Photos by DAVE McKELVIE:
Thanks to our resident lion tracker Dave McKelvie, here are some charming (& encouraging) images of newborn lion cubs in the park.
Sadly the general public are never told when lions are ‘lost’ ; that is are killed or wander out of the Park never to be seen again (presumed killed) but we do get reports now & then about wayward lions such as Gammyleg (a well known local lioness) killed by a vehicle on the Magadi Road on the western side of the Park…….
As far as I know only 1 (lioness) remains of her family of 4 (she & 3 adult cubs)…….
We do know there are no less than FIVE adult males in the park at the moment: there are some interesting social dynamics going on (all these lions are related!)
In these circumstances, new cubs are a real bonus & hope for the future & I would say that these little ones bring the park lion estimated total up to 30-35 individuals & they have plenty to eat in the current dry conditions, with much wildlife (especially plains zebra) in the park……
6 Comments
Posted December 30, 2010 at 12:48 am | Permalink
Dave can you help KWS track 2 young male Lion cubs? I posted this on the 30th Dec on your blog but got no response! Rumor has it that 4 Lions were seen in the Kitengela area? Perhaps you can help being the Resident Lion Tracker.
Hi Dave! Hope you are well? I found 2 young males Lion cubs at the dirt mounds at Athi Basin on Monday (27th Dec 2010). They were in very poor condition – I suspect they have “mange” or some bad skin ailment. I have some images if you would like to have a look. Please email me on sales@transworldsafaris.com
I am worried about these cats! They were totally on there own so I wonder with the New Boys in charge if they have been chased from their natal pride? Can you get in touch with the vet dept at KWS to have a look at these guys? Let me know! Many thanks Sushil – you can also reach me on 0733 742711
since these lions are all related, it is bad news for the lions period! they need new blood if those who are in charge of the wildlife within the park cares. and where is the help for these two lost male lion cubs? kenya can’t afford to loose one lion at all ; afterall there are only 200 left. if they were elephants, you know the whole wildlife conservation world will scream out and make the rest of the world shake!
Many thanks for keeping track of the lions. I did the same with Jim Cavanaugh while filming in the park for 3 years 5 years ago. And am still very attached to trying to aid in their survival.
I was told by Simon Penfold, that the night the lionnes was killed on the Magadi rd. that he saw 5 lions he thought all females, on the Langata rd near the Church at about 2 am. One split off and went down a dirt road. They followed her for a bit then lost her. I assume she then tried to get back to the park and was killed on the road.. as Simon was told by 6 the next morning there was a dead lion. I am really confused that if there is enough food in the park that the females would be leaving for unchartered territory. Males would make sense being pushed out…It would seem to me that the grass in the Park is Moribund and not good fodder and needs to be burned. If there are enough prey species in the park why would the females leave? The park is so affected by humans that it needs to be looked after by us too. Which means management. How does one go about making this happen??
In 2005 I made a 15min film of the Parks story with its migratory animals and the Lions struggle for survival, and have 30 hours of footage from 2002 to 2005 if it could help in any way to save our lovely Park and her animals, please let me know.
Lesley
On the day Gammyleg the lioness was killed, 6 lionesses were seen walking along the suburban Langata Road at 1-30 1m in the morning…..so no wonder we are losing lions in the traffic!
On the upside today (2nd February) I saw 6 healthy mature adult lionesses in the west of the park, so do not despair!
Protect wildlife or a day will come when we will see lions in museums.The snaps of the lion cubs are great. Being wild life lover it is very sad to hear that lions population has come to extinction.
since there are so few like 200 left in the whole kenya and tens or so are killed yearly, one little lioness’s death is a big deal to the species; especially to her and her pride. and too many lives have been needlessly lost due to road kill – drivers that are always in a hurry and care only about their troubled lives. speed bumps are a must every where! and if a driver could miss or choose to miss an animal with that size, can’t imagine any animal that are lot smaller than a full grown lioness. what a shame.