Sienna

Sienna, also spelled Siena, was a lioness of the Marsh Pride of Kenya’s Masai Mara, the pride made famous by the BBC’s Big Cat Diary. She was about eleven in 2015, a companion of the pride’s matriarchs Bibi and Charm, and a familiar figure to the film crews who followed the pride.

Sienna had overcome horrendous injuries to make her way back to the pride. Then, on the night of 5–6 December 2015, the Marsh lions fed on a cow carcass that herders had laced with poison, probably the banned pesticide carbofuran, after the lions had killed their cattle. A BBC crew saw the lions behaving strangely the next morning, and vets of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust treated the survivors.

Bibi died that day. Sienna limped off alone and was not found; days later, remains scavenged beyond recognition by hyenas and vultures were presumed to be hers. The young male Alan also died. Two herders were charged, in what Jonathan Scott called the first case in Kenya’s history of prosecuting someone for poisoning wildlife.