ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard Turere - Inventor
Young inventor Richard Turere invented "lion lights," an elegant way to protect his family's cattle from lion attacks.

Why you should listen

Richard Turere is a young Maasai man who lives in the wilderness of the Kenya savanna, on the edge of a national park full of rhino, giraffe, buffalo and lions. Since he was 9, Richard has held the honored chore of tending his father's cattle; in his free time, he tinkered with electrical gadgets. After dismantling the few household appliances, Richard taught himself how to fix them, and then he started inventing. He fit his parents' home with fans made from car parts and other junkyard components harvested from junkyards, then built other inventions for his neighbors.

Now 13, he is renowned for inventing "lion lights," a fence made of basic pieces (solar charging cells, flashlight parts), which quickly and effectively scares lions away from his father's cattle. Richard's dream is to be an aircraft engineer.

Read more about Richard Turere on CNN.com >>

More profile about the speaker
Richard Turere | Speaker | TED.com
TED2013

Richard Turere: My invention that made peace with lions

Filmed:
2,467,150 views

In the Maasai community where Richard Turere lives with his family, cattle are all-important. But lion attacks were growing more frequent. In this short, inspiring talk, the young inventor shares the solar-powered solution he designed to safely scare the lions away.
- Inventor
Young inventor Richard Turere invented "lion lights," an elegant way to protect his family's cattle from lion attacks. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
This is where I live. I live in Kenya,
0
982
2774
00:15
at the south parts of the Nairobi National Park.
1
3756
3067
00:18
Those are my dad's cows at the back,
2
6823
1988
00:20
and behind the cows,
3
8811
1980
00:22
that's the Nairobi National Park.
4
10791
2304
00:25
Nairobi National Park is not fenced in the south widely,
5
13095
3505
00:28
which means wild animals like zebras
6
16600
3462
00:32
migrate out of the park freely.
7
20062
3921
00:35
So predators like lions follow them,
8
23983
4013
00:39
and this is what they do.
9
27996
2795
00:42
They kill our livestock.
10
30791
3001
00:45
This is one of the cows which was killed at night,
11
33792
2447
00:48
and I just woke up in the morning and I found it dead,
12
36239
4040
00:52
and I felt so bad,
13
40279
2426
00:54
because it was the only bull we had.
14
42705
4487
00:59
My community, the Maasai, we believe that
15
47192
2787
01:01
we came from heaven with all our animals and all the land
16
49979
6057
01:08
for herding them, and that's why we value them so much.
17
56036
3775
01:11
So I grew up hating lions so much.
18
59811
3759
01:15
The morans are the warriors
19
63570
3053
01:18
who protect our community and the livestock,
20
66623
3317
01:21
and they're also upset about this problem.
21
69940
3079
01:25
So they kill the lions.
22
73019
3005
01:28
It's one of the six lions which were killed in Nairobi.
23
76024
3914
01:31
And I think this is why the Nairobi National Park lions are few.
24
79938
4539
01:36
So a boy, from six to nine years old, in my community
25
84477
4961
01:41
is responsible for his dad's cows,
26
89438
2874
01:44
and that's the same thing which happened to me.
27
92312
3130
01:47
So I had to find a way of solving this problem.
28
95442
3415
01:50
And the first idea I got was to use fire,
29
98857
4814
01:55
because I thought lions were scared of fire.
30
103671
3793
01:59
But I came to realize that that didn't really help,
31
107464
4719
02:04
because it was even helping the lions
32
112183
2609
02:06
to see through the cowshed.
33
114792
3511
02:10
So I didn't give up. I continued.
34
118303
3329
02:13
And a second idea I got was
35
121632
2640
02:16
to use a scarecrow.
36
124272
2067
02:18
I was trying to trick the lions
37
126339
1614
02:19
[into thinking] that I was standing near the cowshed.
38
127953
2907
02:22
But lions are very clever. (Laughter)
39
130860
4076
02:26
They will come the first day and they see the scarecrow, and they go back,
40
134936
4446
02:31
but the second day, they'll come and they say,
41
139382
3274
02:34
this thing is not moving here, it's always here. (Laughter)
42
142656
3110
02:37
So he jumps in and kills the animals.
43
145766
3237
02:41
So one night, I was walking around the cowshed with a torch,
44
149003
3953
02:44
and that day, the lions didn't come.
45
152956
3843
02:48
And I discovered that lions are afraid of a moving light.
46
156799
4558
02:53
So I had an idea.
47
161357
2573
02:55
Since I was a small boy,
48
163930
2310
02:58
I used to work in my room for the whole day,
49
166240
3258
03:01
and I even took apart my mom's new radio,
50
169498
3106
03:04
and that day she almost killed me,
51
172604
1818
03:06
but I learned a lot about electronics. (Laughter)
52
174422
6254
03:12
So I got an old car battery,
53
180676
3360
03:16
an indicator box. It's a small device found in a motorcycle,
54
184036
3790
03:19
and it helps motorists when they want to turn right or left. It blinks.
55
187826
5051
03:24
And I got a switch where I can switch on the lights, on and off.
56
192877
4554
03:29
And that's a small torch from a broken flashlight.
57
197431
4828
03:34
