THE NEXT innings in the history of the Marsh Pride witnessed more threads of setbacks yet again. Of its two renderings, the first programme of BBC's The Truth About Lions (2011), namely, "The Social Cats," explicates a sequence of assumptions that were thought to be the probable causes of lions' social behavioural texture, starting from the hypothesis of hunting in group, communal suckling and defence to the resolution of lion prides' priority over their territories. The other programme, "The End of the Road?" features the current conservation status of lions in a worldwide context. To his meeting with Dr Craig Packer in 2010 while presenting for The Truth About Lions, the ace lion expert and the director of Serenegeti Lion Project, Scott explained his preoccupation of watching the Marsh Pride – at least thirty individuals at a time, occasionally having the interactions with the adjacent pride members, while Dr Packer highlighted on the anecdotes and research of their team that incorporated a study of at least thirteen to twenty-eight prides during a certain period of time, designating the importance of the notion of habitat. Interestingly, in order to get acquainted with the habitat and territorial advancement, the researchers or observers need to know lions at their individual level. Over the years, the Marsh Pride has produced some iconic lionesses, including the Three Graces, the progeny of the Golden Four, who were born in 2005, and served as the backbone of the pride for more than a decade. Without them, it is unlikely the pride would have existed to this day as they battled through the tough times to ensure the future of the pride for the next generations.
Joy, the devoted mother.
Photo Credit: Teresa O Dwyer
The Three Graces — Siena (referred to as Beauty by Simon King in Big Cat Live 2008) Charm and Joy and were born into the pride between January and June 2005. They have been sired by the famous pride male Notch and his coalition partner. This meant that the three young lionesses were also siblings and cousins of the five males, known as the Notch Gang, born in the same year — Long, Notch II, Ron, Caesar and Grimace who would go on to become members of the most successful coalition in the history of the Maasai Mara. Whilst it was the destiny of the young males to eventually leave and forge a new dynasty for themselves elsewhere, the females would remain with their mothers and aunts and ensure the long term future of the Marsh Pride. But for most of their life as cubs and sub-adults, the future of the Three Graces was hanging in the balance. In the middle of 2005, as it turned out, Notch's partner was killed by the three strong coalition from Paradise Plain. Notch was left as a lone pride male. It was only a matter of time before the next challenge arrived and in 2007, Notch was ousted from the pride by the three new males from Serena Pride called Clawed, Romeo and Pavarotti, an event which also led to the departure of Notch's five young male heirs, some of them could well be his own sons. At this point Siena, Joy and Charm were the sub-adults of two-year-old, and not ready to breed which posed a serious threat to their safety, forcing them to breakaway from the main pride and to form up a separate satellite group within the territory.
Four of the five male heirs of Notch in Paradise Plain.
Photo Credit: Denis Huot
A new crèch of White Eye and Bibi was formed up, comprising two male cubs and two females. Jicho and Lippy happened to be those two females, who eventually cut off from the pride when they were about a couple of years old and, formed a breakaway group just like the Three Graces had intially done. Initially, Lippy was thought to be a cub of White Eye, but later on, it was proved that she happened to be Bibi's daughter, one of the last legacy bearers of Romeo and Clawed. By 2010, Romeo and Clawed's reign turned out to be quite at stake. While Romeo was still beholding his prime, active enough in siring new generations, Clawed was visibly distressed, and haggard. The nine cubs that were born in the pride in 2008, were nearly two-year-old adolescents, and used to hang out with Lispy. However, to draw the other side of the story, having avoided the males until they reached sexual maturity, by 2009, it was now time for the Three Graces to seek them out in order to reproduce. Siena, who was the born leader of the three, and Joy, mated with the males – Romeo and Clawed, and produced their first litters of cubs later that year. She is often believed to be Red's daughter, because she literally had all the essential primacy that Red used to behold. Siena gave birth to two females, who were known named Mapema (often called Musiara) and Sila, and Joy gave birth to two males known as Hasani and Matajo. Charm, by contrast, happened to be more cautious and reserved – not willing to breed straight away, but as secure environment of a pride was acquired in their stipulated space, and other pride mates having cubs, Charm was now comfortable to start raising offspring of her own and, gave birth to her first litter of three cubs in late 2010 – two males and a female known as Kini. By this point, the two pride males Romeo and Clawed were ageing and there was the sense they would soon be overthrown by a younger coalition. A prelude just happened to be experienced by Lispy and the group of adolescents, as they encountered two fit, strong and ambitious young males that trespassed. Though it was not a determined takeover, the invading males muscled in, and tried to intimidate the adolescent males so that they might have an access to the females. Romeo and Clawed were spending most of their time with the Three Graces and their cubs, cut off from the rest of the pride at the moment, causing the vulnerability and lack of much-needed protection for White Eye and Bibi's small cubs. Meanwhile, the core Marsh Pride had already suffered a major blow when their matriarch Red, along with her three cubs, was poisoned by Maasai herdsmen in the late 2009. In late 2010, after the loss of Red, the Three Graces with their cubs were reintegrated with the pride. For the rest of the year, the growing pride enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity; and everything was going well for them. The Truth About Lions ended up predicting Clawed's inevitable fall and Romeo's vulnerability, and the probability of further invasion.
