Growing up in the Maasai community meant that Richard grew up as a pastoralist, rearing his father's cattle.
They say necessity is the mother of innovation and at a tender age (12 years), Richard knew he needed to do something about the lions that were proving to be a menace to the livestock.
He started by lighting fires in the fields to keep the lions away but it all proved futile. Another mind-boggling idea came to him, setting up scarecrows, but oops! It didn't work.
At night, being the time the lions would strike most, they (and other pastoralists) decided to use flashlights, and after a few weeks, they discovered the lions were no longer disturbing their cattle.
Bingo! They had found a solution but it was not that sustainable. They had ascertained that the lions wouldn't attack when they walked around with the flashlights, but the solution was now to have lights that mimiced someone's presence.
That's when the idea of lion lights came to him.
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