alternative. but remember, too, and respect, that the maasai have always defined themselves and their identities by their enemy. a tribe of proud warriors. what happens when there s no one and nothing to fight? ingela has brought several maasai onto her team to show them up close the lions they share this land with. ingela: so often are my days out when i m working with the maasai, you don t eat at all. you get a cup of tea in the morning and then, if you re lucky, in the rainy season you ll get either fresh milk or this. anthony: this is amasi, by the way. a lumpy yogurt-like drink central to the maasai diet. ingela: cheers. anthony: cheers. and before you say yuck, it might be worth noting that between their nearly 100% protein diet of meat, blood, and dairy, the maasai are known to have near super-human cardio. olympic-level stamina and condition. they can run miles at a time without rest or water and can basically kick your ass at near
existential conflict we ll be seeing more and more of as the world decides what they value most. unspoiled expanses of nature, populated still with magnificent, wild, but aggressively protected animals, or the indigenous people. ingela: the aim for our project is promoting co-existence with lions. so when i came here to start up lion guardians. ole: oh, yes. they say, no. why? ingela: but there were many among the maasai that were very, sort of, suspicious. they thought this is going to lead to us being kicked out, that s a constant fear in this area. ole: because in the past the maasai go to find the lion where they are and they kill them. but today we stopped that. or we can kill if no way. anthony: if you have no alternative. ole: yeah. that s why we have the spear. we are not heartless people but we carry the spear all the time for protection only. ingela: the maasai, they trust that we re not here to kick them out, that we re here to work with them.
ole: no, no, no, here. anthony: and just hold ole: hold this really hard. anthony: so when the chief asked if i cared to do the honors and tells me how it has to be done, i m not happy. in fact, as i close off its air passages i m struggling not to throw up on myself. ole: now he is ready, yep. tony, do you know how to skin it? anthony: uh, not well enough. ole: i can show you, maybe i can show you, and then i can go ahead, okay? anthony: the maasai traditionally kill their goats by suffocation, for very good reason, it turns out to keep the blood, which is a vital component for the maasai diet, intact and abundant in the chest cavity. ole: now continue now to slaughter that, take the skin
and, uh, we re foreseeing that we re going to be able to start the lion guardian project, which basically you hire maasai to protect the lions rather than kill them. anthony: with all the cattle the maasai people have, how do you protect them from predators? ole: the animals are very smart about, if you do not bother them, they do not bother you. anthony: so, how about when they re grazing? ole: uh-huh. when they re grazing we have people who follow out. anthony: and that s enough to discourage hyenas or lions? ole: mm-hmm. mm-hmm. hmm. yes, yes. but sometimes they re happy lions. so, they making allowed to show themselves that they are very happy and the way to make that they say [ lion noise ] that s when they get happy, you know? and that s if they just like to catch something, you can hear very close, only like [ lion purring noise ] and they ll stop or they ll sound a lot like a
he has 4 wives, 12 children, a handful of whom are old enough to be out looking out for the herds. ole: where are you from, tony? anthony: i was born in new jersey and live in new york. ole: oh. anthony: you have a son in new jersey, yeah? ole: yes, yes. he s studies at one of the colleges known at montclair state. anthony: oh sure, i know montclair very well. ole: oh yeah? anthony: it s near where i grew up. ole: oh yes. [ thunder ] ingela: wow, look at that. look at that cloud there. there s going to be some downpour. well, do you think it comes here, ole durup? ole: no. ingela: no? ole: no. anthony: not us? ingela: it s funny, like, they always know what the clouds are doing. it s their weather reports out here. anthony: the maasai have been migrating with the seasons since they came to this part of africa sometime in the 15th century, long, long, before the serengeti became a national park. and here we run into the kind of