We have adopted a Lion!

We finally have adopted a real life Lion family on behalf of Jungle Cats! I present to you all the family of the Lioness named Noldupai!

This is her story:

“She Who Was Born Near a Sisal Plant” — The Lioness Noldupai More than a decade ago, two pioneering lionesses Elikan and Selenkay dispersed out of the protected lands of Amboseli National Park, which is in southern Kenya, on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. They settled into the unprotected community lands to the north, where Maasai pastoralists herd their cattle. The lionesses mated young and became mothers before they were even three years old. The females were good mothers and had many litters back to back over the years. But supporting young, dependent cubs caused the mothers to become troublemakers and they became regular livestock raiders. Elikan and Selenkay were hunted again and again by angry community members, but thanks to good luck — and lots of hard work by dedicated Guardians — these lionesses managed to stay alive. They tested the limits of our conservation tools, and helped us become much better at what we do.

Their families continued to grow and soon they were the largest lion family in the Amboseli ecosystem. But eventually, Selenkay’s own sons from her fifth litter changed the lion family’s trajectory. As five males growing strong, they ousted their own father, and so the lionesses escaped from the relative safety of a conservancy to nearby community lands to avoid the powerful sons. One of the oldest living members of Selenkay and Elikan’s lineage is a lioness named Noldupai — whose name means “she who was born near a sisal plant.”

Noldupai represents a connection to a family who transformed our own conservation efforts by challenging us daily on how to keep them these lions alive. As a community conservation organization, Lion Guardians owes a great deal to this incredible family of lions. Two years ago, Noldupai had a litter of three cubs, but only one — a female named Natasha (which means “twin sister”) — has survived to this day. Natasha is a mama’s girl and will likely remain with her mother Noldupai, especially now that her “twin” sister is dead. The family group also includes Noomotorok (currently four years old), whose name means “she who was born near Imotork” (an area on the group ranch.)

Noomotorok is Noldupai’s grown older daughter and has cubs of her own. There’s also the male of the group, Orng’ejuk (“he who is new,”) who is a large older male (~10 years old) who was a rare immigrant into our area a few years ago. He hung along the borders for the past two years, but recently when all of the reigning Selenkay-lineage males were away, Orng’ejuk sneakily began mating with Noldupai. He has seemingly taken over this prime territory and has been seen with the pride regularly for the past five months — and we suspect that Noldupai is currently pregnant with his cubs.

Thank you Jungle Cats. By owning a Jungle Cat you are now a part of this adopted lion family