Richard Turere – Kenyan teen invents “Lion Lights”, a gadget that protects family’s livestock and save lions

Richard Turere. PHOTO/Paula Kahumbu

Richard Turere 13, is a young Maasai boy who lives in Kenya’s wilderness, and has been responsible for tending his family’s cattle since he was 9.

Often, he’d discover that lions had attacked in the middle of the night, feeding on the cattle his family needed to survive. “I grew up hating lions very much,” Turere told CNN. “They used to come at night and feed on our cattle when we were sleeping.”

When Turere was 11, he had an idea that would help protect the cattle from late-night attacks.

“One day, when I was walking around,” he said, “I discovered that the lions were scared of the moving light.” Lions appeared to be too scared to approach the cattle if someone was nearby with a moving flashlight.

Turere immediately began to invent what would be known as “Lion Lights.”

He fitted a series of flashing LED bulbs onto poles around the livestock enclosure, facing outward. The lights were wired to a box with switches and to an old car battery powered by a solar panel. They were designed to flicker on and off intermittently, thus tricking the lions into believing that someone was moving around carrying a flashlight. Since rigging up “Lion Lights,” none of his family’s cattle have been lost to lions. Because of the success of his lighting system, about 75 of them have been rigged up across Kenya.

Richard Turere’s invention saves both cattle and lions. Lions are the top tourist attraction to Kenya and it is estimated that there are approximately 2000 lions alive in Kenya.