By Bernard Gitau
For Maasai boys on the cusp of manhood, killing lions was a rite of passage that turned them into warriors.
But as time passes, the tradition has faded away paving way for a new crop of warriors, the maa girls, who have embraced the culture of protecting the lions once by Morans to win them.
At Olgulului Conservancy in Amboseli Ecosystem, a pride of women referred to as Team Lioness have a sole purpose to patrol on foot and with vehicles to check the welfare of the wildlife and keep poachers at bay.
To be indicted as warriors of conservation, Team Lioness members have to brace the wrath of dangerous wildlife like lions, buffalos, leopards among others, Purity Nankara narrating how she hid in a warthog burrow to escape from a charging buffalo.
“It was a normal day for our shift to patrol the vast Olgulului conservancy with the sole purpose of filling a report on the status of wildlife, unfortunately, a buffalo which was laying ambush charged towards us and we scampered for safety, I could not keep up with the pace of my comrade hence I decided to hide in a warthog burrow,” said Nankara.
Nankara, a mother of three, said the tactic was from her training.
“We were trained in different tactics for different wildlife. For buffalo, one is supposed to lay down or take a sharp corner as the animal will just charge forward,” said Nankara.
To her, the experience emboldened her resolve to protect and conserve the country’s heritage, revealing that her favorite animal is a lioness.
“As a mother of three, I must act like a lioness who are usually devoted mothers to protect their cubs and teach them survival skills,” she said.
Leah Murera, Team Lioness member reveals that the group was formed in 2019 with 8 ladies representing the Maasai clans.
“The plan to introduce maa girls into conservation was hatched by a local conservationist who sold the idea to the International Fund for Wildlife Welfare (IFAW) and embraced it,” said Leah.
Leah reveals the pioneer journey was not a walk in the park as they had to prove to society, especially men, that they were up to the task.
“They were despised and ignored by morans who sometimes would pursue a lion that had attacked their livestock, but over time, the girls’ successes in reducing human wildlife conflict, poaching among other environmental crimes made them the pride of the community,” Leah said.
Due to this milestone, Team Lioness has expanded from an initial 8 members to the current 17 ladies who have their own camp constructed courtesy of IFAW.
To ease the rangers’ work of patrolling the vast land of Oglului, the team has a drone that helps them to monitor wildlife movement, watering point, sick and animal giving birth.
“We have received training on how to fly a drone and it is a game changer. The drone has made it easier to control rogue elephants that sneak into the community without us being there physically,” said Leah.
