Conservation Program Update: Nanumyak Helps to Recover Ivory!

Some really wonderful news from our Conservation team! We had noticed that one of our female collared lions Namunyak had not moved for 2 days, as seen on our GPS map. She had been up in the cloud forest high up in the Chyulu Hills in one position. We were slightly uncomfortable with it and feared that she might been caught in a poachers snare or that something had happened to her.

The beautiful Namunyak (right)

So we arranged an operation one morning last week with the rangers and tracked into the forest to the place we last received a GPS location point from her collar. Once we got to the place we smelled a carcass... and heard a soft growl a couple of metres away in the dense bush. On closer investigation we found it... a carcass of a big elephant! We were so relieved to know that Namunyak was actually doing just fine and that the reason for her t be in one position for two days was because she and her group were feasting on an elephant carcass!

Head Ranger Muterian with the removed tusks

The carcass was about a week old and already partially eaten by the lions so we could not determine the cause of death. It is unlikely that Namunyak and her group killed it. However, the tusks were still intact so we removed them to hand over to Kenya Wildlife Service.

This is just another example that we are very proud of to emphasize how the lion collars assist us in our day to day conservation work!