Lanjo is the Lion Defender working at “Zone B –Lyangolo” with Daudi. He started to work in 2014 but before he was the a traditional lion hunt leader as he led many hunts and speared five lions and seven elephants leaving uncountable with injuries. Lanjo is 33 years old and he is a husband to two wives and father to three children. According to him, before he was really against the Lion Defenders and saw them as people who were poor and useless as they left behind all their traditions and ways of living and he was insisting the elders to reject them as the punishment. “How come the Barbaig warrior abandoned their foundations set by our ancestors and still they call themselves Barbaig?” said Lanjo.

He added that only other non-LDs warriors were supporting him but the elders were supporting the work of RCP and Lion Defenders in general. He saw the community was serious when the elders punished youth that had conducted a secret traditional lion hunt in Ruaha National Park, a thing which said changed his mind and outlook toward conservation. From then he started to help and assist the Lion Defenders by stopping the lion hunts and reinforce bomas (cattle enclosures) before he was invited to a job interview and qualified for his current position.

“RCP did a huge work to change the minds of the very difficult society from which even the government itself had failed to change them. To be honest, I never thought that one day the Barbaig community will support any activity which collides with their traditions and ways of living but RCP managed to start though still long way to go,” added Lanjo.

“Long life RCP, Long life Dr. Amy, through you we learned to live the life according to the time and environment. I gained a lot through this work and am proud of being the Lion Defender,” concluded Lanjo.