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Collaring for Coexistence: a Lifeline for Lions

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Collaring for Coexistence: a Lifeline for Lions

Collaring for Coexistence: a Lifeline for Lions

Collaring for Coexistence: a Lifeline for Lions

Collaring for Coexistence: a Lifeline for Lions

Collaring for Coexistence: a Lifeline for Lions

Lion Landscapes
Lion Landscapes
Lion Landscapes
Lion Landscapes
1 Campaign |
Nanyuki, Kenya
$11,320 USD 29 backers
107% of $10,500 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
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Digital Lion Thank You Photo

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Please note that 100% of funds received through our fiscal sponsor Houston Zoo reach us.

Houston Zoo Tax ID for US citizens is 74-1590271

 

 

 

Collaring for Coexistence:  
a Lifeline for Lions & Livestock

Using technology to restore coexistence

 

We know from experience that collaring helps protect lions by giving us data on the lion’s movements. This data helps us in the following ways:

 

 

 

The Laikipia and Samburu region of Kenya supports the 3rd largest lion population in the country, despite the presence of people and livestock throughout the region. Laikipia supports the most lions, thriving alongside livestock in densities that rival most National Parks in many areas. This is due to lower densities of livestock, plentiful wild prey and excellent livestock husbandry practices by core stakeholders. A resulting virtuous cycle of ‘Coexistence’, where lions rarely kill livestock and people rarely kill lions has been the status quo for many years. In this way, Laikipia acts as a source of wild lions, replenishing the rest of the region, where lions face more threats.

 

But now Laikipia’s lions are in danger; unprecedented influxes of many thousands of livestock and people from other regions has threatened the viability of the area for lions. Some lions have been killed directly due to conflict with incoming livestock owners. There is less food for lions because wild prey has also been killed directly or out-competed by tens of thousands of incoming livestock. 

 

The biggest threat to lions is that they have been exposed to large numbers of poorly defended livestock, and lions that have never killed livestock have started to view livestock as prey. 

 

Past experience has shown us that livestock depredation behavior in lions, once learnt, is a longer term problem that will not be resolved when the large numbers of livestock and people from other areas go home. Rather, now visiting livestock are leaving the area, lions are facing a period of nutritional hardship, and some lions are turning to kill resident livestock, that they previously co-existed with without incident. In short, an alarming number of Laikipia’s lions have developed a dangerous habit - people whose livelihood is threatened by lions often respond by killing the lions.

 

Lions and livestock owners in this region desperately need help, and they need it quickly before conflicts escalate.

 

 

 

 

Luckily long term research in the area has shown us that conflict between lions and people can be effectively managed by collaring and monitoring lion movements, and giving livestock owners access to real time lion movement data. This allows livestock owners to be pro-active and keep their livestock away from lions, or increase their protection of livestock when close to lions.

 

We have funding for some collars but not enough to protect all the prides in the worst hit areas. Funding is needed to obtain, deploy and manage 5 more specialized collars. We have years of experience doing this, and have everything laid out to take action as soon as contributions hit our bank account. 

 

 

How do the collars work?

One adult lioness in each pride, and one adult male in each male coalition is collared with a GPS collar that sends us hourly locations for the lion. Access to lion movement data is given to livestock owners via a user-friendly app (provided by Save the Elephants) that maps the lion locations on google earth. Even if livestock owners don’t have the same technology as all of us, almost all of them have access to smartphones and a cell network.

 

Is there anything else?

Yes -- Boma Shields.  We combine monitoring and information sharing with the testing and further development of Savannah Tracking’s Boma Shield system. This system responds to chips in the lion’s collar by setting off alarms and lights when the collared lion approaches livestock within a certain distance.

 

The harmless deterrents used (lights and alarms) often stop a lion attacking on their own but the system also ensures that human boma guards are awake and ready for the lion when it arrives. Our previous research has shown that lions who have repeated low success at killing livestock, reduce their attempts. This system will therefore better defend livestock against lions, and retrain livestock killing lions into thinking that livestock is off the menu.

 


During the last invasion of livestock from other areas, two big male lions, Dakteri and his brother, started to eat weakened cows and didn’t stop when the invasion ended. They had learnt that cows were easy prey, and began to target resident livestock owners, who they had previously co-existed with. Reports of lions killing livestock broke out all over the area. Thanks to the fact that Dakteri was collared we could see it was mostly him and his brother. It turned out that their hunting area was really big! We were able to send out daily information on their whereabouts to livestock owners so that they could better protect their bomas at the right time, by having extra guards, fires or deploy their lion lights. Gradually, Dakteri and his brother became so unsuccessful with their attacks on livestock that they went back to eating wild prey.

When lionesses have small cubs, they spend several weeks away from the support of their pride. A lioness, like Boadicea pictured here, can find this a stressful time as she struggles to protect her tiny cubs and feed herself without help from her pride. This is a time when a lioness is most likely to risk attacking livestock, and even people who come to close to her cubs. Luckily, Boadicea was collared and we could warn livestock owners where she was hiding her cubs so they avoided that area. Because of collaring and real-time monitoring, livestock owners can protect their livestock, and lions like Boadicea and her cubs get through the small cub phase and rejoin their pride without becoming livestock killers

 

 

Young adult lions like Livingstone have to eventually leave the security of their maternal pride and live without the experience of other older lions until they build a new pride of their own. These small bands of young adults still have a lot to learn and can turn to killing livestock. Equally they can learn to focus their hunting efforts on wild prey and avoid livestock. We have found that collaring these youngsters can help livestock owners to prevent them killing livestock so a habit never forms. “It is an impressionable time that could lead them to a short life of livestock killing, or a longer life of hunting wild prey and avoiding conflict with people.” Dr. Alayne Oriol Cotterill.

 

Are there any risks?

The good new is that we have years of experience and we have never had a lion injured by a collar. Lions are completely unaffected by their collars and remain as wild as they always were, unaware that they are being tracked by livestock owners. Rather than use the information to help them kill lions, livestock owners feel more informed, experience less conflict, and are much more tolerant of the lions in their area. Here are some success stories with collars in this region:

 

  1. Data from the collars provides huge amount of information for our ongoing research efforts to reduce human-lion conflict
  2. We can identify which lion is killing livestock
  3. We are able to respond to that lion by increasing monitoring efforts and informing livestock owners
  4. Livestock owners are able to avoid collared lions
  5. If avoidance is not possible, livestock owners are able to allocate extra effort to defend livestock at the right time i.e. when the lion is near their livestock
  6. Access to real-time data from collars makes livestock owners feel engaged and empowered
  7. Because livestock owners see the daily patterns and activities of  “their” lions, they start to understand them. Familiarity makes livestock owners much more tolerant.

  8. All of the above make lions less likely to kill livestock, and people less likely to respond to livestock loss by killing the lion i.e. coexistence is restored!

 

 

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