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Meeting with Maasai Elders

Category: An Urgent Appeal, Cattle Compensation | Date: Apr 01 2008 | By: Kimojino

On Saturday William reported on the lion which had killed three cows in Kawai village. The incident happened during the day, when two young boys were herding on the escarpment near their village. Two lions stalked the herd, and were noticed by the boys who made attempts to chase them away. Their efforts were in vain, and the lions managed to kill three cows.

When you go up on the escarpment, it is truly an amazing place of community, cattle and wild animals living together. Contrary to the park where at the moment you don’t see many animals, many of the herbivores have gone up the escarpment and are grazing next to the cattle. Unfortunately this means that the lions also follow, and when given the choice between a watchful zebra or a lazy cow, they often go for the latter.

This is one of the worse times of the year for predators killing cattle outside the park, and this has now fallen at the same time we lack funds to pay for the cattle compensation scheme.

This has prompted us to go and meet with the elders from the villages affected, as the situation has become quite heated with cattle now going missing most days.

Kimojino addresses elders.

Kimojino initiates the talks.

The meeting started today at 11am, and went on till 3pm. The elders were so angry and desperate about the situation now with the lions. They said that almost each day they lost cattle and in two weeks they have lost almost 10 cows and 2 sheep.

For about two hours they were so angry that they did not want to listen to us. They also could not understand why they were the ones who had to suffer the most with the collapse of tourism, they said that they could see rangers still working and vehicles still running. And yet they were losing cattle every day to lions and not being compensated, and they said as a consequence they feel neglected by the Mara Conservancy.

Village Elder speaks his concern

A village elder very angry with the situation.

We sincerely tried to explain the situation that Mara Conservancy is facing at the moment, and to explain that it was only because of donations that we were able to continue, not money from tourists. We said that we would try to help them find money for their cattle from donations, but they would have to be patient with us and understand that we are doing our best.

Towards the end of the meeting the elders said that they have seen real benefits since the Conservancy started, and they thanked us for all the work we have done to retrieve stolen cattle over the years. They said that they greatly valued our efforts, but right now at this time they are suffering.

They reminded us that they could easily make their situation better for themselves by slaying the lions that had been killing their cattle, but they did not want to do this as they have seen over the years the benefits of community conservation, and the tourists that this brings.

Kimojino and William

Kimojino and William near the end of the meeting.

In the end they said that they would be patient while we did our best to find them the funds. We will have another meeting with village elders this Thursday, and we will also be taking a film crew with us from Reuters, who we hope will highlight the plight of the Conservancy and the local communities, to potential supporters around the world.

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20 Responses to “Meeting with Maasai Elders”

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 01 Apr 2008

Joseph, would donations for food for these herders be helful in the shorterm, until tourists return? At least they wouldn’t go hungry…just trying to think this huge problem through with a quick, temporary fix.

Fiona, on 01 Apr 2008

Joseph,

This is a dilemma. If we raise any money for the Mara, I’m thinking it has to go to the rangers and the running of day to day activities. But my concern is - how much damage could angry Maasai warriors do to the lions/leopards? Obviously poaching is bad, but seeing dead lions because we couldn’t pay for the cattle makes me incredibly sad.

How much money total is owed for lost livestock. It’s possible that everyone who contributes to the blog could donate $10 US - it’s not such a large amount of money. Maybe that one time donation could be used to pay for the cattle?

Dipesh Pabari, on 01 Apr 2008

Perhaps you should consider approaching one of the livestock based NGOs like Farm Africa, Heifer International, International Livestock Research Institute. They might have ways to help fund this.

Lisa, Seattle, on 01 Apr 2008

I just made a small donation and would like it earmarked for compensation for the villagers if possible?

Sarah Skinner, on 01 Apr 2008

Myself and my husband are photographers and frequent visitors to the Mara and were actually out in Kenya during the recent troubles. Although we are starting to see good progress for the future of Kenya it saddens us very deeply to see that both the wildlife and people are suffering so much. We have donated a sum of $200 in the hope that this will be a contribution to providing compensation to the local communities recently affected by the lion attacks on the cattle. We have also placed a link on our website (not quite finished!) in the hope that it will direct some funds to your cause. We are back in the Mara for 12 days in Sept 2008 - we know that the Mara needs us back! Good Luck…and look forward to the updates…

Will, on 01 Apr 2008

Hello everyone.

All donations earmarked for the cattle compensation scheme will be used as such.

As you all realise we are in a huge dilemma right now. We do not have nearly enough money to even pay rangers salaries this month, and if we use what money we do have to instead pay for cattle killed then we are unable to keep all our rangers employed.

The Maasai up on the escarpment aren’t going hungry, but they are seeing an unaffordable loss in cattle. At this time of year we need about $5,000 a month to pay for cattle killed. Which for us now is a lot of money.

With regards to what is more important, anti-poaching patrols or cattle compensation… if the rangers stop patrolling then they stop removing snares, which do not just kill herbivores but catch, harm, and potentially kill any animal.

Joy, on 02 Apr 2008

Will, judging from the look on your face in one pic… I’m sure the meetings werent in English! HA! Anyway, I, despite being a Kenyan have never understood the attachment the Masai have for their cattle (i guess they wonder why the rest of us are so bothered by WILD animals) which is why they are getting impatient..and why no one else can understand. Your in a tough position and I pray things return to normal soooooon!!! All the best!

sarah skinner, on 02 Apr 2008

Hi Will

Yes agree you have a double issue right now. Please direct our donation where you feel most appropriate.

sheryl, washington dc, on 02 Apr 2008

Why does no one wear sunglasses? I’d be blind by now without them.

