THE NAIROBI LIONS – FAME BY NAME!! – BY GARETH JONES

A vervet monkey chattered the local bush news from a nearby treetop. Uharaaw rolled over and laughed as hard as a full grown lion can laugh, nearby Roaruh the lioness purred to him “what is it?” Uharaaw replied joyfully “the humans have called me Cheru, and have images of me in many places, even on their little clicky machines, the monkey says I’m quite famous.” “Wooaw” coughed Roaruh,”but why do humans want to give us funny sounding names?” Uharaaw muttered “I’m not sure, but the monkey says many of us have names like Ujanja, Mohawk, Sirikoi, Embakasi, Elsie, Mica, Sofie, Solo, Kitili, Morana etc etc…!!!”

Roaruh lay quietly for a few minutes as she thought about the names, suddenly she had a revelation “What if the humans actually like us, giving us names because they care enough to want to know us?”. “That’s crazy” grunted Uharaaw “We already have our own lioneeze names that we give each other mostly according to be way we sound and act. If only the humans could understand us they could just call us by our real names!”

Just then the monkey chattered again, and they were both amazed at what was said. The monkey said “i have heard through the bush chatter from the marabous who live in the human place that there are many pictures of lions, and that some humans actually want to protect lions so that they can live naturally in peace, that is why they give lions human sounding names so when a particular lion does something then it can become famous.”

As royalty they received this news gracefully, yawned, and fell asleep. Well my “tongue in cheek” theory as to why lions are actually called lions, is directly related to what they do most, and simply speaking they just “lyin’” around most of the time. So maybe “lyin’” was then spelt as “lion”, well I don’t think I am lying either. In reality lions are typical cat species and can spend from 18 to 20 hours either sleeping or just lazing around.

However the Nairobi lions do have some unique habits, for example they seem to love climbing onto various road junction signposts. The adult lions initially lead the way, and show the cubs who then learn this behavior. Naturally many tourists love to take photos of the “lion on a sign” moments. Another activity that the Nairobi lions are famous for is their ability to climb trees. Although not often seen climbing, it is a wonderful moment for those who actually witness this behavior.

Sadly some lions can also become more famous when they move out of the park, and encounter livestock and humans. A very sad example of this was the tragic shooting of the well known lion called Mohawk about 2 years ago. Wildlife and human conflict is an ongoing issue that requires cooperation from the local communities mostly south of the park towards Kitengela and the Athi-Kapiti plains. In many parts of Africa where wild lions still exist, the ever encroaching human developments eventually result in conflict when lions kill their livestock. Most livestock farmers secure their animals by enclosing them in fenced “bomas”, that offer little resistance to hungry lions.

A few years ago young boy named Richard Turere (then 9 years old) faced such problems in Kitengela, just south of the Nairobi National Park. He noticed that lions did not like lights shining at them, so he placed LED lights around the perimeter of his family’s livestock enclosure, using vehicle indicator flashes, and a car battery powered by solar charging. The lion attacks ceased and soon neighbours were asking for him to set up similar systems around their farms.

Due to the success of this lion light system, people who also care about lions became involved. Michael Mbithi and David Mascall refined the basic system to include more reliable LED technology. Most recently David Mascall has been continuing to installing lion lights south of the Nairobi National Park, as during the wet season the lions typically follow the wild herds resulting in human conflict. The Kenya Wildlife Service has put collars on to a number of lions in the park to monitor their movements, however collars do not stop livestock killing, while the lion light invention is very successful in stopping conflict between people and predators.

The Friends of Nairobi National Park (FONNAP) recently did a survey to determine how many livestock bomas could still be in need of protection. It costs about Ksh 25,000 to fund a single “lion light” installation, income comes through donations from caring individuals and organizations. Like it or not, it appears that due to mankind increasingly advancing into territory previously dominated by wildlife, more methods to protect endangered predators need to be implemented to ensure their long term survival.

YES! The Nairobi lions are a very special priceless treasure living right next to the mega-city we call Nairobi and surrounding area. It would be a very sad day if the Nairobi lions were no longer alive. Let us hope and pray that the conservation efforts to save and protect the lions continues to be successful, so that future generations of young children can also see wild lions right next to Nairobi. In the year 2046 the Nairobi national park will be 100 years old. The decisions that this current generation makes to ensure the future of the park will largely determine whether 2046 will be a time to mourn the loss, or will it be a time to celebrate a wonderful achievement? Will it be a time to reflect on all those wildlife warrior heroes who made the effort to save the park? The choice is ours!!! Act now!!!
Long live the fame of the Nairobi park lions.

The park is open daily from 06h00 to 19h00.

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