The youth of the Maasai people in Kenya came together this weekend to take part in the fifth edition of the “Maasai Olympics” that aim to replace their tribal rituals of killing lions as a rite of passage to manhood for future warriors.
The sporting event, organized by the tribe’s elders in cooperation with environmentalist non-profit the Big Life Foundation, took place on Saturday in the Kimana sanctuary, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, near the Kenya-Tanzania border.
The Maasai Olympics included distance runs ranging between 100 and 5,000 meters, high jump, spear throwing, and throwing the "rungus" - a traditional wooden club for warding off hyenas used at the competition as an alternative for discuses.
The high jump featured in the athletics was a stimulation of a traditional jumping dance performed by the Maasai tribe, where the participants leapt high into the air trying to touch a rope with the top of their head.
“We now co-exist perfectly with the wildlife,” Maasai leader Matasia Nerangas said. “We share the same grazing fields and watering holes with the wild animals, and we stand to benefit more now than before.”
Another Maasai elder, Lenkai ole Ngola, shared his history of killing lions in his youth, calling for the protection of the wild animals, which have become an attraction for tourists in recent years.
“I killed two lions when I was young,” he told the media. “But today, it is important to protect them, because their numbers are declining and also because they provide jobs for young people.”
The Maasai also believe that participation in the games, where at least 160 young men and women took part in the six track-and-field events, is a “good way to preserve our lands.”
“Now, I am hunting the medals, I am not hunting lions,” said Lekatoo, one of the participants who won a medal in the spear throwing competition.
Commenting on the successful completion of the Maasai Olympics, Craig Millar, chief operating officer of the Big Life Foundation, which has been organizing the games since 2012, said that the event was held to slow down the rapid decline in the lion population in the area.
“[The] program has had a huge impact on the lion population, and it is one of the few areas in Africa outside of protected areas where lion population is stable or growing,” Millar said.
Since the 1970s, the population of lions in Kenya has plummeted from an estimated 30,000 to about 2,000, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service, which considers humans as the biggest threat to the lives of the big cats and other carnivores in the country.