The Maasai have a complex relationship with lions. Lions are both a source of anxiety as they kill livestock and threaten livelihoods, and are a central element in symbolic rituals that bring prestige and status. Until recently, Maasai coexisted with lions; today lions are being extirpated across their range. Forty years ago there were 100,000-200,000 lions in Africa. Today, fewer than 30,000 remain. Founded on an innovative vision to find a conservation solution that navigates the fragile balance between improving the lives and protecting the cultural traditions of the Maasai and ensuring the survival of endangered wildlife, the Lion Guardian (LG) program is a viable approach to reversing this trend. Its effectiveness and sustainability derive from its ability to foster development, while safeguarding the equally endangered traditions of the Maasai.

LG has been successful at creating an entrepreneurial solution, through employment opportunities and empowering communities to conserve lions as a long term strategy by:

(i) Enhancing local capacity through literacy training, creating educational films and workshops;

(ii) proactively mitigating livestock-lion conflict by relying on traditional techniques;

(iii) monitoring lion populations by combining traditional and modern tracking with high levels of local participation;

(iv) preventing lion killing by employing local leaders

(v) naming lions, as familiarity breeds ownership.

LG currently employs more than 30 non-literate Maasai warriors as community conservationists and field biologists covering over 3,500 km². The Guardians play a traditional role as protectors of their communities, yet retain the close association with lions that is central to their identity. Started in 2007, LG has been highly effective at stopping lion killing and monitoring lions. This year, with the support from Rufford and others, we are expanding the LG program into an area across the border from Amboseli into northern Tanzania.