Bill Toone, a conservation program specialist for CRES, helped implement a teacher training program in Kenya. In blogs, he shares his experience as he works with Dan Rubenstein, a Princeton University scientist, and Louise Bradshaw, the St. Louis Zoo's education director, to inspire the next generation of Kenyans to work for wildlife conservation. Read Bill's previous blog, Teacher Camp in Kenya.

Today was a dreary day in our portion of Kenya: cloudy skies and the distant rumble of thunder added to an uncomfortable cool breeze. We met in a cold concrete room to plan our teaching session. Lights are used sparingly as we operate on a combination of generators, photovoltaic panels, and batteries. Generators are turned off by 10 a.m., so on cloudy days we work carefully off what energy has been stored in the batteries. Matching the day's weather, the room was cold and dark.
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The three new faces at the Wild Animal Park's Lion Camp, Mina's six-week- old litter, have now been named! No more A, B, and C!

Cub A, the largest and most laid back of the two males, is now called Kamau. The name means " Quiet Warrior."
Cub B, the smaller, livelier male, is now called Zenda. This means " strong, firm."
Cub C, the smallest cub and the only female, is now known as Mandisa, which means " sweet."
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Bill Toone, a conservation program specialist for CRES, helped implement a teacher training program in Kenya. In blogs, he will share his experience as he works with Dan Rubenstein, a Princeton University scientist, and Louise Bradshaw, the St. Louis Zoo's education director, to inspire the next generation of Kenyans to work for wildlife conservation. His first blog is below:

Louise and I arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, late in the evening and then flew to Nanukyi the next morning. A taxi ride took us 25 to 30 miles (40 to 50 kilometers) to Mpala Research Station. We met with Dan, had a quick lunch, and were escorted down to the teachers' tent camp.
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Lion Camp at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park is home to a growing pride of African lions. Oshana gave birth to Abena (pictured) and Bakari on May 16; three cubs were born July 20 to Mina. Keeper Marcia Redding is keeping us posted on their development. See her previous blog, Lion Cub ABCs.

Several folks have posted questions about our lion cubs. Calvin asks when Mina's cubs will be on exhibit. Most likely, they will be at least 10 weeks old before they are big enough to negotiate the exhibit. They are just six weeks old now. Calvin also asks if all five cubs at Lion Camp will stay at the Wild Animal Park. Most probably they will not, as these cubs represent a new genetic line from South Africa. They will be in great demand as breeders in lion conservation programs all over North America. However, none will leave the Park until they are at least six months old, and probably older. Our original six lions from South Africa were received at six months of age and they made the transition beautifully.
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