Content Details
The Hunt for Medals and Not Lions
Duration: 8′
Language: English
Production Year: 2019
Format: HD
Origin: South Africa
SYNOPSIS
While on assignment for Big Life Foundation, our Black Bean Productions team was able to document the Maasai Olympics. In the past, in Maasai culture, in order to become a Warrior young men had to kill a lion to prove their bravery. In response to the decrease in lion populations in the amboseli-tsavo ecosystem, 8 Maasai elders approached the Big Life team to find a way to eliminate lion hunting from the Maasai culture, while still honouring Maasai traditions, and so the Maasai Olympics was created. This incredible initiative is so much more than just a sporting event and has found a way to ensure the long term survival of lions in this area by working together with local communities. Telling this story was really important to us, as this initiative is not only greatly beneficial to wildlife, it also highlights the importance of community based conservation and speaks to the role that community empowerment plays in conservation.