With tourism suspended at present due to the Coronavirus pandemic, our safari vehicles are no longer driving around the Ol Kinyei conservancy taking visitors to view the wildlife.

In their absence it is vital that our conservancy Warden and rangers continue to carry out patrols to ensure the wildlife is protected. Our Porini Mara Camp manager Jimmy Lemara has been out in the conservancy daily and so has our Warden Simon Nkoitoi with his team of rangers.

Last week while patrolling the eastern side of the conservancy they found “Green Eyes”, one of the 3 dominant pride males known as the Rekero Boys, with a wire snare round his neck.

This must have happened during the night when he strayed out beyond the conservancy boundary. They reported this to KWS so that their wildlife vet could come to assist and also notified senior researcher Niels Mogenson from the Mara Predator Conservation Programme who monitors the lions in the conservancies. They followed Green Eyes who went into thick bush on a rocky hill where the vehicles could not go.

They spent the next 2 days searching for the lion with no luck but in the early morning of the third day they found he had joined his brothers further inside Ol Kinyei Conservancy so they called the KWS team. The KWS vet Dr Limo quickly attended and was able to dart the lion to tranquillise him and remove the snare with no harm to Green Eyes who woke up none the worse for wear and later went off with his brothers as if nothing had happened!

Green Eyes (far left) reunited with his brothers: The Rekero Boys

We must continue funding the Warden and Rangers as well as the Porini Camps staff during the coming weeks so please support our ADOPT-AN-ACRE plan – see details here: https://www.porini.com/adopt-an-acre-2/