KopeLion Boma Update

Our Better Bomas Project aims to work with two of our conservation partners the Mara Predator Conservation Programme in Kenya and KopeLion in Tanzania who work at opposite ends of the huge Serengeti-Mara ecosystem.

A Boma is an enclosure where livestock, generally goats and cows, are kept at night and they are traditionally made out of branches from thorny trees to keep them safely away from predators. Despite the deterrent, predators such as lions, hyenas and leopards will raid these bomas if they are struggling to find natural prey species which can cause a massive problem for the local communities. The people that live in these areas are pastoralists and rely on their livestock for income and food, every cow or goat taken represents a loss of income and if it becomes a common occurrence these communities will often retaliate through spearing or even use of poison.

The Better Bomas Project set up between Safina and KopeLion hopes that by supporting efforts directly at homestead level, we can work to try and prevent incidents before they occur, working to try and reduce conflict between the local communities and the wild lion population and to promote coexistence. In November 2023 we sent over a donation of £1800 to cover the cost of 10 bomas which were all completed in 2024. In 2025 bomas were seen as a priority again and £2400 was raised to cover 10 more bomas which we sent in September 2025.

The £240 allocated for each boma covers the cost for stronger materials and the labour costs for the KopeLion team. There is a personal incentive however as the boma owner in order to qualify for this support contributes towards 20% of the overall cost, to promote a sense of ownership and responsibility. KopeLion identified the Kakesio area as their target location as since April 2025 the area has recorded more incidents than any other with substantial livestock losses having occurred. Work commenced in December with 10 bomas initially identified for reinforcement and 8 of these have been completed which can be seen on the map below.

We have now also been sent these wonderful photos taken by Bobby-Jo Vial of these newly strengthened bomas which powerfully illustrate the significance of these bomas to the local people and the materials that have been used.

Among the 8 bomas competed we received a video message from boma owner Godwin Olemoyo from the village of Esere which can be seen below. His boma for his goats was badly damaged from the lions and hyenas that would regularly enter it overnight. With the help of the KopeLion team he has been able to rebuild his boma making a significant difference to his life and livelihood. Photos of his boma before and after can be seen below. The second and third photo show the boma with a taller and thicker fence which should work as a greater deterrent to the local predators. Including labour costs the renovation of Godwin's boma costs only £255 while some of the other bomas did not require quite so much work. This is a reminder that what we would consider a very small amount of money can really achieve something very important for those who have to coexist with lions in the wild and should work to prevent future incidents.

We will continue to provide our supporters with updates and progress on the remaining 2 bomas. Happily as well, the work has come under slightly under budget which should now allow for more bomas to be completed as part of this project.

All of the zoo partners who contributed towards this project have received detailed reports and budgets from the KopeLion team on the progress of this project. If you are from a zoo in the UK or further afield that would like to support a lion conservation initiative that supports and promotes coexistence with local people for a relatively small cost, please do get in touch with us with the email listed on this website. The more support we recieve the more funding we can provide to these important conservation projects.

We would like to take the opportunity once again to thank Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens, Folly Farm Adventure Park & Zoo, Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, Linton Zoo, All Things Wild and Folly Farm Zookeeper Peter Bonser for their help in supporting our Better Bomas Project.

Report Submission From Saadani Lion Project

In October we announced our support to the Saadani Lion Project who were the first beneficiary of a Research Grant. This new grant process was to enable us to support small and start up research projects in a way that we had not done before. Trustees and members of our external conservation and research advisory committee were very impressed by the application but forward by the projects lead Monty Kalyahe who himself had many years of carnivore research under his belt.

In September our research grant of £1000 was sent to cover the cost of camera traps and in-the-field related expenses and materials for monitoring the lion population during his lion population survey taking place in September - December 2025. During this time Monty would also assess the viability of long term prey populations as well as engaging with local communities on surveys of how they live alongside the lions of this region. We are delighted to share that we have now received a report submission from Monty which covers his work within this survey time. Due to some difficulties the field survey time was extended until March and his report shows his findings within this time.

Sadly none of the ten camera traps picked up any lions within the region but they did pick up a variety of different prey species and other carnivore species indicating a healthy presence of prey. The location of the camera traps can be seen in the picture above and were placed in the southern area of the Saadani National Park and within neighbouring community land.

" Between September and March, we carried out an extensive field survey for the Saadani Lion Project, focusing on lion research through a combination of household interviews, transect counts for prey species, and targeted camera trapping. This integrated approach provided valuable insights into prey availability, lion presence, and community perspectives on wildlife and conservation. Field activities were briefly paused in October during the presidential election period, after which the survey resumed and continued successfully. The findings from this work will contribute directly to ongoing lion research and support improved conservation and management strategies in the area."

— Monty Kalyahe, Founder and Principle Investigator, Saadani Lion Project

Monty's report continues to give us some interesting figures from his extended field survey. During the survey period, the team recorded 16 lion group sightings, resulting in 92 detection events. From these sightings, 43 photographs were of sufficient quality for individual identification looking at the whisker spot patterns. Using this approach the team has currently confirmed 12 individually identifiable lions that were detected repeatedly by the field team during the survey period. Some of the lions can be seen in the photos below.

From further observational data, spoor records and pride sightings, the estimated lion population in Saadani National Park is approximately 38 individuals, distributed among 4 prides. This estimate however should be considered preliminary, as further monitoring and identification through more photographic sightings are required to confirm additional individuals and to gain a better understanding of pride structure and territory sizes.

