Extinction looms for Kenya’s lions

Lion populations across Africa are facing an uncertain future, and when authorities in Kenya started to suggest that the country could lose all its lions within 20 years, many more people started to notice (see this newspaper report) what is happening to the species out in the wilds of Africa.

Previous estimates of the numbers of lions in Kenya range from 2280 to 2749 (IUCN 2006 – PDF 2.5mb).  These numbers come from two separate studies conducted in 2002 (Bauer & van der Merwe 2004 – PDF 113kb, Chardonnet 2002) that give a breakdown of populations as shown below.  You might question why the totals given here do not match the estimates that I have just stated; this is due to a peculiarity of both these studies that the published estimates for many lion populations within Africa do not necessarily equal the total of the individual population estimates given, for a reason I am yet to fathom.  Also, whilst both studies were conducted on 2002 one was not published until 2004.

In 2006 the IUCN held a workshop, during which the lion populations of Africa were grouped into what was termed Lion Conservation Units; ecological units of importance for lion conservation.  Four of these LCUs are located wholly or partly within Kenya and were estimated to have the following populations and trends.

In 2008 a workshop convened by the Kenya Wildlife Service gave new estimates as follows for a total of 1970 and issued warnings that lions could be extinct within the country within twenty years.

The estimates given in all studies are, in most cases, little more than guesses and can be seen therefore only as highlighting a trend rather than substantiated numbers of actual lions.

The most urgent threat to lions in Kenya is the widespread use of the universally available agricultural pesticide carbofuran (marketed as Furadan) to poison lions in retaliation for depredation on livestock.

Several agencies are operating within Kenya toward conservation efforts for sustainable lion populations, although the extent to which these organizations are co-operating to make the most effective use of funding and resources is unclear.  The following are details of just some of these organizations, text taken directly from the organizations’ web sites.

1. The most active organization is Living With Lions that operates, the Mara, Laikipia and Amboseli Predator Projects, the Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project and the Lion Guardians program.

The Laikipia Predator Project (LPP)

LPP is studying the lions of the Laikipia area of northern Kenya to find out what makes them vulnerable to extinction in an unprotected area, and how practical measures can be developed to encourage coexistence between people, livestock and predators. It is looking into what threats lions pose to people’s livelihoods and what threats people pose to lions. By understanding how lions, livestock and people are able to coexist in Laikipia, the project is developing strategies for lion conservation that they are hoping could be applicable to other areas in Africa that do not have any formal wildlife protection.

So far 94 lions have been collared, with at least one member of all known lion prides in the area having a radio collar.

LPP has found that some lions are chronic livestock killers, while others rarely, if ever, attack cattle. Whenever an attack occurs, it is usually possible to identify the lion responsible, because of the large number of collared individuals. The researchers are building up a record of the characteristics of lions that become “˜problem animals’ and the kind of conditions under which lions are most likely to prey on livestock.

Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project (KLCP)

KLCP was established to apply the lessons learnt in Laikipia to halt the massacre of lions in an area of Maasailand between the Chyulu Hills, Tsavo and Amboseli National Parks in southern Kenya.

The project started on Mbirikani Group Ranch in early 2004, expanding in 2008 to Eselenkei and Olgulului Group Ranches, semi-arid grassland and bush communally owned by several thousand Maasai families.

About 300 lions have been illegally poisoned and speared between 2001 and 2010. Fewer than 60 adult and sub adult lions remain

In 2009, KLCP began piloting and implementing several new monitoring techniques. KLCP biologists trained the Lion Guardians as field biologists, incorporating traditional Maasai tracking techniques into modern monitoring methods.

Mara Predator Project (MPP)

Based at Serian Camp the MPP focuses on cataloguing and monitoring northern Mara lion populations through lodge guides and lodge visitors who report sightings and send in their lion photos.   A complete training course has been developed for guides, and the reporting system has been refined and standardised, with an online database (http://www.livingwithlions.org /mara) that was redesigned in early 2010.

MPP has introduced monitoring into the Olare Orok (OOC) and Naboisho Conservancies (NC), through participation of Mara Plains Camp and Porini Lion Camp (covering OOC) and in collaboration with the African Lion & Environmental Research Trust‘s sister organization African Impact (covering Naboisho and based at the Encounter Mara Camp), also with support from the Kicheche Trust Fund, Olare Orok Conservancy Trust and Basecamp Foundation Kenya.

Amboseli Predator Project (APP)

The APP has recently been initiated on Olgulului and Eselenkei Group Ranches, north of Amboseli National Park. In recent years, lion killing has been prevalent in these regions and was the impetus for the expansion of the Living with Lions and Lion Guardian projects into these group ranches.

Lion Guardians

Living With Lions initiated the Lion Guardians program in 2007 in collaboration with the local communities of Mbirikani Group Ranch. The project resulted from work with local communities, showing that most people perceived small benefit from conservation, contributing to their loss of tolerance for wildlife.

