The 'Lions of Tsavo' Research Project

A young female newly documented by team 2007-5 on Rukinga Ranch, courtesy of Wildlife Works.

Most of our lion sightings are at night and made with spot-lights. However, drives in late afternoon and morning provide great photo opportunities for lions and other wildlife (photo by Marijke McGeer, 2007-5).

Courting lions near Pika Pika ignore volunteers from 2007-9 in November.

The Tsavo lion project is headed by Bruce Patterson (Field Museum), Samuel Kasiki (Kenya Wildlife Service) and Alex Mwazo (soon to be of Kenyatta University). We seek to understand the ecology and behavior of lions in southeastern Kenya, the land of maneless males and legendary man-eaters. We want to know why these lions look and behave differently from lions elsewhere and understand how to mediate their conflicts with people. This work is done in collaboration with Roland Kays (New York State Museum), Jean Dubach (Brookfield Zoo), Mike Briggs (APCRO), and Tina Ramme (Lion Conservation Fund).

The project is based on the Taita-Rukinga Conservancy and is supported by our respective institutions, the Earthwatch Institute, the National Geographic Society, and Wildlife Works®. To see the animals we are looking at, click here (all pictures taken on the conservancy) and to see some of the data that we collect on them, click here (maps generated using Cybertracker). To see pictures of the some of the animals seen on our last trip (November 2007), click here .

The efforts and insights of many volunteers have contributed importantly to the project's successes. Since 2002, we've hosted more than 55 different field teams. They have contained more than 460 volunteers hailing from 34 nations on 6 continents. The teams have been led by Samuel Kasiki (SMK), Alex Mwazo (AMG), Roland Kays (RWK) and Bruce Patterson (BDP). A breakdown of this effort 2002-6, by year, team, PI, and volunteer country-of-origin, can be found here (pdf file; 23 kb). Kathy Evans, Dan Patterson, Carol Carpenter, Darren Fox, Kathy Richards, Mary Ellen Rowe, Valerie Sebestyen, and Andy Tutchings have each participated in two or more lion teams, and deserve special recognition here.

In 2008, we are fielding 10 teams. Those interested in joining us in the field should visit Earthwatch's website. We are conducting lion research amidst a fantastically diverse fauna in a magnificent piece of wilderness. The legendary hospitality of Kenyans leaves an indelible imprint on the experience, and our camp (Campi ya Neka or "Lion Camp" in the Waata language, at the foot of Satao Rock Camp) is comfortable and ruggedly beautiful.

The regional context of the Taita-Rukinga Conservancy in East Africa's protected areas.

Campi ya Neka provides many amenities that make our long days and sometimes dusty roads really enjoyable.

Team 2007-9 spolights a new group of lions at Matopene waterhole.