Disappeared

Kamunyak

Also known as The Blessed One · The Lioness Who Adopted Oryx

c. 1999 – last seen c. 2004

Born in an unrecorded place

Kamunyak was a lioness of Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya who became world news for behaviour no one could explain. On 21 December 2001 a driver from a Samburu lodge reported a young lioness lying beside a newborn beisa oryx calf, its umbilical cord still attached. Instead of killing it, she adopted it. For about two weeks she followed the calf wherever it went, guarded it, let it return to its real mother to suckle, and hardly ate at all, growing so thin that her shoulder blades stood out like knives.

On 6 January 2002, while the pair rested in the midday heat, a male lion ambushed and killed the calf in front of her; she was too frightened to stop him. Yet on Valentine’s Day 2002 she adopted a second calf, which wardens took from her when it grew too weak, and at Easter a third, which the Kenya Wildlife Service named Easter and allowed to stay with her. Local Samburu people named her Kamunyak, “the blessed one”. By the end of 2002 she had cared for five calves, and she is credited with at least six.

Researchers who filmed her, among them Saba and Dudu Douglas-Hamilton, estimated she was only two or three years old and found no sign that she had ever been pregnant. Some guessed she was barren, others that she was simply young and lonely; one lion expert even suggested a disorder, and a few doubted the story until the second and third adoptions were seen. Her story appeared around the world and on Kenyan postage stamps. Kamunyak was last seen around 2004, and what became of her is not known.

6+Oryx calves adopted

15Days with her first calf

~2–3Age at her first adoption

0Cubs of her own

Profile

Identity

Name: KamunyakThe name she is best known by
Nicknames: The Blessed One, Kamuniak
Origin of the name: Samburu for “the blessed one”, given by local Samburu people
Sex: Female
Distinguishing features: Information not availableThin and young during the adoptions; she showed no signs of ever having been pregnant
Weight: Information not availableFor reference, adult lionesses usually weigh 110–180 kg

Birth & Family

Born: c. 1999Researchers estimated she was 2–3 years old in January 2002
Birthplace: Information not availableNot known; she lived in Samburu National Reserve, northern Kenya
Birth pride: Information not availableNot known
Father: Information not available
Mother: Information not available
Siblings: Information not available

Pride Life

Role in the pride: Mostly solitaryShe is said to have shared her range with a pride of seven lions in the heart of the reserve
Prides: Information not available
Pride size: Information not available
Years in the pride: Information not available
Pride-mates: Information not available
Coalition: Information not available
Home range: Samburu National Reserve, northern Kenya, along the Ewaso Ng’iro river
Territory size: Information not available

Death

Died: Information not availableNot known. She was last seen around 2004
Age at death: Information not available
Cause of death: Information not availableNot known
Place of death: Information not availableNot known
Burial: Information not available

Names & Meanings

KamunyakName

Samburu for “the blessed one”, given by local Samburu people after her first adoption. Also spelled Kamuniak in early news reports.

The Blessed OneEnglish name

The translation of Kamunyak, used by the media.

Family & Lineage

Not knownParentsHer parents and birth pride were never identified.

The Blessed OneKamunyakc. 1999 – ?

Adopted · Dec 2001First oryx calfAdopted within its first week of life. Killed by a male lion on 6 January 2002.

Adopted · 14 Feb 2002Second oryx calfTaken from her by wardens when it became too weak from hunger.

Adopted · Easter 2002EasterThe third calf, named by the Kenya Wildlife Service, who let the pair stay together.

Adopted · 2002 – 2003Later calvesAt least three more oryx calves; a few are said to have survived and returned to their herds.

Life Story

c. 1999
Born, most likely in or near Samburu National Reserve. Her birth pride is not known.
21 December 2001
A driver from a Samburu lodge reported her lying beside a newborn oryx calf, umbilical cord still attached.
Late December 2001
Followed and guarded the calf for about two weeks, letting it suckle from its real mother and barely eating herself.
6 January 2002
A male lion ambushed and killed the calf while she rested nearby. That afternoon she killed and ate a young warthog, her first meal in about two weeks.
14 February 2002
Adopted a second oryx calf on Valentine’s Day. Wardens tranquillised and removed the calf when it became too weak, having not fed for two days.
Easter 2002
Adopted a third calf, named Easter. The Kenya Wildlife Service let nature take its course and guarded the pair.
November 2002
Reported to have cared for five oryx calves since January.
2003
Adopted at least one more calf, bringing the total to at least six.
c. 2004
Last seen. Her fate is not known.

Legend & Truth

Why did she do it?

No one knows. Researchers found no sign she had ever been pregnant or lost cubs. The Samburu suggested she was barren; a lion expert quoted in the press suggested a disorder. Most agree she knew the calves were not lions: she never tried to hunt for them.

Was it staged?

After the second adoption some people suspected the calf had been given to her to attract tourists. The repeated adoptions, watched by wardens, guides and filmmakers, convinced most observers that the behaviour was real.

Adoptions on holidays

A senior Kenya Wildlife Service warden noted that her adoptions fell on holidays: Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter.

A legend before her time

Samburu herders told the filmmakers that in 1999 a three-year-old child who wandered into the bush was found among a pride of lions playing with the cubs, and came to no harm.