The Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project (KLCP) was established in early 2004 to try to use some of the lessons learnt in Laikipia to halt the massacre of lions in an area of Maasailand between the Chyulu Hills, Tsavo and Amboseli National Parks in southern Kenya.

The project operates on Mbirikani and Kuku Group Ranches, a combined area of just over 2,000 km² of semi-arid grassland and bush, communally owned by several thousand Maasai families. Most of the residents of the area are pastoralists who graze their cattle, sheep and goats here.

Until a few years ago lions were relatively common here, but poisoning and spearing have taken their toll on the population.

The region is ecologically important, as it is the wet season habitat for wildlife dispersing from nearby National Parks.

The Maasai have been known as 'natural conservationists', living in harmony with wildlife, including the predators that share their lands. However, a recently developed intolerance to lions has been reported throughout Maasailand, and in this area alone, over 100 lions have been illegally poisoned and speared between 2001 and 2006. The project estimates that there are currently no more than 15 lions on Mbirikani Ranch, an area which could support at least 30, suggesting that the population has been reduced significantly.

The Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project carries out similar studies to the Laikipia Predator Project, monitoring the remainder of the local lion population, and the effects of conservation interventions designed to reduce conflict between people and lions. The killing of lions by people is potentially still a threat to the lion population of the ecosystem and KLCP relies on Leela Hazzah’s research on prevailing attitudes of study area residents for an understanding of this recent intolerance. An ideal resolution to the conflict between lions and people here would be where both lions and people benefit from wildlife conservation.

KLCP works closely with the Maasailand Preservation Trust and their Mbirikani Predator Compensation Fund (MPCF). By analyzing the case histories of livestock depredation and notifying the fund managers of patterns in the data, KLCP supports the continuation of MPCF.

MPCF seeks to alleviate financial losses due to predator damage, thereby reducing the incentive for predator killings. The scheme also works to improve livestock husbandry techniques used by the participating community in order to lessen the amount of livestock taken by predators.

The work of KLCP is an essential parallel to the compensation scheme. By monitoring the lion population the researchers will be able to identify persistent problem animals, as well as develop an understanding of the mechanisms of predator-livestock conflict in this part of Maasailand. Changes in the lion population over the coming years will indicate the effectiveness of the compensation scheme as a conservation tool for the protection of large predators.

How the Mbirikani Predator Compensation Fund works

When livestock (cow, goat, sheep or donkey) is killed by a predator, the owner may qualify for damage compensation equivalent to the average market price for the animal killed. In order to receive the payment, claims must go through a verification procedure, involving visitation by a verification officer, who is able to confirm that a predator was responsible for the kill, and preventative husbandry measures were being used.

If livestock are lost or left out at night, or without a herder, or if they are not protected by a boma that meets project standards, the compensation payment may be reduced. And most importantly, during any given compensation pay period (2 months) no compensation is awarded to claimants from a zone where a predator has been killed. Since the compensation scheme relies on the participating community's agreement not to kill predators, a predator killing is seen as a breach of the project contract.