Location           Lekurruki Group Ranch, Mukogodo Division, Laikipia District

Ethnicity           Mukogodo Maasai

Population        3,700

Land ownership            Group Ranch

Core conservation area             800 ha

Main livelihood             Livestock keeping

Key wildlife species      Elephant, rare forest species of plants, butterflies & birds

Year of registration       1999

Current donors             Safaricom Marathon, Tusk Trust

Staff employed from the community       25

 

Background of Lekurruki

Lekurruki Group Ranch was registered in 1999 and covers approximately 7,000 hectares of land in Laikipia District north of Il Ngwesi Group Ranch. Encompassing part of the Mukogodo forest, Lekurruki has a unique diversity of habitats and species. It provides critical protection to wildlife migrating between the northern National Reserves of Samburu and Buffalo Springs and Il Ngwesi Group Ranch and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in the south.

 

Currently, Lekurruki’s conservation efforts are focused on the following:

 

·        development of an integrated wildlife, livestock, and people management strategy;

·        improved security network through employment of additional trained, armed security scouts using a well-coordinated radio network;

·        infrastructural development;

·        managing shared water sources for both domestic animals and wildlife;

·        building a competent management team to oversee all the conservation and development activities

 

Future of Lekurruki

Lekurruki’s future plans include securing a partnership with a tourism investor to take over the management of Tassia Lodge. To this end, an exposure tour to the Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust is planned so that the Lekurruki management team can understand how a similar partnership is working before they finalize their agreement. Plans to pipe water to the lodge are also underway so that water availability is enhanced for the tourism operations.

 

The Conservancy also plans to build headquarters for its management staff and to purchase another vehicle that will be dedicated to Lekurruki’s conservation activities. A need to intensify management of the core conservation area against invasion of outside livestock has also been identified and discussions are underway about how best to achieve this. Lekurruki’s long-term plan is to join up with Il Ngwesi Group Ranch, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Borana Ranch to form one large conservation area.

 

With assistance from Borana Ranch, Lekurruki built a 24 bed eco-lodge called Tassia Lodge in 2000. The lodge presently operates on an exclusive-use basis and offer an ideal wilderness retreat.