Hyena negotiations
Category: General | Date: May 23 2008 | By: Seamus
A fair amount of my day-to-day work is actually nothing to do with lions. Today I went with Solonka (the Lion Guardian for this area) and Ernest to a boma nearby. I’ll let Antony explain the finer details of how bomas operate. Briefly, a boma is a cattle enclosure made of tightly packed thorn branches.
The owner is complaining that a hyena has been attacking and killing his small stock regularly, by taking them from his boma. He and a group of elders formed an impromptu lobby group to explain to me all the reasons why I should kill the alleged culprit, or alternatively, why I shouldn’t be surprised when they do. This is a view from inside the boma, looking out. The gap in the middle is covered with the branch in the foreground, and acts as a gate. This is where the hyena is alleged to have gained entry last night. One of the reccommendations of our Laikipia work is that people build gates out of old oil drums, and this boma seemed like a good candidate.
As often happens in these situations, the small crowd that gathered were quite vocal about their feelings regarding wildlife. I generally hear people out. Simply recognising that wildlife is a serious problem often seems to be the first step towards ameliorating conflict here. I think we’ve bought some time for this hyena by going there today, but it seems like a bit of a stalemate at this point. The owners of the boma are not prepared to invest any time or money in improving the boma, are unhappy with the amount of compensation they receive from the compensation scheme, and would like to kill the hyena. Its not really possible to make a judgement call on who is in the right here (conservationists vs livestock owner vs hyena survival), but I’ve briefed some colleagues from the Maasailand Preservation Trust who work in the area to perhaps look more closely at the situation.
Technorati : bomas, hyenas, lion research, maasai, masai
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8 Responses to “Hyena negotiations”
Wim, on 23 May 2008
Now it’s in the habit it seems its days are numbered regardless. Is part of the underlying problem that Hyaena aren’t universally loved anywhere anyway, livestock killings or not?
Dana-Phoenix Arizona, on 23 May 2008
Oh my! It has to be so hard to make different culture’s understand that you are trying to help BOTH sides. Even I can see that the boma is not built properly, but if one does not value wildlife outside the boma, then it sounds like a losing battle. I wish you and others the best of luck in trying to convince the elders to try and help keep their precious cattle, goats, etc. safe and help keep the wildlife outside of boma safe too. But the way I love hyena’s, fasinating animals to watch.
sheryl, washington dc, on 23 May 2008
Just so y’all know, it’s a holiday weekend here in the states so people might be scarce until Tuesday.
s.
Seamus, on 23 May 2008
Wim - prevailing attitudes towards hyaenas are part of the problem. . Think wolves and yellowstone… But I should just make one small correction: this may or may not be one repeat offender hyaena. If it is one individual, and its returning, then thats probably because it can (most large carnivores are opportunistic). Which leads me on to…
Dana - The boma is actually built fairly well. It has a relatively compact wall that limits access and visibility. It just needs minor improvements, possibly some chain link fencing, and a solid structure (recycled, beaten out oil drum) to make up the gate. Its up to the owner to decide whether he wants to invest the money and time in doing this however.
Wim, on 24 May 2008
Well OK call me judgmental but…
The boma is not fit for purpose if it repeatedly fails to defend the lifestock enclosed. Resentment over compensation for lost assets would be academic if it did. Rather like leaving your car unlocked with the keys in the ignition if you’re a taxi driver and blaming the thief.
I don’t think there’s any solution to this but at least you tried.
Dana-Phoenix Arizona, on 25 May 2008
Minor improvements or not, to me it seems the Elders at this boma don’t seem to care for the welfare of their animals if they can’t make those ‘minor’ improvements. Just my opinion.
Lion Guardians » Bomas and lions, on 26 May 2008
[…] Solonka, along with Lion Guardians Mokoi and Lenkina have been out all day helping to reinforce a boma that has been repeatedly attacked by a hyena over the last few days. The livestock owner, whose animals have been attacked was threatening to kill the hyena. I hope […]
Lion Guardians » Building better bomas, on 27 May 2008
[…] to lost livestock, it is still a persistent problem in some areas, like Oldoinyo Wuas where a hyena has killed more than six shoats from inside a boma. The hyena apparently has taken livestock from two different enclosed bomas striking at several […]
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