Clawed, at the verge of his age and strength.
Photo Credit: Jackson Ole Looseyia
Romeo, asserting his presence by saint marking.
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott
Jonathan Scott here explains a typical "celebrity-factor" of these magnanimous felines, but are not we getting something really overlooked by this entire myth-making of bravado? "The visitors haven't a clue what it really means to be living next to wildlife. For them it's a short little period whereby they might have that sense of fear, which is also very thrilling, and you get walked to your tent, you know in the evening by an armed Maasai, who's reassuring you that everything's OK because he'll be looking after you at night. We delude them by showing them that everything is great. And behind the scenes of every production, there's always things going on, things you don't want people to see, skeletons in your cupboard," says Simon Thomsett. The typically pristine Garden of Eden may render itself to be an illusion because the activities of tourism primarily centre itself to the orientations of the big cats. Jonathan Scott adds here a relevant question: "Forget lions for a minute. I drive to the Mara, and I would expect to see on my drive in augur buzzards, bateleur eagles wheeling around the sky, tawny eagles, two a penny, and suddenly they were disappearing." Adds Simon Thomsett, "There's no vultures any more. Why isn't anybody doing anything about it? The canary in the mindshaft has died, and meanwhile, the minibuses are driving around, pointing at elephants and lions." Intially it was not transparent enough to deconstructe the reason behind it, but gradually, as the words appeared in press, people could anticipate the cause – "furadon", "carbofuran". Dr Paula Kahumbha upholds the threads of the campaigns that she had been running to make appeal to cease deliberate poisonings of lions and other animals in Kenya, in a response to which the Kenya government remained silent. The archival footages painstakingly showed the corpsed of vultures being killed by the aspirin like pills of the toxic insecticides. When vultures are dying, no issues are being raised. When it comes to the lions, the a kind of capitalistic attetion turns up on the scene. Dr Kahumbha furthers adds the reference to CBS 60 Minutes which turned out to be a significant opportunity to raise voice against the deployment of insecticides.
Simon Thomsett featuring the tragic plumetting in the number of the vultures due to the use of the insecticides.
Photo Credit: BBC
The position of the territory was always precarious due to the practice of the unprecedented cattle grazing which inevitably causes conflict between the lions and the Maasai herdsmen. This serious problem was highlighted once more in 2011 when Lispy was speared. The death of Lispy meant that the original Golden Four were reduced to two surviving members- White Eye and Bibi, who were having their cubs at the moment. However, this was not the only disruptive event the Marsh Pride encountered in 2011. Subsequently, the predicted takeover occurred in 2011 with the arrival of the four ambitious and powerful males, known as the Four Musketeers – Scarface, Morani, Sikio and Hunter. The change of the guard of dominant males was welcomed by most of the lionesses, but not all of them. Joy had new cubs that would have been killed by the males. Therefore, in order to protect her offspring, she left the pride along with her now sub-adult sons Hasani and Matajo, who were not much welcomed by White Eye after the reintegration of the Three Graces. White Eye also had young cubs to protect and followed suit. Siena and Charm along with Bibi stayed with the pride but paid a heavy price as the two sub-adult sons of Charm were killed by the Musketeers, although she managed to protect Kini who survived the takeover. She, along with her slightly older cousins Mapema and Sila, backed up by two more females, Lippy and Jicho, would go on to reach adulthood and form a breakaway pride of their own within the territory.
