| Mara Predator Project Interim Report July 2009 Sara Blackburn maralions@gmail.com Laurence Frank lgfrank@berkeley.edu |
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Sara has now identified 100 lions that use roughly 150 sq. km. of the northern Mara. These include 37 mature females, 21 reproductively active males and 25 cubs above a year of age. This number will grow rapidly as new lodges and areas are added to the reporting system.
Sara has designed and produced 250 initial copies of a North Mara lion identification pack, including an information booklet, water resistant map, lion ID and reporting sheets. The ID booklets are for use by guides and tourists in reporting sightings to the Mara Predator Project. They are linked to the online database and contain information about predator conservation issues, the MPP, and Living With Lions.
An introductory leaflet summarizes the booklets, including websites and email addresses, and a poster has been designed for lodges to encourage guest participation.
Sara has designed and produced 250 initial copies of a North Mara lion identification pack, including an information booklet, water resistant map, lion ID and reporting sheets. The ID booklets are for use by guides and tourists in reporting sightings to the Mara Predator Project. They are linked to the online database and contain information about predator conservation issues, the MPP, and Living With Lions.
An introductory leaflet summarizes the booklets, including websites and email addresses, and a poster has been designed for lodges to encourage guest participation.
An interactive reporting and information station is being set up at Serian Camp to test the ease and reliability of using the booklets for identifying and reporting lions, and guides are being fully trained. Serian and Mara Offbeat were the first lodges to set up a lion reporting system to identify the local lion population. Offbeat, on the Olare Orok River, has a separate pack with a regional map and lion sheets. In late June, management of Kicheche Camp, Elephant Pepper Camp, Karen Blixen Camp and Mara Plains were introduced to the project; guides will be trained after thorough testing of the reporting system at Serian and Offbeat.
Dickson ole Muntet is being hired as a community conservation education specialist to adapt LWL`s highly successful education workshops and video for the Mara region. He will be trained by Steven Ekwanga in Laikipia and Samburu in August. He will also assist Sara with guide training and introduction of the MPP, as well as maintaining the reporting system at participating lodges. Sara has been in discussions with a group at Bristol University that is developing a computer program for identifying individual animals from spot patterns; this may be adapted for lion whisker spot recognition.
Work will soon start on a house for Sara at Serian. We are deeply grateful to Alex Walker for his unfailing generous support and commitment to conservation
Dickson ole Muntet is being hired as a community conservation education specialist to adapt LWL`s highly successful education workshops and video for the Mara region. He will be trained by Steven Ekwanga in Laikipia and Samburu in August. He will also assist Sara with guide training and introduction of the MPP, as well as maintaining the reporting system at participating lodges. Sara has been in discussions with a group at Bristol University that is developing a computer program for identifying individual animals from spot patterns; this may be adapted for lion whisker spot recognition.
Work will soon start on a house for Sara at Serian. We are deeply grateful to Alex Walker for his unfailing generous support and commitment to conservation