So I set up everything.
58
202259
2881
03:37
As you can see, the solar panel charges the battery,
59
205140
3224
03:40
and the battery supplies the power
60
208364
2121
03:42
to the small indicator box. I call it a transformer.
61
210485
3055
03:45
And the indicator box makes the lights flash.
62
213540
4721
03:50
As you can see, the bulbs face outside,
63
218261
3751
03:54
because that's where the lions come from.
64
222012
2488
03:56
And that's how it looks to lions when they come at night.
65
224500
4064
04:00
The lights flash and trick
66
228564
2728
04:03
the lions into thinking I was walking around the cowshed,
67
231292
1942
04:05
but I was sleeping in my bed.
68
233234
1926
04:07
(Laughter)
69
235160
2740
04:09
(Applause)
70
237900
1669
04:11
Thanks.
71
239569
5595
04:17
So I set it up in my home two years ago,
72
245164
4276
04:21
and since then, we have never experienced any problem with lions.
73
249440
3320
04:24
And my neighboring homes heard about this idea.
74
252760
4012
04:28
One of them was this grandmother.
75
256772
2464
04:31
She had a lot of her animals being killed by lions,
76
259236
4276
04:35
and she asked me if I could put the lights for her.
77
263512
2134
04:37
And I said, "Yes."
78
265646
1278
04:38
So I put the lights. You can see at the back, those are the lion lights.
79
266924
4600
04:43
Since now, I've set up seven homes around my community,
80
271524
3416
04:46
and they're really working.
81
274940
2225
04:49
And my idea is also being used now all over Kenya
82
277165
5180
04:54
for scaring other predators like hyenas, leopards,
83
282345
5113
04:59
and it's also being used
84
287458
2235
05:01
to scare elephants away from people's farms.
85
289693
4045
05:05
Because of this invention, I was lucky to get a scholarship
86
293738
3040
05:08
in one of the best schools in Kenya,
87
296778
2650
05:11
Brookhouse International School,
88
299428
1907
05:13
and I'm really excited about this.
89
301335
2927
05:16
My new school now is coming in and helping
90
304262
3850
05:20
by fundraising and creating an awareness.
91
308112
4532
05:24
I even took my friends back to my community,
92
312644
5283
05:29
and we're installing the lights to the homes
93
317927
3197
05:33
which don't have [any], and I'm teaching them how to put them.
94
321124
4649
05:37
So one year ago, I was just a boy in the savanna grassland
95
325773
3897
05:41
herding my father's cows,
96
329670
1674
05:43
and I used to see planes flying over,
97
331344
2954
05:46
and I told myself that one day, I'll be there inside.
98
334298
4211
05:50
And here I am today.
99
338509
3088
05:53
I got a chance to come by plane for my first time for TED.
100
341597
5936
05:59
So my big dream is to become an aircraft engineer and pilot when I grow up.
101
347533
5436
06:04
I used to hate lions, but now because my invention
102
352969
3694
06:08
is saving my father's cows and the lions,
103
356663
3318
06:11
we are able to stay with the lions without any conflict.
104
359981
3700
06:15
Ashê olên. It means in my language, thank you very much.
105
363681
3220
06:18
(Applause)
106
366901
10900
06:33
Chris Anderson: You have no idea how exciting it is
107
381381
2301
06:35
to hear a story like yours.
108
383682
2111
06:37
So you got this scholarship.Richard Turere: Yep.
109
385793
2036
06:39
CA: You're working on other electrical inventions.
110
387829
2577
06:42
What's the next one on your list?
111
390406
1858
06:44
RT: My next invention is,
112
392264
2674
06:46
I want to make an electric fence.CA: Electric fence?
113
394938
2582
06:49
RT: But I know electric fences are already invented,
114
397520
2161
06:51
but I want to make mine.
115
399681
2237
06:53
(Laughter)
116
401918
2091
06:56
CA: You already tried it once, right, and you --RT: I tried it before,
117
404009
3170
06:59
but I stopped because it gave me a shock. (Laughter)
118
407179
6757
07:05
CA: In the trenches. Richard Turere, you are something else.
119
413936
3326
07:09
We're going to cheer you on every step of the way, my friend.
120
417262
2968
07:12
Thank you so much.RT: Thank you. (Applause)
121
420230
3557
Translated by Joseph Geni
Reviewed by Morton Bast

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard Turere - Inventor
Young inventor Richard Turere invented "lion lights," an elegant way to protect his family's cattle from lion attacks.

Why you should listen

Richard Turere is a young Maasai man who lives in the wilderness of the Kenya savanna, on the edge of a national park full of rhino, giraffe, buffalo and lions. Since he was 9, Richard has held the honored chore of tending his father's cattle; in his free time, he tinkered with electrical gadgets. After dismantling the few household appliances, Richard taught himself how to fix them, and then he started inventing. He fit his parents' home with fans made from car parts and other junkyard components harvested from junkyards, then built other inventions for his neighbors.

Now 13, he is renowned for inventing "lion lights," a fence made of basic pieces (solar charging cells, flashlight parts), which quickly and effectively scares lions away from his father's cattle. Richard's dream is to be an aircraft engineer.

Read more about Richard Turere on CNN.com >>

More profile about the speaker
Richard Turere | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee