In this series of blog posts, we want to give you an in depth and personal look at some of the work of our Simba Scouts that work in the field, tracking and protecting the lions of Kuku Group Ranch.
HOW TO SAFELY SCARE AWAY LIONS FROM COMMUNITY CATTLE:
Our Maasai warrior and Simba Scouts Co-ordinator, David Kanai shares his experience:
“Although Mawoi’s collar has stopped working, the Simba Scouts team are tracking her on a daily basis because most of the time she is staying close to the Iltilal village. It was a normal morning for tracking, I woke up at 630am and was out for tracking by 7am. This is the best time to go out because it’s right before the cattle go out for grazing.
Within 1km away from Iltilal river, Mawoi’s pride usually takes water within that river. We started tracking using our telemetry device and indicated that the lions were very close by. After a few minutes, we saw the first herd of cattle pass by us for their daily grazing, and without delay Mawoi’s pride decided to attack. One lioness came straight towards the herd of cattle and attacked the livestock. Immediately we acted and started shouting and mocking towards the lions to scare them away and defend the herders livestock. We managed to scare the lions away and saved the cattle from potential predation. We decided to stay within that area for the rest of the day to inform the herders that came passing by and assist them in keeping the livestock away from the pride nearby.“
