A Fund Member Addresses Villagers
A long and severe drought in East Africa has killed off not only huge herds of cattle belonging to pastoralists like the Maasai but also wild animals. Predators have sometimes resorted to killing cattle, leading to a new standoff between man and lion. This has been a true testing ground for the efforts of the Maasailand Preservation Trust, started by Richard Bonham of Ol Donya Wuas. Its Predator Compensation Fund has been working hard to save lions by paying participating communities for any damage to livestock the predators cause. In an incident last week, members of the fund went to a village where a lioness had been killed. It turned out that she was with a pride that had left Amboseli park in search of food, and that the lioness had actually jumped a fence into a protected boma to try get a cow. A herder speared the lioness through the heart, killing her instantly. It was a justifiable killing, the fund decided, but the incident has made it redouble its efforts in the community. Read more about the fund and the latest test of their success. Anyone who visits Ol Donyo Wuas will see the efforts of the Maasailand Preservation Trust firsthand.
