Afrigather In a Kenyan reserve close to Africa’s highest mountain, Maasai youths on Saturday swapped conventional lion hunts for a sequence of sporting occasions to check and show their prowess and energy.
For generations, Maasai warriors needed to kill a lion as a part of the “Olamayio” ceremony to show their expertise, determine their leaders, and entice girlfriends.
However because the numbers of lions in Kenya plummeted from about 30,000 within the Nineteen Seventies to simply over 2,000 right now, neighborhood leaders and conservation group Huge Life Basis created the “Maasai Olympics” a decade in the past to exchange looking with sport.
Draped in vibrant costumes and sporting beads, dozens of athletes took half within the fifth version of the biannual occasion.
The competitors in Kimana reserve, close to Mount Kilimanjaro, drew some 160 contributors, together with 40 girls and is credited with enjoying a stellar position in lion conservation.
“It has dropped lion killing to close zero,” within the area, Tom Hill, co-founder of the Huge Life Basis, advised AFP.
“There are solely 23,000 lions left in Africa and the determine is declining,” he warned.
The sanctuary the place the video games are held is a part of the famed Amboseli–Tsavo ecosystem and close to the Tanzanian border.
The video games are a “good method to protect our lands,” stated 30-year-old Joseph Lekatoo, who has been competing since 2012.
Esther Sereya, 20, agreed, including: “We’re studying lots concerning the animals.”
Lions are generally hunted for attacking livestock, Hill stated, including that the muse has a fund to compensate herders.
The video games noticed contributors dash on a tough grime observe for distances starting from 100 metres (328 toes) to five,000 metres.
Different competitions have been tailored to native customs: wood golf equipment referred to as ‘rungus’ and used to beat back hyenas are used as a substitute of discuses in throwing occasions.
In a revisited excessive leap occasion, the aim is to leap into the air to the touch a rope with the highest of 1’s head, like the standard Adumu dance carried out at ceremonies.
– ‘Now I hunt medals’ –
Since its inception, the occasion has been sponsored by David Rudisha, a two-time Olympic champion and world document holding sprinter who can be Maasai.
“We’re doing this occasion for conservation,” he stated.
Elder Maasai males had been all reward for the video games.
“I killed two lions once I was younger,” 66-year-old herder Lenkai ole Ngola advised AFP.
“However right now, you will need to shield 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.
Lions are threatened by poaching in addition to an unprecedented drought affecting Kenya.
Following a number of failed wet seasons, the land on the Kimana reserve is scorched as a result of worst drought within the space in 40 years.
The winners of the varied occasions don’t obtain medals however are rewarded with cattle, scholarships or cash.
Lekatoo, who received the javelin throw, stated: “Now, I’m looking the medals, I’m not looking lions.”
