One of our lions was killed.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 06:17PM Four days ago, four poachers came into the Mara Triangle and set up a camp at Salt Lick. It has been very dry recently and so many of the animals in the Triangle have been visiting that area as there is always water, and they also like to lick the salt that naturally occurs in the soil.
During the migration the Salt Lick is often full of animals, and so the lions also like to stay there and take their pick from the animals that come down to water. A couple of years ago one of the lionesses even gave birth in the long reeds and was able to sustain her litter by hunting right next to the Lick. This year a pride of two males, five females, and six cubs all decided to reside in the area.
Four days ago the poachers set up their camp and put out their snares, intending to catch wildebeest or zebra, or any type of antelope, but instead this Sunday evening one of their snares caught one of our large male lions.
Rangers, poachers, and the skin of the male lion.
The poachers' camp is on a hill which gives them a vantage point over the Salt Lick and up towards where our rangers approach. Today our rangers approached from behind and caught all four poachers still sat in their camp. They had already skinned the lion, which was laying out to dry.
The skinned lion.
Rangers found a total of fifteen snares, and as well as the lion the poachers managed to snare and kill one wildebeest. Simon Trevor, who is here filming a four part film on the Mara Conservancy, was also there, and you can see him in the video filming and asking questions to the rangers at the camp.
Even though the poachers were from Tanzania, because they were arrested here in Kenya we have taken them to Kilgoris police station.
It has been a very long and sad day for all of us here.
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Reader Comments (25)
very sad and hard news William. Thank you to the rangers for apprehending the poachers and for all their work in the field. Thinking of you all with gratitude and with grief for the poor lion and wildesbeests.
Very sad news, but thank you for the work that you are doing.
My sincerest sympathies to you and your crew and the sadness that you are dealing with! My heart is right there with you and I, too, feel this pain deeply. I am glad the poacher were caught - although, wishing it hadn't cost the life of the lion. :(
What will happen to the pride now William? With only one male left, is it more likely to be taken over and the cubs killed?
Like everyone else has mentioned here, this is very sad news. The last photo of the skinned lion is hard to take. But thank you for apprehending the poachers.
As always, it's hard to know what will happen to the pride. The Serena Pride has had only one male for a couple of months now and has managed to stay together, despite the coalition of six males that are nearby.
Down by the Salt Lick towards the border you often get lone males coming up from Serengeti, especially now during the migration.
This is really sad news but I'd like to pass on my thanks to all of the rangers for the wonderful work that they do. It is awful that this lion has lost his life to poachers but I'm glad that they have been caught & can be punished. Without the hard work by everyone involved in your team then this would be happening even more often so thank you all & keep up the good work
You should put those f*cking poachers in a snare themself!
Words don't express my deep sadness for the loss of this male lion. It truly breaks my heart. Thank you to the Ranger for their tireless efforts in catching these and other poachers.
We returned from the Mara last week and are so saddened by this news. Please express out thanks to all the rangers for trying to protect the Mara.
Sad to see the Lion was killed, the good part (if any) is that the poachers were caught.
Are the getting a higher sentence for killing the Lion? And what may they be facing? 1 year? 2 year? imprisonment?
Very good job of the Rangers! Hats off for them.
A sad day indeed. Those that work there are never able to let their guard down. It must be emotionally exhausting.
This horrible male lion kill leads me to remember about one scene in the great movie "Gorillas in the myst".
When Digit, a young male gorilla for which Diane Fossey had a special love and a very closed relationship is slaughtered by poachers when he tried to defend his group.
Later, Sigourney Weaver (playing Diane Fossey) and her staff are in pursuit of the poachers and succeed in catching one of them. She has so much hatred for the loss of Digit that she is about to hang him but she is stopped in the last seconds by a guy of her team.
What I also remember is the fear that we could see in the poacher's eyes, wide opened eyes, terrified look he has when the rope comes around his neck...
Vincent
do you have the name of this pride? the reason is we love to know the fortune of this pride now has only one male to guard its pride, its cubs and its territory. will you keep track of this pride from time to time? good luck on the pride's cubs and their pride. good work, rangers! what is the penalty for such illegal snaring? do they get more or heavier penalty for killing a lion which is becoming rare now in eastern africa and around africa outside of all protected areas.
Very sad.
Its truly a sad story. i hope that the poachers will get punishment commensurate with their crime although no punishment will be enough to bring back the lion to life. well done for apprehending them.
Thanks to all ,who really did this wonderful job of apprehending these poachers. I wonder why do they have to skin the lion, if they actually came for the game meat. This has made me think hard about the future of our wildlife.Poachers must be stopped at all cost from destroying our wildlife in the name of poverty.
Many people are so ignorant about the conservation of wildlife in most of East African region, but soon they will in the future find no wildlife left in their parks, just because of their negative actions.
The wire snares are woven by individuals living in areas which are accessible to other arms of government, and such activities are illegal like brewing of illegal brews which are hunted down by the police.They should also assist the conservation of wildlife by arresting those involve in this dangerous acts. The park authorities will never win the war against poaching without the support of all the other organs of governments and individuals interested in the preservation of wildlife.
It is very sad watching these merciless destruction of very important tourist attractions. Without these animals,our countries shall cease to be major tourist destinations, which means no Foreign currency earnings.
Sauwah
We do not have a name for this pride, but they are mostly found in the Salt Lick area so we will refer to them as the Salt Lick Pride from now on. The punishment for snaring the lion is the same as it is for the snaring of any animal, and so there may be a prison sentence of about six months.
I'm seeing the picture of the skinned lion and i'm thinking, just what exactly were they going to do with it? Eat it? eeeeww! It is really sad for the many heartless people who put greed before their heritage, other people's livelihood and our future to say the least. Kudos to the rangers for a job well done, those poachers really need to be taught a HARD life's lesson!
Two of our rangers will be going to the court case of the poachers on the 23rd of September at Kilgoris County Court. We will let you know more about the outcome of this case after this date.
Rediculous, a 6 month prison term? What about repeat offenders? 6 months is a damn slap on the hand AT BEST!! It almost feels like the government doesnt care about what happens to these beautiful creatures, or the circle of life; so in 2 years when there are no lions, tigers, or big carnivores left due to poaching and loss of habitat, I'll be, curious to see what happens to our other native populations. I'm sorry, but I just wish more of a lesson would/could be taught to the apprehended poachers as to make others think twice before setting their next snare. Honestly, what kind of defense would a person like this have in court..."uh, uh, i thought it was a a" No, there is no excuse, EVER!!
Sadly the sentence in this instance did not reach six months and was only a few weeks.
killing lions is a sick and in humane thing to do sickos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it is sick
i am sad that us humans endangeing this species