The variety of lions in Kenya has plummeted from about 30,000 within the Seventies to little greater than 2,000 in the present day.
Dozens of Maasai youths in Kenya have taken half within the fifth version of the “Maasai Olympics”, a sporting occasion promoted by conservationists as an alternative choice to lion killing as a ceremony of passage for younger warriors.
The video games, which included spear throwing, athletics and excessive bounce, have been held on Saturday in Kimana Sanctuary on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, close to Kenya’s border with Tanzania.
The competitors drew some 160 morans or warriors, together with 40 ladies, a few of whom have been draped in vibrant sporting beads.
First held in 2012, the video games have been created by Maasai leaders and the Massive Life Basis to interchange the neighborhood’s “Olamayio” ceremony, which required boys to battle and kill a lion to show their bravery and manhood.
The transfer was in response to a speedy decline in Kenya’s lion inhabitants, which has plummeted from an estimated 30,000 within the late Seventies to little greater than 2,000 in the present day. The Kenya Wildlife Service says the most important risk to lions and different carnivores is battle with people.
“We now co-exist completely with the wildlife,” Maasai chief Matasia Nerangas stated.
“We share the identical grazing fields and watering holes with the wild animals, and we stand to profit extra now than earlier than.”
Craig Millar, chief working officer of Massive Life Basis, stated the video games had helped cut back hazard to the lion inhabitants within the space.
“[The] programme has had a huge effect on the lion inhabitants and it is likely one of the few areas in Africa exterior of protected areas the place lion inhabitants is steady or rising,” he stated.
Saturday’s video games included sprints of distances starting from 100 metres to five,000 metres (328-16,404 charge), and throwing occasions through which individuals used the normal picket golf equipment, generally known as “rungus” and used to thrust back hyenas, as an alternative of discuses.
Within the revised excessive bounce occasion, individuals leapt into the air to attempt to contact a rope with the highest of their head, just like the Adumu dance carried out at ceremonies.
The winners of the varied occasions have been rewarded with medals and money prizes.
The video games are a “good strategy to protect our lands,” stated 30-year-old Joseph Lekatoo, who has been competing since 2012.
“Now, I'm looking the medals, I'm not looking lions,” stated Lekatoo, who gained the javelin throw.
Elder Maasai males have additionally praised the video games.
“I killed two lions once I was younger,” 66-year-old herder Lenkai ole Ngola advised the AFP information company.
“However in the present day, it is very important defend them, as a result of their numbers are declining and in addition as a result of they supply jobs for younger individuals,” he stated, referring to tourism.
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