Since then, our rangers have been tracking the mother and her cubs. The tracks suggested all four cubs were still alive, but we wanted a direct sighting to confirm it.

The lioness has been keeping her family in thick bush, which is good for protection but bad for visibility. So we called in our drone unit again, who found the lucky little cub relaxing with her mother and three siblings in the Kimana Sanctuary. Their mother had caught a wildebeest earlier in the day, and all the cubs looked well fed and healthy.

An interesting consequence of filming in thermal is that one can clearly see the heat profiles of the lions as they slinked off into the bush, leaving perfect outlines on the dusty soil.

We will keep monitoring this little family and ensure their ongoing protection.

Thank you to our partners at Lion Guardians for all their work on recording the lives and lineages of the ecosystem’s lion population, and to Angama Amboseli for supporting our work in Kimana Sanctuary.