Ewaso Lions

“Kenya’s lions could be extinct in the next two decades” – Paul Thompson

The African lion population has declined by 30-50% in the past 20 years and lions have been removed from at least 83% of their historical range in Africa. This reduction in lion numbers is due to habitat loss and conflict with humans, primarily over livestock depredation. Kenya’s lion population is now less than 2,000 individuals.

The Ewaso Nyiro ecosystem of northern Kenya provides a critical habitat for these big cats, and is one of the few areas in Africa where lions exist outside formally protected areas. Lions in this region are facing an uncertain future as they come into regular conflict with the nomadic people that share their habitat. Following livestock depredation, herders retaliate by fatally shooting, spearing, or poisoning lions and other large carnivores.

Ewaso Lions is a grassroots project whose mission is to promote the conservation of lions through research and community-based outreach programmes. Founded in 2007 by Oxford PhD candidate and Kenyan national, Shivani Bhalla, Ewaso Lions investigates the factors affecting the population dynamics of lions in and around the Ewaso Nyiro ecosystem in northern Kenya. Ewaso Lions uses scientific research and community-based outreach programmes to promote coexistence between lions and people in northern Kenya, and is the only project in northern Kenya to focus on lions in and out of protected areas.