The start of 2012 marked the beginning of a new era for the pride with the Musketeers as dominant males. With White Eye also gone, speared to death, Bibi became the grand dame, approaching her fourteenth year. Siena adopted the position of leading lioness, with Charm content in a more supportive role. She never intended to be a leader. That year, both lionesses produced new litters of three cubs each, both consisting of one male and two females. Siena gave birth to Red, Yaya and Dada in July 2012, and Charm followed suit a few months later with Tatu, Kito and Rembo (would be referred to as Kali and Cloudy Eye, respectively in Big Cat Tales in the years to come). Later on that year, Bibi also produced what turned out to be her final surviving offspring, the female known as Kabibi, and Mapema also gave birth to a daughter known as Chemi. Mapema remarkably happened to start breeding when she was under three-year-old. The breeding success of that year combined with the strong coalition of the Musketeers protecting the pride meant that the good times had returned. However, the lionesses who had split off were not so lucky. White Eye had vanished soon after, with some sources suggesting she could have been added to the list of casualties from spearing. Joy had moved to the Talek area of the Mara with her offspring but later, disappeared without a trace. The loss of Joy meant the Three Graces were now down to two but the sacrifice she made was not in vain, as Matajo would eventually become the dominant male of the Purungat Pride (and is most likely the father of Half-Tail, who is now preoccupying with the position of pride male in the Marsh Pride on his own along with his coalition partner Logol).
Bibi adhering her role as a pioneer of the pride.
Photo Credit: Rich Smith
Mob of tourists, gathered around the lions. For countries like Kenya, revenue generated by tourism is absolutely vital for the much necessary economic growth.
Photo Credit: BBC
In 2014, after a couple of years of relative peace and prosperity, the Musketeers abandoned the Marsh Pride in order to explore new territories elsewhere, and eventually took over Paradise Pride, the Marsh lion's southern neighbours. BBC's trendsetting feature on the Marsh Pride in Dynasties significantly captures this harsh moments of their lives as it began its filming journey in June 2015. The departure of the Four Musketeers meant the pride was left without any dominant male. Therefore, the increased pressure and responsibility was on the shoulders of Siena and Charm particularly with the task of being mothers, providers and protectors. This was only made more difficult with new litters of cubs being born that year. Once again, Siena gave birth to one male and two females known as Topknot, Little Red and Spot. Meanwhile, Charm gave birth to a male known as Alan and a female known as Alanis. In mid of 2014, problems for the pride intensified when Siena was mortally gored by a buffalo during a hunt which left her with serious open wounds on her hindquarters. Vets responded quickly and treated Siena, who was then able to recover and rejoin the pride. Due to the severity of the injury, without this intervention it was unlikely that Siena would have survived. Late 2014 also saw Mapema, Sila, Kini, Lippy and Jicho break off from the pride along with the sub-adult daughter of Lippy known as Akili. They were now living much like splinter group, highlighting the issue of the optimum numbers of lionesses that a pride can behold.
Charm's son, Alan, before receiving treatment from the vets.
Photo Credit: BBC
2015 turned out to be another turbulent year for the Marsh Pride, in which drastically changed the overall dynamics. The core pride was now made up of Siena and Charm, young adult males Red and Tatu and the five cubs — Little Red, Spot, Topknot, Alan and Alanis. Kito also remained and provided some much-needed help in terms of hunting and babysitting. Meanwhile, Bibi had formed a separate splinter group along with Yaya, Dada, Rembo, Kabibi and Chemi, the daughter of Mapema. Siena and Charm were both performing admirably to keep the pride functioning until Siena was injured again, this time as a result of a fight with rival lions. Her old wound reopened and she was forced to spend time on the sidelines whilst she recovered, with Charm stepping up and leading from the front in her absence, which she never intended. Reserved and calm, Charm was always content with her supportive role.
