Marsh Pride Updates

Thanks Doogs. Saw that on FB and thought isn't life in a pride confusing?

Love the photo of the cubs.

Lai

Seems to be getting all mixed up. The way its going we wont know who's who, or who belongs to who
Thanks for the update Doogs
WS

Bibi's cub being adopted out to a 2nd Gen female may have something to do with her age? Just an idea I don't know.

That sounds serious for Seinna, and Charm, and also Summer from the Breakaways. I hope they are going to be OK, and the vets can get to treat them. Does'nt sound good them still be so close to each other fingers X it does'nt kick off again. I wonder if it was just the females involved there's no mention of any Males.
WS

I saw that somewhere on FB. Some sad photos of some badly injured members of the Marsh Pride.

Let's hope the vet can help.

Lai

DEVASTATING NEWS FOR THE MARSH PRIDE

Kenya's famous Marsh Pride lions poisoned
©The Daily Telegraph | 09 December, 2015 00:44

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/12/09/Kenyas-famous-Marsh-Pride-lions-poisoned

As one wildlife expert said this not just about Lion loss, its more like a family bereavement

WS

Very sad and tragic news WS, it is not only the lions that have been affected but also vultures and hyenas. I have been following the story on Facebook since it broke at the weekend.
It is part of the ongoing and seemingly insoluble conflict of humans and wildlife trying to coexist together. This event has probably been highlighted and to a certain extent been blown out of proportion by social media because the animals concerned were well known and had been given names. One of the problems of television series about wildlife is in creating stars of what are WILD animals and giving them names and personalities that people think they can relate to.It probably makes for good television but does not do the animals any good as they then take precedence over the rest of the wildlife. I have seen comments on Facebook by people saying "they have killed my lions". The lions do not belong to anybody, they are free and wild and should be looked at as such.
The Masai have always had to herd their cattle alongside the wildlife and there has always been conflict which from time to time gets out of control but generally the two mange to live side by side in reasonable harmony.
The mis and uninformed reporting of what happened also leads to a lot of outrageous and disturbing reaction. From what I can gather the lions initially took the cattle from the Mara North Conservancy area and not the Masai Mara National Reserve. It was only after the cattle had been killed that the herders then laced the carcasses with poison. Unfortunately because of the present large size of the Marsh Pride due to the tireless efforts of the 4 Musketeers, the pride has split up and some have moved out of their traditional Marsh area and into the Mara North Conservancy. When I was there in June, quite a number of the Marsh Pride were in the conservancy as that was the only dry area as the Marsh was totally flooded. It is also the area which borders onto both the Reserve and the Conservancy and is where the Masai keep a lot of their cattle. This allows them to sneak their cattle into the reserve at night for additional grazing. Sadly the Narok County Council who administer the Reserve (not KWS) turn a blind eye to this and are also very bad at providing the compensation due to the herders if cattle are killed by lions. This leads to the herders taking matters into their own hands with disastrous consequences for the lions.
There are no easy answers to the problem, the conservancies that surround the Reserve are owned by the Masai and only exist as long as the wildlife and cattle live together. If you get rid of the cattle the conservancies would disappear and would probably be developed to the detriment of the Reserve and the wildlife.There are probably too many cattle now on the conservancies hence the herders take them into the Reserve when grazing is scarce so additional land needs to be found free from wildlife to act as additional grazing ares but there is none available.
I don't know what the answer is but I wish people and the media would take the time to actually look at the underlying problem at not immediately make outrageous and ill-informed statements and rants.
Sorry if I have gone on a bit but I feel it is a problem that needs proper discussion.

SM

SM I share your concern about the other animals that are affected by this like Vultures Hyenas Jackals and other species. However I don't agree about all the media speculation, and the naming of Lions and Leopards. Yes they are just lions and Leopards but people relate to them, whereas they don't to the other species. Because of that the public outcry is very high, without that where is the pressure on Governments, and the people running the conservancies going to come from, not the few people who rightly care about all the other species there aren't enough numbers to apply pressure to try to find a solution as difficult as it is. In a way it is a form of bio diversity By trying to prevent things through public pressure happening from the large numbers of people who identify with these animals who have become aware and interested in the wildlife of Africa through programmes like BCD, and David Attenborough then the other species benefit as well. We know that the species like Vultures, and Hyenas, numbers would plummet at the same time the Lions and Leopards would not survive because of disease if the other species weren't there to clear up. So I say more power to the people who are outraged, and the media for highlighting this, though at the end of the day it does need it all to calm down and sensible talks to take place to try to find some solutions to this problem

WS

Jonathan & Angela Scotts Blog

The Paradise Pride who share the same pride males – the 4 Musketeers – with the Marsh Pride.
The poisoning of members of the Marsh Pride will make a sorry end note to our Autobiography (Published by Bradt in August 2016). To be honest there is no longer a Marsh Pride – the Musiara Marsh area that gave the pride its name has become a ‘no go area’ for a proper pride with nowhere safe for them to breed now that Bila Shaka and the Marsh are cattle country. Remnants of the Marsh Pride are eking out an existence wherever they can – along Rhino Ridge and over on Paradise or keeping to the fringes of the riverine forest. But that means trying to avoid hostility from neighboring prides. Prime lion territory is fiercely contested – nobody is willing to cut any slack to their neighbors.

We do retain hope that all the furore over this incident may force some changes. The problem is ‘Where do all those cattle go?’ Sub-Division of Masailand has changed the landscape around the Reserve – it is no longer suitable in the main for large scale pastoralism. One suggestion is to set aside some of the Greater Mara as pasture for cattle that could be used on a rotational basis. In the Wildlife Conservancies surrounding the Reserve, use of the land for wildlife based tourism exists alongside pastoralism by rotational use of the area – tourists and cattle avoid being in the same place at the same time. Ideally of course it should be an absolute given that no cattle be allowed inside the Reserve – day or night. But with night time grazing becoming the accepted norm with the authorities simply pretending it isn’t happening, how do you revert to a NO CATTLE INSIDE THE RESERVE regime? The damage to the ecosystem by unregulated cattle incursions has been documented by the Hyena Research Team at Talek – showing a loss of biodiversity (less pasture for wild herbivores) and a drop in lion numbers, among other findings. There are no easy solutions to please everyone. We must try to think of the Masai Mara as sacred again – a place where wild animals can live in safety from humans. If we cannot set aside an area of just 1500 sq km for that purpose what hope is there?

There is no question that this has been a public relations disaster for the Masai Mara and Kenya. The Marsh Pride, along with the other star big cats such as Kike and Half-Tail, Bella, Honey and Toto, brought a sense of wonder and joy to millions of people around the world. Big Cat Diary changed people’s lives and promoted Kenya Tourism the world over. We can only hope that the fate of the Marsh Pride will prompt the relevant authorities in government to address the issues that have plighted the reputation of the Masai Mara for years. If it does that then something positive will have come of this and a new Marsh Pride will be able to reclaim the land of the lion around Musiara Marsh and Bila Shaka


http://www.jonathanangelascott.com/main/wordpress/2015/12/the-marsh-pride-the-future/

WS

I followed all this whilst away via FB and think that Johnny's blog and subsequent comments sum it all up, as well as Jackson and many others. It is not just the lions people forget the rest of the wildlife and we should remember the loss of life throughout the Mara. I am devastated by the loss of Bibi, Sienna and Alan and many more. A really sad sad day when this happened.

Lai

Hear Hear read all those to, and thet put it much better than could do

WS