On September 1, 2026, in the Maasai Mara, Kenya 🇰🇪, the Mara Natural History Center (Mara Life Science Museum) officially opened its doors.
For the first time, the Greater Maasai Mara now has a dedicated institution where visitors can systematically explore the region’s history, geography, wildlife and habitats, human origins and migration, as well as Maasai traditions and culture.
We extend our sincere gratitude to friends and supporters from all walks of life who have contributed funding, materials, professional expertise, knowledge, and skills to make this vision a reality.
We warmly welcome everyone traveling to the Maasai Mara on safari to visit the Center, learn more about this extraordinary landscape, and join us in our efforts to protect the East African grassland ecosystem and conserve wildlife habitats for generations to come.
Transcript逐字稿
Machine transcription with names checked by hand. Small errors may remain; the audio is the record.机器转写，人名地名已人工校对，可能仍有少量误差，以音频为准。
0:00Speech at the opening ceremony of the Mara Natural History Center, Simba Qiang Zhuo. September 1st, 2026. Distinguished guests, dear friends, and brothers and sisters from the Maasai community. Good morning. 22 years ago, in 2004, I came to the Maasai Mara for the first time. From the moment I set foot on this land, I fell in love with it. The vast grasslands, the wildlife roaming freely across the savannah, and the warm and sincere Maasai people. There was something deeply familiar about this place. It felt like coming home.
0:46I still remember the first time I saw wild lions along the Talek river. At that moment, I suddenly did not want to leave. I told myself that one day I would come back, live alongside these lions, protect them and protect the wildlife of this land. At first, I thought wildlife conservation simply meant spending every day with wild animals, observing and studying their behavior, publishing research papers, writing books, or using education and communication to help more people understand and appreciate wildlife. But after I truly became part of the life of the Maasai community I gradually came to understand something much more fundamental. To protect wildlife we must first protect the habitats on which wildlife depends. And to protect those habitats we cannot ignore the people who have lived on this land for generations. For generations the Maasai have lived across the grasslands of of East Africa, relying primarily on livestock for their livelihoods while sharing the same landscape with wildlife. This long history of coexistence has made an important contribution to the extraordinary abundance of wildlife that still survives today in the Maasai Mara Serengeti ecosystem. For this, we should thank the Maasai people.
2:11not only the people of this land, they are also among its most important custodians. Today, however, the traditional pastoral way of life faces enormous challenges. Population growth, increasing livestock numbers, changes in land use, climate change, and other socio-economic pressures are interacting in ways that have increased grazing pressure in in some areas and contributed to grassland degradation, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss. At the same time, increasingly frequent and severe droughts and extreme rainfall events are placing additional pressure on local livelihoods.
2:52I gradually came to realize that truly sustainable conservation cannot ask local communities to bear the costs of protecting wildlife while receiving little or no benefit in return. quite the opposite. We should help Maasai communities become genuine participants, managers and beneficiaries of wildlife conservation. Through community conservancies, landowners can receive long-term and stable benefits from wildlife conservation, ecotourism and related industries. Through education and vocational training, young people can have more choices beyond pastoralism. Through women's employment and community enterprises, families can diversify their income so that their livelihoods are no longer entirely dependent on livestock.
3:43Only when wildlife conservation helps improve people's lives can conservation truly become sustainable. Beginning in 2011, my partners and I started doing what we could to contribute to conservation in the Maasai Mara. We donated four-wheel drive vehicles and field equipment to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. From 2012 onward, we became long-term participants and supporters of conservation work in Ol Kignay Conservancy, donating vehicles, motorcycles and other equipment for ranger patrols. We helped communities build predator-proof livestock enclosures to reduce human-lion conflict caused by livestock depredation.
4:28We built classrooms, student dormitories, and water towers. We also organised African savanna games and the Maasai Mara English Writing Competition. Over the years, we have donated 26 motorcycles to several community conservancies across the Maasai Mara and Lykipia. Today, we continue to focus our support on Olare Conservancy, Mara Ripoi Conservancy, and Nationali Maasai Conservancy. But over time, another lesson became increasingly clear. Conservation cannot be only about rangers, vehicles, and motorcycles.
5:09Even more importantly, it must create new livelihoods. It is why we began supporting community initiatives such as women's handicraft training, poultry farming, therapeutic massage, vegetable farming and beekeeping, helping more Maasai families develop diversified sources of income. We also launched the Lion Scholarship with particular support for female teachers and girls. We support National Eye College because we hope more Maasai young people can acquire vocational skills, expand their employment opportunities after graduation and gradually reduce their family's dependence on traditional livestock-based livelihoods.
