In northern Kenya, people and lions are increasingly coming into conflict. Especially at night, livestock – and with it the livelihoods of pastoralist communities – is at risk of lion attacks. This can lead farmers to kill lions, in an effort to protect their livestock.
With support from the M.T. Philanthropy Fund and in collaboration with Francis Lesilau and The Northern Landscape, the Leo Foundation has therefore focused on a simple, non-lethal solution: Lion Lights. These solar-powered flashing lights are placed around livestock enclosures (bomas) to deter predators.
The project grew far beyond its original scope and has become a tremendous success. Between September 2025 and July 2026, 250 Lion Lights were installed at 105 bomas across the regions of Samburu, Marsabit and Isiolo. Together, these installations are estimated to protect almost 30,000 livestock animals.
The results are highly promising: at bomas equipped with Lion Lights, the number of night-time attacks decreased by 91%, from 211 to just 19 incidents. A broader reduction of approximately 20% in human-predator conflicts was also reported across the wider landscape. Furthermore, no predators were killed by people during the project period. This intervention therefore helps keeping livestock and people safe, but also lions and other carnivores.
Continued monitoring in the coming years will be important to determine whether these effects are sustained over the long term. This project provides a promising foundation for further collaboration with local communities in a landscape where people, livestock and lions can continue to coexist.
Be sure to watch the video below to see how Lion Lights are being used in practice to protect both livestock and lions. If you’d like to contribute towards making this solution accessible to even more cattle herders, feel free to contact us, or donate.
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