level and with more horticulture farms coming up, there’s less flowing downstream. Where once the Ewaso Nyiro flowed all the way to Lorian Swamp, it now disappears way before that.

“We need to strengthen our conservation efforts,” says Daniel Letoiye, the manager of West Gate conservancy, who is starting on his master’s degree on hyena populations in the conservancy. “Nobody likes them,” he laughs, “but they are very important for the ecosystem. And that is why l chose to do research on them.

“We also have almost 1,200 Grevy’s zebra here,” says the manager. “Our long term plan is to improve the conservancy. During the drought, there’s no pasture outside, so everyone comes into the conservancy. We then have to work with the committee of elders to talk to the community because, in our culture, the elders’ word is respected. We need to work on a proper land management plan where pastoralism and conservation are compatible.

“Our traditional ways are changing because children are now going to school. We need to merge both the modern and the traditional to move forward.

“Research and heritage,” chips in Lekuraiyo, “are very important for survival.”

Wildlife research is not an inexpensive affair. The Ewaso Lion project runs into millions of shillings, which means much of Shivani Bhalla’s time is spent writing proposals and looking for donors.

The West Gate conservancy is for now being supported by a San Diego zoo. The long-term plan is to be self-supporting. Bhalla’s hope is that the Ewaso Lion Project will attract more researchers and eventually enable her to open a research institute in Samburu.

One of the Ewaso Lion Project’s supporters is the African Wildlife Foundation, which supports the lion researcher by awarding her a Charlottes Fellow scholarship.

Driving though the conservancy, we stop by one of the schools where Bhalla has set up a tree planting project.

For the young Roy Juma, who is in Standard Four at Lpus Leluai, guarding his tree is a way of bringing rain to the land in future. He is the face of the next generation in conservation.