Paula explained the whole thing about the Maasai and their livestock to Christine C. and I during her visit to the District. What I didn’t learn from her because I forgot to ask is, “how long has this been their tradition?” I mean, cattle and goats and sheep aren’t native to that area, I’d imagine, so what’s the history? Do you know?

s.

Will, on 02 Apr 2008

Lol Joy, how did you guess!?

There were a couple of moments when the meeting got quite heated and it was at these times Kimojino would then ask permission to translate into English for me. He would translate for maybe five or ten minutes, which gave enough time for everyone to cool down. He was quite brilliant at controlling the situation, as was Warden Naiguran, who had everyone falling about laughing towards the end of the meeting.

The Maasai actually care deeply about the wildlife, and it is one of the few areas in Kenya where you’ll see both the community and the animals living side by side. Traditionally they have never hunted wild animals for meat, so we should be thankful for their strong attachment to cattle. Their frustration is economic, they are literally losing big sums of money with each attack, and yet it is thanks to them that these animals still exist in this area.

Sheryl, you are so right. I lost my sunglasses in Bukima, DRC, and have been without them ever since. Which is probably a bad move as this equatorial sun is going to give me the wrinkles of an old man.

As he’s a Maasai, I’ll let Kimojino answer your other question. He’s out with some vets at the moment who are treating a sick elephant.

Also, so you all know, Reuters have arrived, and so we may have few opportunities between now and Friday to be online and answer comments.

Lisa, Seattle, on 02 Apr 2008

You can use my donation for whatever you feel is most crucial as well.

sauwah, on 02 Apr 2008

sheryl, you are right. cattle are not native to Africa. therefore, they are in reality an invasive speices that should been taken off or out like other invasive species. and i also heard that there are more cattle on earth than human beings! they contribute the most air polluted air . in addition, cattle demand the most water among all domestic livestock. all big predators are now under endangered list because of cattle like the jaquars, grizzle bears, wolves, tigers and lions in Africa.

Mara needs help; but the media has yet to let the world know. Mara triangle and its rangers need publicity.

Simon, on 03 Apr 2008

I don’t understand where this debate about cattle is heading. Why should we in Africa have to rid ourselves of ‘invasive species’ like cattle? Do you want us to be naked again and hunting with spears? No, because you want us to conserve the wild animals, and so maybe you want us to be hungry?

Here we have one of the very few places in the world where community, cattle and wildlife live together, and have allowed each other to co-exist - even up to now, for remember, they have not yet killed a lion or a leopard - and yet insinuations are made that they should not even have the cattle there in the first place.

And how long do we have to do something for it to be tradition? If we tell you five hundred years, does that make the practice okay? Of course not, we should judge a practice by it’s positive and negative impacts.

Dipesh Pabari, on 03 Apr 2008

I could not agree with Simon more. A debate like removing cattle is not realistic to say the least. If you apply the same argument to the the US for example, it would be just as easy to say lets remove all the “non-native” people from there.
Maasai and cows are as synonymous as computers and people like us. It is impossible for me to think of a life without my computer. But I also know that my dependancy on my computer is leading to over exploitation of cobaltin in DR Congo which is destroying the habitat, responsible for child labour and threatening wildlife. So what should I do? Give up my laptop, mobile phone, ipod?
No one is asking us to give up what we depend upon so what right do we have to even suggest that to the Maasai.

Lisa, California, on 03 Apr 2008

Dipesh and Simon, wow wonderful conversation. This is what we need “dialogue”. Dipesh, isn’t it so true what you say about our computers and cell phones contributing to the loss of habitat and wildlife and the oh so nasty child labour issue. What are we to do? Dialogue, open minds, open hearts, by which we come up with solutions to the distructive habits and necessities of life for everyone on our planet. There are so many creative and inovative minds out there. Wildlife Direct is a wonderful example of that. The process is slow, but it is happening we can find solutions. Open minds, open hearts. Lisa

Dipesh Pabari, on 04 Apr 2008

Lisa, I have been thinking about this a lot as I learn more and more about Congo and IT. This analogy came up here because its at the top of my mind right now. I have been in discussion with Balemba from the Virunga Youth Alliance. I asked him about it and he put a post up straight away. For anyone that is interested in this subject and wants to perhaps throw some ideas back and forth about what we can do, let’s move it to the Virunga Youth Alliance Blog. For your information, I have also joined a small group called Why Should WE Care (http://whyshouldwecare.ning.com/) started by Tal who wants to make people in the west, particularly North Americans more aware of issues related to education in Africa. Balemba and I have been quite active in putting together info on Congo more on the humanitarian side (although I personally don’t feel that we should seperate humanitarian from environment, or conservation, etc). Whilst, I don’t want to draw attention away from WildlifeDirect, the other platform might help as a platform for gathering momentum. Do have a look and perhaps spread the word amongst friends who are more humanitarian focused per se. I have uploaded quite a few links to the whole cobaltin exploitation.

Lisa, California, on 04 Apr 2008

Dipesh, I’ll post my reply at Virunga Youth Alliance. : )

Maasai Elders, Reuters, and no stick waving. | Mara Triangle, on 07 Apr 2008

[…] I don’t speak any Maa, but it seemed to me that this meeting went a lot better than the one on Tuesday.  There have been less cattle killed here than where we were on Tuesday, and also the Reuters crew […]

We cannot lose the Mara. | Mara Triangle, on 17 Apr 2008

[…] the meetings two weeks ago, when we told the local Maasai that the Conservancy is still unable to compensate for cattle killed […]

Richard Robles, on 12 Nov 2008

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