San Diego – In their songs, the Masai tribesmen of East Africa have long celebrated the killing of lions as a test of their manhood.
But now the Masai who live in the Mbirikani Group Ranch in southeastern Kenya are trying to change their traditional antipathy toward the majestic-looking beasts.
To spread the message that the lion deserves to be saved, a Masai troupe is spending the summer at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park – dancing, singing and mingling with patrons near the area that is home to seven lions.
The Masai are drawing flocks of tourists to their lectures – two of the dancers speak English – and their performances.
“We have decided as a community to put down our spears and try to save the lion,” said Noah Nchona Ntiata, the troupe’s elder.
Under an agreement with the Maasailand Preservation Trust, the Masai will accept compensation when a lion kills one of their livestock rather than hunting and killing the predator.
“From this day forward, on Mbirikani, the warrior and the lion are brothers,” a Masai leader proclaimed in March.
In the three years of the compensation program, four lions have been killed on the Mbirikani Group Ranch, compared with 22 in the previous 18 months, according to Conservation International, a wildlife protection group based in Virginia.
The Masai hope their conservation program spreads to other parts of Africa.
“The lions have the right to live and roam in their natural habitat,” said Wilson Nitoipo Sayioki, 25, one of men visiting the zoo. “We’ve gone from conservation victims to conservation watchdogs.”
