Well-wishing Gamewatchers Safaris clients have replaced the livestock – and livelihood – of a family left devastated by a lion attack near Nairobi National Park.
Last summer we reported an unfortunate incident which happened just outside the Nairobi National Park, where we have our Nairobi Tented Camp. The Assistant Chief for the area, Nickson Parmisa, informed us that lions broke into a livestock enclosure belonging to a local Maasai sheep farmer, Rupande Romo, and killed all his 50 sheep, wiping out all his livestock and his entire livelihood and means of support.
This had the potential to cause great hostility by the local community towards the lions and Mr Parmisa was keen that there should be no retaliation. Unlike the Maasai communities who benefit greatly from tourism at Amboseli and the Mara where we have our Porini Camps and conservancies, the Maasai community living alongside the Nairobi National Park gain little or nothing themselves from tourism to the park, and so the possibility for retaliation is ever-present.
We agreed to help Rupande Romo replace his stock and take measures to ensure his livestock enclosure was made stronger so that it could withstand any future predation attempts by lions.
Our loyal clients and supporters rallied around and together we were able to replace his 50 sheep and strengthen his livestock boma, adding flashing lion-deterrent lights.
Rupande Romo said that he was very touched that people who live far away had heard of his family’s plight and he was very happily surprised by the generosity of visitors who had come to Kenya to see wildlife and who wished to help his family.
He said that because of the help he has been given to replace his stock, he and his brothers did not want to see any retaliation against the lions.
Nickson Parmisa believes this concept of providing a replacement animal when livestock is killed by lions is better than paying cash as compensation. He thinks that strengthening bomas and installing flashing lights will significantly reduce predation by lions and combining this with providing replacement stock when there is a killing by lions will reduce any human-wildlife conflict.
