Lion conservation: The collaring of 'Kito' скачать в хорошем качестве

Lion conservation: The collaring of 'Kito'

We at Governors Camp Collection (through Wilderness) are immensely honoured to be able to support the great work of the Mara Predator Conservation Programme, by sponsoring the collaring of ‘Kito’ from the Marsh Pride. The Marsh lions are a ‘boundary pride’ and have unfortunately suffered several Human-Wildlife Conflicts due to the proximity of their territory alongside the border of the Reserve. Illegal grazing taking place during the night has been, for the most part, the cause of incident and injury for this pride. However, a recent 'boma raid' by the Topi Pride prompted the urgent need for tracking the Marsh prides’ movements in real time. In collaboration with the Mara Predator Conservation Programme, The Kenya Wildlife Trust, Kenya Wildlife Service, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Narok County, we successfully collared lioness Kito on, who was chosen for her leadership skills and good health. We thank the Musiara Sector Warden and his team for their assistance in helping us find the lions and their overall support of the event. Everything went according to plan, and we were delighted to see Kito immediately reunited with the others. The following morning, we checked on the pride who were eyeing up a few stragglers from the huge resident herd of buffalos in the Musiara marsh. Kito looked well and unbothered by the collar, which we are hoping will help reduce any potential risks associated with movement outside of their core range. Please remember that collared lions are not immune to HWC and the collar will not prevent conflicts occurring because of herders and their cattle entering the territory. We understand that some visitors to the Masai Mara may not want to see or photograph collared lions on safari, but we do urge you to consider the lion's safety vs its appearance. The collars are manufactured and designed to provide vital tracking data without disrupting the lion's life. They weigh less than 1kg, which represents approximately just 1% of the lion's own body weight. The collars are made of foam and leather, with the data board protected in strong resin. There has been over 20 years of collaring research to date, which has so far shown that collars do not affect lion's behaviour, hunting success and reproduction. Please note that Governors’ Camp Collection, does not have the authority to prevent or stop any illegal activity such as nighttime grazing. We can, however, give our full support to the Mara Predator Conservation Programme in their ongoing efforts to mitigate some of the issues in a proactive way; please visit www.marapredatorconservation.org for further details on this. In December 2023, we covered the cost of collaring lioness 'Jua' from the Topi Pride, and we are happy to now support a conservation collar for the Marsh Pride. If you would like to help, please consider donating any kind to Mara Predator Conservation Programme. Thank you. Thank you to our resident photographer, Felix Rome, for making this video.