It’s not an easy life for a lion cub in Africa. If humans don’t get you, sometimes your own kind will.

Big Life has been tracking a collared lioness, Mashael, and her sister, Noosinoni, for the last year, with much excitement after they gave birth to seven cubs between them. It was all going well until recently, when our local conservation partners Lion Guardians witnessed a terrible event.

Two new young males had arrived in Mashael’s territory, looking for space of their own. In such cases, the incoming lions will usually kill existing cubs so that they might have their own sooner. The mothers courageously defended their cubs, clashing with the invaders and managing to chase them off, but with blood drawn on both sides. At that point, only four cubs could be seen; the other three were presumed missing or already dead.

The following day, when the cubs’ fathers returned, the three missing cubs were still nowhere to be found. The lionesses were seen again a week later, but there was no sign of any of the cubs. At this point, we thought that the remaining four may also have been killed.

Prepared for the worst, we tracked Mashael’s collar to see at least how the two females were recovering from their injuries. They were lying in the grass and seemed fine, the wounds having healed well. But then, another body moved in the grass. Then another. We started to count, and couldn’t believe it. All seven cubs, still alive and well, reunited with their mothers!

While invading males pose a challenge, humans remain the greatest threat to this family and their kind. Big Life’s Predator Compensation Fund (PCF) provides them with relative safety from retaliatory killing, but when lions leave protected areas, the result is often death.

We are actively expanding the PCF onto Eselengei Group Ranch in the northern reaches of our area of operation, and will be joining the Lion Guardians in their efforts there. We are also working with partners to expand predator protection along the border of Kenya and Tanzania, in the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area.

Big Life’s ultimate goal is to expand the PCF across our entire area of operation, as funds permit, because as these cubs grow, so too must our protection of their kind.

Please support this innovative effort that helps people and the lions who live among them. 

Today is International Women’s Day, and we would like to recognize the many women who contribute to Big Life’s success. These women are not just wives, mothers, sisters, and friends, they are also rangers, field staff, informers, program officers, educators, fundraisers, scientists, and board directors.

Agnes Sopilal, picture below, has been a Big Life ranger for five years, working in the Olepolos Conservancy near Amboseli National Park. She most enjoys being a ranger because she is able to protect wildlife from being killed. She wants other women to know that, “Ranger work is not for men only. A woman can also do [this work] since you are preserving the beauty of your country and the entire world.”

We are grateful to Agnes, and her conservation colleagues within Big Life and across the world, for their dedication and passion for conserving wildlife and wild lands.

Please join us, along with our partners at The Thin Green Line Foundation, in celebrating female conservationists around the globe.

Sometimes we wish they did. Lions, impressive predators as they are, often wreck havoc in the night, as is their nature.  The local Maasai keep vast numbers of livestock, which are easy prey for big cats like lions, cheetahs, and leopards. As a result, human-predator conflict is a major issue.

Today’s World Wildlife Day theme is 'Big Cats: Predators Under Threat', aiming to raise awareness about the decrease of big cat populations across the world. It’s one of our major program areas at Big Life. Healthy ecosystems rely on apex predators like lions. While they may be challenging for the local human community to coexist with, we’re finding solutions that work.

Last year, across 700,000 acres of Big Life’s area of operation, big cats killed 984 reported livestock, valued at well over $65,000. Fortunately, in collaboration with conservation partners, our predator protection programs (e.g., the Predator Compensation Fund, the Maasai Olympics, and our wildlife rangers) were able to stop ALL retaliatory killings of these cats within that area. As a result, their numbers continue to grow, as evidenced by the seven new lion cubs we have in the Chyulu Hills at the moment.

You may live across the world from Africa, but it is only with your help that Big Life is able to protect lions and all predators within the ecosystem. Please consider celebrating World Wildlife Day by making a lifesaving donation to Big Life. In doing so, you are joining the fight to ensure a future for predators under threat.

Or rather, about the fence. Through your support, the first 50 km of the crop protection fence has been put to the test and so far has exceeded our expectations. In the farming areas now protected, recorded elephant crop-raiding has been reduced by over 90%. The fence is helping to ensure a more peaceful cohabitation of elephants and people - saving local farmers thousands of dollars and saving countless elephants from being speared.

However, more than ever, we need to extend the fence and build in areas that are now seeing an increase in crop raiding. Your support as we begin the next phase of construction, due to begin this quarter, is essential. Thank you, as always, for your ongoing generosity.

On a related note, American television journalist Bill Kurtis (of American Justice and Cold Case Files fame) spent time in Big Life’s area of operation and recently produced a short film on Big Life’s fence initiative.

Check it out:

Big Life Foundation_020818_Master REV from Kurtis Productions on Vimeo.