In December 2015, the Marsh Pride happened to take down livestock yet again, taking the opportunities of the night time grazing as it was granted by the government that year due to the increased lease of dry season The inevitable consequece was grimmer. The herdsmen retaliated by poisoning the carcass, and when the lions returned, eight of them were severely inflicted, something that we were having as a shabby flashback at the beginning of this explication. However, it happened to be a well intended poisoning incident at the end of the year which really amplified the struggles of the Marsh Pride. Bibi, Alan and Siena were victims of the horrific event which left the pride on the brink of collapse. The last trace of the Golden Four was now disappeared with the demise of Bibi, who was seventeen at that point, a senior by lion standard. With Siena now gone, the very survival of the pride depended on Charm.
Adieu, Alan!
Photo Credit: BBC
Noticeably, just a few months after the killing of the famous Cecil the lion, the poisoning and death of three lions of the Marsh Pride had literally left wildlife lovers in shock - but conservationists say the tragedy was long in the making. Three lions, including Bibi, the matriarch of the pride featured in the long-running series, were poisoned earlier this month - allegedly by Maasai herdsmen in the reserve after the lions killed two of their cows. "Shocked - no, sad - hugely, this has been disaster waiting to happen for a very, very long time," said Jonathan Scott. He further added, "Anybody who knows Kenya and the Mara knows that we are facing serious issues about how to get the right balance between sustainable tourism, which does not impact overly on the environment, and acknowledging that tourism pays the bill for the wildlife."
Sammy Munene, the wildlife filmmaking guide and Moses Manduku, senior wildlife guide – the ethnic voices on the trail of recollecting the memories with Marsh lions, also asserting their universal relevance.
Photo Credit: BBC
Connecting the bigger scenario, reports have been published that African lions are facing extinction, with their population more than halving since 1980. A recent study by an international team of researchers found that lion populations in West, East and Central Africa were declining and were likely to halve again in the next twenty years. Currently, there are a little over 20,000 lions left in Africa. A major reason for this rapid decline is that lions are increasingly coming into conflict with humans. Maasai herdsmen would be sparing no lion that tried and eventually killed his livestock. Spearing, however, as the major connotation suggests, would destroy only one lion. In other words, it has to be treated as an one-to-one retaliation. The situations like the mass poisoning is but a haulocast. It is no different in the Maasai Mara reserve, renowned for its wildlife safaris, where lions have been driven out of their core territories by a surge in illegal livestock grazing by Masai herdsmen. Several lions in Maasai Mara have been driven out of their core territories by a surge in illegal grazing by Masai herdsmen. "There are these illegal invasions of cattle at nights into the reserve, which is a stronghold of the big cats," says Brian Jackman, who co-authored a book on the Marsh Pride, The Marsh Lions: Story of an African Pride with Scott. In Jackman's words, explicated to dw.com, "The herdsmen knowingly drive their animals in harm's way straight through the territories of lions and other predators. There are bound to be casualties."
Maasai herdsmen are witnessing an increasing fragmentation of the rangelands they can graze their cattle on, due to the privatization of land and the creation of wildlife conservancies. Maasai landowners trade parts of their grazing grounds for conservation purposes in return for money. Anne Kent Taylor, a conservationist at the Maasai Mara, explicates that they often use this money to buy more cattle, instead of investing in banks and often end up with more cattle than their small plots can support. The herdsmen then illegally turn to the grazing grounds in the protected areas at night, when most predators are on the prowl: "The Maasai have been here for 300 years and before that other pastoralists roamed these areas for thousands of years," said Scott. "So pastoralism and wildlife can be relatively good bedfellows - but not at night, not if they come inside the reserve."
The decisive phase of community agreement in terms of preventing the tragic outcomes of killing the lions by means of retaliations.
Photo Credit: BBC
Wildlife conservationists say that authorities should take immediate remedial measures to minimize animal casualties in the Maasai Mara reserve, which has long been a victim of local authorities' mismanagement and corruption. Jackman suggested that dedicated grazing lands should be carved out for the Maasai cattle - along the lines of conservancies - or that Maasai herdsmen should be persuaded to opt for smaller herds of much higher quality and encouraged to use feedlots and hay as alternatives to nomadic grazing. There is also a need to ban both the development of any more lodges and camps within the reserve and the expansion of existing ones. Conservationists say authorities must work harder to implement the ban on pesticides like carbofuran, which are used to kill a lot of lions and are readily available in neighboring countries: "There is a need for stricter enforcement of laws so that nobody feels they have to take their cattle into the reserve and then poison the lions," Philip Muruthi, the head of species protection at the African Wildlife Foundation asserts, adding, "The same people with aspirations to have more tourism are being selfish when they poison the lions, which are the main draw for tourists to the Masai Mara." Taylor, whose organization works with the Masai to fortify their livestock enclosures (or bomas) against predation, said the fortification has "really helped to keep both the livestock and the lions safer ... and the demand for us to protect bomas is endless.
The beholders of future like the students from Olare Orok School, and the son of David Naurori are now being entrusted with the responsibility of measuring and preserving the mutual and transactional relationship between humans and lions.
Photo Credit: BBC
Jonathan Scott, who felt the death of the lions as a personal loss, hopes that the deaths will motivate all the stakeholders to act as soon as possible. "If these lions died and something good comes out of it then that would be enough … I am glad the issue has come to the fore because lions can speak louder on this issue than we individuals can," he said in one of the interviews. The community education and the endeavour of lion ambassadors seem to gain a better prospect in ceasing the conflict between the big predators and the Maasai community. The community agreement too seemed to pay off. Weakened and devastated, Alan, Charm's only son was mauled by buffaloes in the very night when he was receiving treatments from the vets. Perceiving the testimonials, the vets, led by Dr Campaign Limo from Kenya Wildlife Service and Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Felix Micheni, were with no option but to put Alan to rest by euthanasing. In these days, the Marsh Pride is living scatteredly, having missed the nuclear formation of the sisterhood. Wildlife filmmaking specialist guide Sammy Munene recapitulates the essence of Siena by experiencing the progeny of her like Yaya and Nusu Makia. Moses Manduku, the senior wildlife guide and others, concerned with the prospect of the Marsh Pride in the Mara, and the lions in the Africa, beautifully summarise the situation with the deeper conservation message of preserving some of the last threads of lion progeny. Still, we have time and scope. Given the abundance to live and thrive, backed up with the voice of sincere protest against any make-believe orientation of bravery and eye-washing statements, the lions' tale may bounce back to its solidified existence.
Siena's progeny, lionesses like Yaya and Nusu Makia are now being rendered as the future pathmakers of the everlasting story of the Marsh Pride.
Photo Credit: BBC
Credits
Sound Recordist: Tom Jessup
Dubbing Mixer: Joe Siddons
Dubbing Editor: James Spooner
Colourist: Daniel Gill
Online Editor: Edward Gibbs
BBC wishes to thank:
Governors' Camp, Porini Lion Camp, Tangulia Camp, Angela Scott, Marguerite Garrick, Stephanie Arne, Charlie Hamiton James, Jake Grieves Cook and Mohanjeet Bhar, Jayne Savage, Masai Cultural Arts, London, Mara Predator Conservation Programme, Kenya Birds of Prey Trust, Kenya Wildlife Trust, Dr Irene Amoke, Dr Nic Elliott, Kenya Wildlife Service, Olare Orok Community
Director of Photography: Brendan Easton
Composer: Samuel Sim
Editors: Ian Garvin, David G Hill
Producers: Ceri Hubbard, Jonathan Skuse
Archive Producer: Tracey Li, Amirah Daley
Archive: Mutual of Omaha, 6 Medias, CGTN Africa, AP Archive/ CCTV+, ITV Archive, Fremantle, KTN News, 60 Minutes/ Veritone
Head of Production: John Bryans
Production Executive: Dulcie Arnold
Production Managers: Arpana Paterson, Catherine Stringer
Production Coordinator: Laura Bunce
Edit Assistants: Greg Slater, Adam Bell
Commissing Editor: Sreya Biswas
Director: Pamela Gordon
A BBC STUDIOS NATURAL HISTORY PRODUCTION
