Paul Kirui

One of Kenya’s most distinguished safari guides, Paul was born on the northern outskirts of the Masai Mara Game Reserve; as a child he herded cattle, so knows the bush and its flora and fauna intimately. His childhood passion was to becoming a guide one day.  His early days were spent developing his knowledge and learning the necessary skills, such as tracking, spoor recognition and identification of behaviour and alarm calls.

He has a particular interest in leopards and has worked with the BBC Natural History film unit since 2006 as a specialist leopard tracker and consultant for the Big Cat Week and Big Cat Live. He also took part in shooting the BBC documentary “The Truth About Lions” in 2009, as well as helping Disney Nature during the filming of African Cats in 2009.

Having studied birds from childhood, Paul is also a specialist East African birder and currently conducts research into vultures in the Masai Mara in conjunction with the National Museum’s Department of Ornithology and the Peregrine Fund. He is a major activist in the field of vulture conservation.

Paul has worked as a guide in the wilderness areas of Kenya, northern Tanzania, Uganda and parts of Southern Africa for some 20 years and is one of only twenty Gold Level i.e. the highest ranking guides in the country. He was involved in setting up the first training school for safari guides in the Serengeti, and training guides in Rwanda, and is a director of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association (KPSGA) – yet he still finds time to guide across East Africa.