The relatively small population size highlights the importance of long-term monitoring and targeted conservation actions to ensure the viability of the Saadani lion population.

During the lion monitoring surveys, the team also recorded sightings of six key herbivore species that are known to be a very large part of the natural diet of lions in the wild. These included African buffalo, giraffe, plains zebra, wildebeest, reedbuck with elephant also present. Preliminary analysis also suggests that the prey distribution may be uneven within the region which could affect lion hunting and territory use. Another observation has suggested that the lions within Saadani prey more frequently on larger prey species such as giraffe than the smaller prey items. Further investigation will be required to determine whether this pattern represents a true ecological adaptation or simply reflects opportunistic feeding behaviour within the local ecosystem.

A household survey was conducted in 16 villages surrounding Saadani National Park, with a total of 360 households interviewed. The Maasai pastoralist communities living around Saadani National Park play a key role in livestock grazing systems and human–wildlife interactions. Interviews with Maasai respondents indicated that conflict with lions is relatively limited, largely due to strong collaboration between local communities and park authorities. Community members reported that when lions are seen near villages or grazing areas, they immediately notify park rangers. Rangers then respond by visiting the area and driving lions away from livestock areas back toward the park.

Future project activities for the Saadani Lion Project will include: Expansion of camera trap monitoring, Training workshops with park rangers and researchers, Radio collaring to monitor lion movements and

snare removal operations to reduce threats to lions.

To read the submission report fully please click on the link here at the bottom of this page to get all the information kindly provided by Monty.

If you would like to assist us in providing more funding to the Saadani Lion Project please get in touch and email us. All of the trustees at the Safina Lion Conservation Fund and very pleased to have been able to support Monty in his work to try and gain a better understanding of the Saadani National Park and we hope to see his project progress more in the future.

Saadani Simba Project Report_Safina Lion Conservation - Monty.pdf

Download PDF • 3.92MB

Working With Linton Zoo For Lion Guardians

On the 30th November 2025 we were delighted to announce that Linton Zoo have officially agreed to collaborate with us to support our conservation partner Lion Guardians. Their pledge to support our work strengthens our commitment to conservation and will allow us to grow our support towards important lion conservation efforts in the years to come. Thanks to the help of Linton Zoo, Knowsley Safari and our other zoo supporters a donation of $3600 (Approx. £2800) was sent in November 2025 to sponsor the salaries of two Lion Guardians.

We have a very long association with the team and the lions at Linton. Our charity is named after Safina, a Linton bred lioness who was born in 2005 and who lived at the zoo for 18 years. Their family of lions have been a huge part of our identity and the inspiration for our charity, her youngest offspring Kali and Nabulaa still reside at the zoo. We decided to announce on that particularly day so we could use the opportunity to commemorate Safina once more as it celebrated 20 years since the day that she was born. Pictures below show Safi and her companion Zuri at the zoo.

It is with the help of Linton Zoo that we have now started the sponsorship of a second Lion Guardian, named Kisimir Maasama!

Kisimir joined Lion Guardians in 2010 having grown up in the Mbirikani Group Ranch next to the Amboseli National Park. Linton Zoo had previously sponsored Kisimir for several years prior to the pandemic and we are very grateful that they have to decided to renew their sponsorship of him by supporting our charity. There is another link here too as Kisimir was one of the Lion Guardian's that our founder James fundraised for when he worked at Linton Zoo (2013-2015). It was this act of fundraising alongside lions Zuri and Safina at the zoo which inspired the very idea for our charity. We are therefore very proud to be officially linked to the zoo and its commitment to conservation in the wild, thanks again to Kim Simmons, Zoo Director and her team at the zoo for collaborating with us.

Kisimir, pictured above, joined as a Guardian in 2010 and maintained a consistent presence for many years. As time went on, he rose to Senior Guardian and more recently to Field Practitioner. Each step forward reflected his talent for finding lions, his ability to defuse tense community situations, and his capacity to stay focused under pressure. His eagerness to learn new skills, along with his deep commitment to peaceful coexistence, continues to define his work today.

"We are delighted to build on our relationship with Linton Zoo to create a lasting conservation legacy for Safina and her family, who I know means so much to us and the team at Linton." 

— James Welch, Chairman, Safina Lion Conservation Fund

We have however, continued our sponsorship of Olubi Ole Lairumbe "Mitiaki" for one more year. We have also received an update on Olubi with the pictures below. He was among one of Lion Guardians first recruits and they say that "Over the past two decades, he has become a symbol of courage, transformation, and dedication to conservation in Amboseli."

Guardians like "Mitiaki" work incredibly hard to mitigate any conflict and issues between lions and communities while promoting coexistence between the two. The map attached here shows his patrols over a 90 day period. When you realise that the Amboseli National Park is 151 sq. miles you truly get an idea of the extent of his work!

2026 was also a very important year for Lion Guardians as they celebrated their 20th anniversary. We are delighted to be able to support such a brilliant and pioneering organisation that has really set the groundwork for many conservation organisations when it comes to combining community support with lion conservation. For more information on Lion Guardians please follow this link here.

We are very proud to now be officially linked to Linton Zoo and its support for in-situ conservation. We look forward to continuing our work with the team at Linton and seeing what the future holds.