Working during the holiday season is not a chore when you get to do blogging from the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

I spent the last few days with Antony Kasanga of Lion Guardians Blog who has been educating his community about the need to protect lions. This season a new generation of young Masai men are being initiated to the Moran, or warrior class. Killing lions has been a tradition to prove their bravery. Now the older moran like Antony are asking the youth to discard that tradition, and to take pride in saving lions. Afterall, conservation gives people like Antony a job and only those with jobs survived the recent drought without much loss. More than 80% of the cattle in the area died during the drought. As their only source of wealth is livestock, this has left many of the Masai destitute.

During a meeting Menye Laiyiok meeting, fathers of the uncircumcised boys prepare their sons for a serious life of adult hood and how to be good warriors.

This meeting held a special message that survival depends on the conservation of wildlife in this area. Without wildlife, especially lions, tourists would not come here. Antony spoke specifically about the need to discard the old ways of poisoning lions with Furadan – a message that some were not happy to hear as it’s an easy way of making a kill and getting rid of this feared predator.

Thank fully people on Mbirikani Ranch have no reason to poach predators because there is a predation compensation fund that enables losses to be recovered at least in part. Reuben Ole Silati is the predator verification officer and is verifying that this goat was actually killed by a hyena.