5:54Today, the Greater Mara has developed a conservation network consisting of the Maasai Mara National Reserve and numerous community conservancies. The community conservancy model is demonstrating something very important. Wildlife conservation and community development are not contradictory. With the right mechanisms, they can strengthen one another. Today, the Maasai Mara is one of the world's best known wildlife tourism destinations. It is one of the most important stages of the Mara Serengeti Great Migration, and supports an extraordinary diversity and abundance of large carnivores. Yet for many years I have had one regret. The Maasai Mara lacked a place where visitors could systematically learn about this land before entering the savanna. Of course, visitors come here hoping to see lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants and wildebeest, but I want them to understand something more. Why does this landscape support so much wildlife? How are the grasslands and rivers of the Maasai Mara formed? Why does the Great Migration happen? How did lion prides build and maintain their social systems?
7:07How have the Maasai lived alongside wildlife for hundreds of years? And what challenges does this ecosystem face today? About ten years ago, I discussed the idea of creating such a centre with Mr Liu Fu and Mr Wang Jie. They both strongly supported the idea. Three years ago, Simon Masago and finally decided to turn that idea into reality and we began building the Mara Natural History Centre. The journey was not easy. Fortunately we received tremendous support from friends in China, Kenya and many other parts of the world. Some donated funds, some contributed equipment to materials, others shared their professional expertise, while some came personally to the Maasai Maara to participate in the construction. After visiting the centre while it was under construction last year, Dr Yin Ye decided to donate 60,000 US dollars to support our infrastructure and exhibitions. Ms Cao Xiaoling, the wife of Mr Liu Fu and a co-founder of the Habitat Watcher Foundation, came to the Maasai Maara and lived at our construction site for a month, participating directly in construction and exhibition management. Today, She also serves as an honorary director of the Mara Natural History Centre.
8:28Mr Liu Yong has organised many young people from China to come here and participate in nature education and wildlife conservation activities. Much of the support received by the centre has also come from him and his partners. And there are many, many other friends who have supported and participated in this project in different ways. Without all of you, there would be no Mara Natural History Centre today. Thank you. I would also like to extend my special thanks to our friends from the Maasai community who are here with us today. Mr Henry Titimet Siololo, member of the County Assembly representing the Maasai Mara; Mr Nelson Ole Rea, founder of Nassulai Maasai Conservancy; Mr Sami Ole I would also like to thank our friends from the Chinese community in Kenya; Mr. Xie Guangqi his wife from the Sichuan Chongqing Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Xie Pengjuan, Secretary-General of the Kenya-Chinese Tourism Association, Mr. Yan Xue from the Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and representatives from Ken China Travel and Shining Africa.
10:03Thank you for your long-standing attention to and support for the Maasai Mara and Wildlife Conservation. I would also like to extend a special welcome to Mr Christof Chiari from IFAW. We have known each other for many years and his Chinese is excellent. Welcome Christof. Today I am extremely happy to stand here with friends from Kenya, China and many other parts of the world to witness the official opening of the Mara Natural History Centre. This is a day worth remembering together. From today onward, the Maasai Mara finally has a place where visitors, local communities, and younger generations can systematically learn about its natural history, geography, wildlife, ecosystems, and Maasai culture.
10:51But for me, constructing a building has never been our ultimate goal. What truly matters is what we can change through this centre. I hope that one day, a child will walk through these doors and begin by falling in love with with a lion. Because that child loves a lion, they may begin to care about a grassland. Because they care about a grassland, they may begin to understand an ecosystem. And eventually, they may understand something even more important. When we protect wildlife, we are also protecting ourselves. Today, all humanity shares the same planet. Whether we come from China, Kenya, anywhere else in the world and regardless of differences in language, culture or religion, we all face global challenges such as climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, land degradation and poverty. These challenges do not stop at national borders and no country can solve them alone. We need science, we need education, we need local communities, We need governments and businesses, and we need the participation of ordinary people from around the world. Protecting nature is not the responsibility of any one country. It is the shared responsibility of our generation. Twenty-two years ago, when I first came here, I was simply a young man from China seeing wild African lions for the first time. Twenty-two years later, I stand here today, watching the Mara Natural History Center officially open its doors.
12:36For me, this is not the end of a story. It is the beginning of another. My home is in the Maasai Mara. I am a Maasai from China, and I welcome more friends from around the world to come to the Maasai Mara, to understand this land, to fall in love with it, and to help protect it and to become part of our family. A-Sheoleng, thank you very much.