Saving Lions in Kenya

Saving Kenya’s Lions in Partnership with Maasai Communities 

No sound evokes Africa’s iconic wildernesses like the nighttime roars of lions patrolling their territories.  But this sound is increasingly absent across much of Africa today. 

During the past 25 years, lion populations across Africa have declined by roughly half. In Kenya, there may be as few as 1,000 lions left. 

Bringing Lions Back

In Southern Kenya’s Rift Valley, conservation efforts carried out in partnership with Maasai communities are bringing lions back, along with other wildlife such as cheetah, elephants, and giraffe. This is a critical area between some of the country’s most important wildlife places, such as the Maasai Mara and Amboseli. Building community support for conservation here is key to maintaining the movements of lions and other wildlife across a much wider landscape. It also creates a unique community-led model for co-existence of people and lions. 

This conservation model is managed by the South Rift Association of Land Owners (SORALO), a grassroots association that integrates indigenous Maasai ownership and culture, with world-class science. SORALO has emerged over the past decade as a leader of conservation in Kenya and a pioneer of community-based conservation in Africa. Its programs, such as Rebuilding the Pride, have enlisted local support for conservation of lions and other wildlife, helping these species rebound in this key landscape. Learn more at: soralo.org

Maliasili supports SORALO’s efforts to expand its work and impacts in this key region of Kenya. Until the end of 2019, Maliasili is leading a fundraising campaign to benefit SORALO’s pioneering conservation effort, helping communities protect lions and other wildlife in a way that benefits local lives and values. 

Your contribution will help SORALO protect even more wildlife and lions in Africa:

$150

covers the cost of one field team’s rations for a month

$500

covers mobile phone credit for a month, allowing all of SORALO’s field teams to directly communicate with local herders in the area and prevent conflicts with lions.

$1,000

keeps one of SORALO’s field vehicles operating for a month. 

$2,500

provides salary and field costs for one of SORALO’s 40 community game scouts for a year. 

$5,000

covers the cost of field equipment used for monitoring lions. 

$25,000

will enable SORALO to work in new communities to establish community-managed grazing areas where livestock and wildlife can co-exist.  

Learn more:

This short film, Shall We Dance, profiles one of SORALO’s key field sites, the Olkirimatian Group Ranch, and features SORALO founder and Executive Director, John Kamanga. 

View this video to learn more about community-based conservation in the South Rift Valley: