Situated just South of Magadi town in South-Western Kenya, lies the beautiful, yet forgotten Shompole Game Ranch. The local community recently set aside this unspoiled 35,000 acre game ranch as they saw the potential of having wildlife around.
However due to its remoteness, is rarely visited by tourists, though it is a haven for all African Wildlife, which not long ago included all the Big 5 and many others.
The local community is made up of Maasai, who have been renowned for being able to co-exist with wildlife.
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The lion is the largest African carnivore. It is a sandy to tawny colored cat with white under parts on which females often retain rosettes and spots characteristic of younger animals. Of all the cats, sexual dimorphism is most striking in the lion.
Adult males are not only larger than females, they have a mane of long hair on the side of the face and top of the head, extending onto the shoulders. The mane is usually tawny, but in some individuals it may be almost black, or more rarely reddish or creamy.
Males usually weigh 175–190 kg and females about 120 kg. The lion has a wide habitat tolerance and is absent only from extensive desert regions and tropical rain forest.
Open woodlands and thick scrub provide the best habitat.
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Volunteer also get an opportunity to learn about the local Maasai Culture on grassroots level while actively participating with the ongoing problematic areas at the Shompole Conservancy.
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Volunteers needed: 10
Dates: Throughout the year
Application process: Email for Application forms
Accommodation: Tents
Food: Local produce
Airport pick up: Catered
Fees: Email for fees.
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During their four-week or longer stay in Shompole, volunteers will learn how to identify specific lions and their spoor, track lions, do accurate game counts and monitor and observe lion behavior for scientific analysis.
As well as spending many hours tracking and watching the lions of Shompole, quite a bit of the volunteer's time will be spent interacting with the local communities of Shompole, talking to them about the importance of conservation and figuring out different ways that villagers can coexist with the wildlife more easily
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During their time in Shompole, the volunteers will stay in comfortable tented accommodation right in the heart of the African bush surrounded by wildlife and have all their meals catered for.*
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The three main goals of the project are:
-to devise lion conservation strategies
-to protect livestock from predators
-to ensure that local people gain significant economic value from lions and other wildlife, to offset the cost of living with them.
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