Lion Guardians across the ecosystem play an essential role in monitoring carnivores. They conduct weekly spoor surveys for density of predators and their prey, monitor lions in their areas using GPS units and telemetry receivers, and assist in lion hair and scat collection for DNA analysis.  Every Guardian has a cell phone which is used to report any sightings of lions or any illegal activity. All lions have been given Maasai names by the Guardians, greatly increasing lion awareness in the broader community by personalizing each lion.

2. Panthera is supporting the efforts of Living With Lions’ Lion Guardians program through its Project Leonardo whose objective is to conserve the African lion in key landscapes by mitigating human-lion conflict, and building or restoring connectivity between landscapes that are critical for the lion’s survival.

3. The Born Free Foundation is channelling funds raised from its street art exhibition and auction of lion sculptures during its Pride of Kenya event in Nairobi in 2009 into lion conservation projects in Kenya.   The aim of the first project, located in the Amboseli area, is to help pastoralist communities find practical solutions to living harmoniously with lions and other predators. This can be achieved by combining community education, reinforcement of bomas (livestock enclosures) and tactful herding of livestock during the day.  Working with the Kenya Wildlife Service, Living With Lions, The Kenya Wildlife Trust, Predator Conservation Fund and others to purchase the necessary materials for the construction of lion-proof bomas and give technical advice on their deployment to the communities around Amboseli National Park.  The community themselves will construct and maintain the bomas with guidance and support.

4. Kenyan Wildlife Trust

The Kenyan Wildlife Trust (KWT) works with safari operators in Kenya, raising funds through tourism, which are then applied directly to conservation projects in the areas of the country most important for the future of wildlife-based tourism.  Located along the southwest border of Amboseli National Park, the new Kitirua Wildlife Conservancy is one of KWT’s flagship projects. The local Maasai community has partnered with KWT to secure 30,000 acres of habitat.  The main goal is to install and support professional management and good stewardship of the land and wildlife in and around this private, community conservancy.  This includes such activities as ecological monitoring, security for both wildlife and people, training and salaries for local “game scouts” or rangers, habitat restoration in certain areas, facilitation of low-impact, high-fee tourism, a grazing program, and working with Living with Lions to support five Lion Guardians.

5. The Lion Conservation Fund

The Lion Conservation Fund (LCF) supports projects that establish the distribution and abundance of African lions and is committed to supporting conservation and research initiatives to better understand lion behaviour, ecology, and biology.   LCF has helped initiate a number of programs to alleviate threats to lions across Kenya.

Project Simba is a new model of conservation education, which translates science into action for students and educators in Kenya by using an integrated, experiential conservation education model.

The Center for Lion Conservation and Research brings governments, scientists and local communities together, working in collaboration at all levels.

Samburu Lion Project is working to provide large-scale, long-term research aimed at biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of lions and natural resources in northern Kenya.

Tsavo Lion Project is conducting a census and survey of lions within Tsavo East and West National Parks and the Tsavo eco-region in order to (1) develop the start of a longitudinal picture of pride size, composition, and pride tenures in and around the Tsavo eco-region; (2) study variation in social biology with vegetative cover over a wide range of habitat types, climates, and elevations; and (3) collect biopsy samples for DNA, histological and hormonal assays.

Rift Valley Lion Project looks at wildlife-human conflict, disease, poaching, and illegal wildlife trade that have seriously impacted the lion’s chance for survival. The Rift Valley Lion Project is conducting a lion population census, estimating prey species abundance, examining lion dispersal, and assessing biodiversity in locations such as Massai Mara.

6. Ewaso Lions

Formed in 2007, Ewaso Lions is a grassroots project whose mission is to promote the conservation of lions through research and community-based outreach programmes.   Ewaso Lions investigates the factors affecting the population dynamics of lions in and around the Ewaso Nyiro ecosystem in northern Kenya. The research will enable the formulation of strategies for long-term lion conservation by achieving an understanding of the factors driving pride establishments, their associations and movements in the wild, the extent of human-lion conflict, and the impact of habitat loss.  Its study area covers over 900 km2 (approx. 345 mi2) and includes Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba National Reserves and the adjacent community lands.

Ewaso Lions has also established several community outreach and education programmes to engage local people in conservation, provide training, find creative solutions to human-wildlife conflict, and give back to the community. These include Warrior Watch, Sponsoring Students and a Wildlife Cinema.

7. WildiZe

In order to combat long-term lion population reductions, the Wildize Foundation has begun a Sub-Saharan Lion Conservation Project to address the numerous underlying causes for the lion’s decline and as much as possible includes local community involvement so as to reduce the conflicts leading to their demise.

8. Wildlife Direct

WildlifeDirect, started by paleontologist/conservationist Richard Leakey, is helping conservationists on the ground to save lions by collecting donations for different lion conservation projects and allowing donors to track ongoing work on the ground.  WildlifeDirect is campaigning for the de-registration or total ban on the active ingredient of Furadan, carbofuran in Kenya due to the threats it poses to users, consumers and wildlife.

By acting collectively the stakeholders of Africa can combine expertise, knowledge and funding to generate real, long-lasting, cost efficient and responsible solutions that are reflected in policy from national governments all the way through the structure of society to the actions of the individual.

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