Ewaso Lions – Ewaso Lions is an independent, 100% African wildlife conservation organisation whose mission is to conserve Kenya’s lions and other large carnivores by promoting co-existence between people and wildlife.

Lion Conservation

Ewaso Lions has always put local people at the centre of our lion conservation programmes.

Over a Decade of Research

Our team conducts applied research to support conservation needs.

2022 Annual Report

You helped make 2022 a very special year as we celebrated our 15th anniversary.

Lion Conservation in a

Changing Landscape

The African lion population has declined by 43% in the last 20 years and lions now occupy only 8% of their historical range in Africa. The estimated numbers of lions across Africa are approximately 20,000. In Kenya, the national population now numbers less than 2,500 individuals. This reduction in lion numbers is primarily due to habitat loss and conflict with humans, typically when lions kill people’s livestock.

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Our Vision And Mission

When we began only 11 lions were known, mostly all confined to protected areas. Now the ecosystem boasts over 50 lions, including cubs. The key question now is: What is our hope for lions for the next few years in northern Kenya?

Vision – A secure future for lions and other large carnivores in a dynamic cultural landscape, achieved through community-led conservation.
Mission – Ewaso Lions is dedicated to conserving lions and other large carnivores by promoting coexistence between people and wildlife.

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Our Programmes

Mama Simba

This programme, designed by Samburu women, provides a platform for traditional women to reclaim their place as the owners and protectors of wildlife. Through environmental literacy, lion habitat recovery activities, engagement and awareness work on coexistence and culture, women are re-engaging in conservation in northern Kenya.

Warrior Watch

Warrior Watch is Ewaso Lions’ anchor project. The programme builds on the warriors’ traditional protection role by increasing their ability to mitigate human-carnivore conflict. The Warriors serve as a network working across multiple communities, informing herders of lion presence so they can avoid certain areas, averting depredation.

Lion Kids Camp

Lion Kids Camp 5-day immersive camps are designed to engage with and inspire a new generation of wildlife conservationists in Kenya. The programme gives school-going and herding children the chance to experience and learn about their country’s wildlife through interactive experiences, combining wildlife safaris, theatre skits, classroom education, and conservation-themed games.

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Biodiversity and Infrastructure Programme

Our proactive approach ensures wildlife needs are taken into consideration as mega-infrastructure takes center stage in northern Kenya. In 2018, we jointly initiated a project with Grevy’s Zebra Trust to ensure community and non-governmental participation in infrastructural development projects, harmonise them with wildlife needs, and monitor and mitigate the impacts of the LAPSSET project.

Jeremy Lucas Education Fund

Ewaso Lions Jeremy Lucas Education Fund (JLEF) provides sponsorship opportunities for promising students lacking funds to continue with their studies. Students’ tuition is covered for the four full academic years of Kenyan secondary school and university/college. Our model also ensures that after the students complete their tertiary education, we work with them to build their careers.

Kura’s Pride

In 2019, Ewaso Lions launched a programme to address the challenges communities and domestic dogs face in the Samburu landscape. The programme known as Kura’s Pride (named after Ewaso Lions’ famous first dog Kura), leads to healthier dogs and less human-carnivore conflict, reduced disease transmission to wild carnivores and an overall healthier balance between people, livestock, wildlife and the environment.

10 YEARS OF LION RESEARCH

Our Research Programmes

RESEARCH

Science is a critical tool in saving northern Kenya’s lions. Ewaso Lions’ research goal is to use science and research to inform and guide conservation programmes geared towards promoting coexistence between people and lions within their range.

OUR 3-YEAR ROADMAP

Our 3-year Strategic Plan

THEMES & ACTIVITIES

To develop our 3-year strategic plan, we identified six broad thematic areas of work and our desired outcomes under each theme. We identified priority activities for achieving each outcome. The activities that make up our 3-year roadmap fall under one or more of the six themes.

OUR STUDY AREA

What We Have Accomplished

12 YEARS

Ewaso Lions is a permanent, growing project, which - for 12 years - has worked with warriors, elders, women, herders, and children to raise awareness of ecological problems/solutions, reduce human-wildlife conflict, and educate communities on the benefits of wildlife for local livelihoods.

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE COEXISTENCE

Engage, Ensure, Enhance

OUR MAIN OBJECTIVES

Since its founding in 2007, We have put local people at the centre of our conservation programmes. To achieve sustainable coexistence with carnivores, people must feel an intrinsic desire to adopt conservation practices within their daily lives, and should have genuine ownership in the conservation decision-making process.

STRATEGY

Our 2023-2025 strategy represents Ewaso Lions second intentional vision-casting process since the inception of our organisation. This time, we chose an Appreciative Inquiry Approach.
With a focus on our strengths and what the team and our partners really felt the organisation would excel and push us into our niche, we began Discovering, Dreaming, Designing and Envisaging our Destiny.

Download Strategic Plan 2023 – 2025

4530km2

Area of Operation (km2)

Community Conservancies Covered

“I imagine a future where grazing is properly managed. Lions will have their wild prey, livestock will have enough grass. Conflict will be reduced and coexistence will continue be part of our life every day.”

Joseph Jisana - Field Assistant

"I am thinking about the potential of Kura’s Pride. I hope one day we will expand our work to other Conservancies. This work can be a tool to get more people to know and be a part of lion conservation."

Solomon Lenasalia, Kura's Pride Coordinator

“We believe that a long time ago all wildlife belonged to the women and then they were released to the wild. No one brought them back. Now because women are involved in conservation, we will conserve them in the wild.”

Mparasaroi Lemantaan, Mama Simba Coordinator

"One day, lions will have good habitat, encroachment will reduce, settlements will be managed, core areas will be set up, and we will have less conflict."