TED Talks recently featured Richard Turere, a Kenyan boy who invented a lighting system to scare the lions away from the family's livestock. He and his family live on the south side of Nairobi National Park, where animals roam freely.
His family's livestock was being killed by roaming lions, so he tried several solutions and eventually came up with a lighting system that looks like moving lights, which succeeded in keeping the lions away. The solution also helped prevent local villagers from hunting the lions to protect livestock. "I used to hate lions, but now because my invention is saving my father's cows and the lions, we are able to stay with the lions without any conflict," Turere said.
Turere was always a curious problem solver. "Since I was a small boy, I used to work in my room for the whole day, and I even took apart my mom's new radio, and that day she almost killed me, but I learned a lot about electronics," he said.
His lion solution came from an old car battery, an indicator box, and a switch. "The solar panel charges the battery, and the battery supplies the power to the small indicator box. I call it a transformer. And the indicator box makes the lights flash."
Now other homes and villages are using his invention to protect livestock. To see how he came up with the idea and what Richard Turere is doing now, watch the full TED Talk below:
