Event Details
In 2025, Houston Zoo, in partnership with local news station KPRC 2, helped bring global lion conservation closer to home through an hour-long documentary featuring the work of our partners, Ewaso Lions. This film showcases how community-led conservation is protecting lions in northern Kenya while supporting the people who share their landscape. We invite you to join us for a special screening of the Houston Zoo and KPRC’s award-winning documentary Saving Lions: The Pride of Kenya. You will also have the opportunity to meet and greet, and participate in Q&A and discussion with Dr. Shivani Bhalla, National Geographic Explorer and founder of Ewaso Lions, who will be visiting Houston Zoo for the first time in more than a decade. Dr. Shivani Bhalla will share behind-the-scenes commentary throughout the screening and provide us with insights directly from her years of work in Kenya.
Date: Thursday, June 25, 2026
Time:
Check-in time: 2:30 p.m.
Screening time: 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Please arrive by 2:30 p.m. Screening will begin on-time at 3:00 p.m.
Venue: Reflections Event Hall at Houston Zoo
Screening Ticket Price:
Non-members: $10
Please note: Ticket price is for the documentary screening event only. General Zoo admission for June 25 is not included and must be purchased separately if you plan to visit the Zoo before or after the screening.
Members: $5
Members, log-in to your member portal to buy tickets for this screening.
Saving Lions: The Pride of Kenya
Filmed in the Samburu region, the documentary followed Ewaso Lions’ locally driven approach to reducing negative human-lion interactions and rebuilding conditions that allow lions to thrive. The story featured programs such as Warrior Watch, which trains Samburu warriors to monitor lions and prevent conflict before it occurs; Mama Simba, which empowers women through conservation-linked livelihoods and habitat recovery; and Lion Kids Camp, which inspires conservation leadership among local youth. And the best part is, these efforts are working! Lions that were once living alone on this landscape are now forming prides, signaling a return to natural social structures and healthier population dynamics. This shift reflects reduced conflict, improved tolerance, and a landscape where lions can once again live as they are meant to.
By partnering with KPRC 2 to tell this story, Houston Zoo amplified the impact of Ewaso Lions’ work far beyond the field. The documentary reached households across the Houston region, connecting local audiences to measurable conservation success and the people making it possible. Through this collaboration, Houston Zoo strengthened the bridge between Houston and Kenya, demonstrating how those near and far can help wildlife recover and inspire continued action to save lions in the wild.
Watch Saving Lions: The Pride of Kenya:
Meet Dr. Shivani Bhalla
Born and raised in Kenya, Dr. Shivani Bhalla believes the key to lion conservation is having communities lead conservation efforts. She founded Ewaso Lions in 2007 to promote continued co-existence between carnivores and people – a project that she now co-leads with her team. Together with her team, she works with communities to reduce livestock loss to carnivores and monitors the existing lion population within the Samburu-Isiolo landscape in northern Kenya. Shivani, with her team, have created successful community led-programs including Warrior Watch, Mama Simba, Lion Kids Camps and Kura’s Pride. Bhalla’s commitment to Kenya’s lions has earned her a 2023 Gold Award from the Whitley Fund for Nature and the 2014 Whitley Award, the 2013 Rabinowitz-Kaplan Prize for the Next Generation in Wild Cat Conservation, the ‘Africa’s Young Women Conservation Biologist of 2009′ award by the Society of Conservation Biology, the Virginia McKenna Award for Compassionate Conservation from the Born Free Foundation, and she has been a National Geographic Explorer since 2010.
About Ewaso Lions
The Houston Zoo has a wonderful pride of lions and is committed to protecting lions in the wild by providing mentorship and support to Kenyan lion conservation partners, Ewaso Lions.
Ewaso Lions is dedicated to conserving lions and other large carnivores by promoting coexistence between people and wildlife. They are an independent, 100% Kenyan wildlife conservation organization that engages and builds the capacity of key demographic groups (warriors, women, elders, and children) by developing approaches to reduce human-carnivore conflict.
In 2025 alone, Ewaso Lions:
- Removed 1,647 invasive trees from the landscape, making room for indigenous plants
- Vaccinated 1,920 animals against rabies and canine distemper, helping prevent disease spread to wildlife
- Welcomed 176 children from local communities to Lion Kids Camp to nurture their connection to wildlife
- Collared an additional 3 lions to help warriors in the Warrior Watch program aid herders in avoiding predators
- Documented 6 thriving lion cubs in the community conservancy, and logged over 116 lion sightings throughout the year
