Sculptor Camilla Le May met Ol Pejeta CEO, Richard Vigne, in London early November, to hand over four high tech surveillance cameras, bought with funds raised from sales of her sculptures of African wildlife.
The cameras will be placed at high-risk spots around the Conservancy fence line and will be moved around regularly. Triggered by any movement, they will send a live MMS message to a mobile phone, day or night. The security team will then be mobilised and know within seconds where there is a security breach.
Camilla initially came to Ol Pejeta in 2013 to study Baraka, the blind black rhino, as an anatomy model for her rhino works, and returned this year to sculpt lions. She sculpts directly from life, having converted the front of her Land Rover into a mobile studio.
“I am enormously grateful for Ol Pejeta’s support, trust and belief in me, in allowing me extended access to the wildlife. It goes without saying that my aim is to give back as much as I can, to assist in keeping wildlife protected. Wildlife is my inspiration and passion and I am deeply concerned at the losses on-going. Ol Pejeta Conservancy provides a safe haven for many to flourish and it is really rewarding to be able to support this.”
In order to raise funds she has donated her works to various charity auctions raising nearly £18,000 (Ksh. 2.5 million) since 2013 for rhino conservation in Kenya. The money for the surveillance cameras was raised in Sweden, at a gala dinner for The Perfect World Foundation.Spymaster in London agreed to supply the cameras at a discounted rate for conservation.
Camilla’s lion sculptures, which will again be sold for conservation fundraising, were the result of six weeks of lion tracking on Ol Pejeta. The work focuses on Pasha, the Conservancy’s oldest lioness, and her companion Nero.
“The time I spent on OPC has been invaluable.” Says Camilla. “Christopher Mwaniki (from Ol Pejeta’s wildlife department) was recalled from leave, so that he could track the lion with me. Fairly regularly we would find a pride and some days we were privileged to sit with them for up to 9 hours at a time, which was extraordinary. Chris was busy updating the lion database and ID charts while I sculpted. Possibly the first time to see a sculptor to working in tandem with a lion researcher!”
Her latest work will be exhibited at the Rountree Tryon Galleries in London in the run up to Christmas.
If you want to experience the thrill of lion tracking, and help researchers like Christopher to identify individual lions, then why not book your lion tracking adventure on Ol Pejeta here? This is one of the only places in East Africa you can track collared lions, and is a fantastic way to get a more intimate look at lion life.