LION-MINDED
But not now, and not for the past three years.
Ntiati is one of a group of nine Maasai, an indigenous ethnic people living in Kenya and Tanzania, who ventured recently to the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido, Calif., to share their culture and talk about their work to preserve endangered species in Africa.
A century ago, 1 million lions roamed across Africa. By the 1990s, the population had dropped to 120,000 due to over-hunting, habitat loss and other human encroachment, said Michael Ahlering, director of park operations. Fewer than 25,000 lions remain in the wild today, most of them in parks and protected areas.
In 2003, a program known as the Predator Compensation Fund started on the Mbirikani Group Ranch in Kenya, which encompasses about 350,000 acres and is home to roughly 20,000 Maasai, Ntiati said.
Raising livestock, primarily cattle, is still the most vital subsistence activity for the Maasai. Before the compensation fund was established, when predators such as lions, cheetahs and leopards killed livestock, the predators in turn would be killed.
But the fund, which is run by the Maasailand Preservation Trust, encourages the Maasai on the Mbirikani Group Ranch not to kill endangered predators by offering them cash for any livestock they lose. For a cow mauled by a lion: $200. A goat slaughtered: $100. In exchange, the Maasai promise not to exact revenge. Should a member of their tribe kill a lion, none would be reimbursed for their losses.
Since the inception of the fund, only four lions have been killed on the ranch compared with 65 on neighboring ranches. After years of decline, experts say, the lion population at Mbirikani is increasing.
Ntiati and the other Maasai visited the Wild Animal Park both to raise money for the fund and to raise awareness of the danger lions face in the wild.
"We decided to sell this message to the world," Ntiati said. "Any visitor that comes to the park, we talk to them and tell them this story."
It's hoped, he said, that the fund can be expanded to other ranches in Kenya and later to other parts of Africa.
The group of Maasai, seven men and two women, built a traditional hut and performed colorful dances during their stay at the Wild Animal Park.
In addition to giving Wild Animal Park visitors the opportunity to learn about the Maasai, the Maasai got the chance to learn about the United States, Ahlering said. The group lived in tents while on the Wild Animal Park property - having declined hotels - but they did some sightseeing, including a trip to Disneyland.
For more information about the Predator Compensation Program, go to the Conservation International Web site at www.conservation.org.
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