The Big Cats Initiative Grants Program seeks to identify and support projects that engage in immediate actions leading to reductions in big cat mortality. BCI Grantees often provide updates from the field, and we love sharing them with you. BCI Grantee Florian Weise provides this dispatch from the field.

By Florian J. Weise, Head researcher at N/a’an ku sê Foundation

With the winter calving season in full flight in Namibia, conflicts with free-ranging large felids such as cheetahs and leopards can be expected to reach top levels again. The farming properties in the country cover vast areas of bush savannah where livestock and wildlife co-exist and predators roam freely. On these large farms effective protection of vulnerable young cattle and other livestock often becomes problematic in practical terms. It is a fact that some, although not many, large carnivores will occasionally predate on unprotected livestock. In the past this often resulted in indiscriminate captures of cheetahs and leopards as well as retaliatory killings of these animals. These conflicts need to be addressed and mitigated for the benefit of the farmers but also to increase tolerance of large cats that maintain a wildlife diet. Most Namibian farmers are willing to share their land with these iconic felids as long as livestock losses remain within economically acceptable thresholds.

In 2008, the large carnivore researchers of N/a’an ku sê Foundation started working with farmers to identify practical and cost-effective protection measures to help reduce conflicts and losses. Since then, the team has directly worked with more than 130 Namibian landowners. Farm properties are visited upon request and livestock husbandry as well as large carnivore management techniques are assessed on site. During these consultancies the testing and subsequent implementation of a variety of traditional and modern protective measures are discussed and often put into practice right away. The results can be astounding.

Many farmers have managed to reduce stock depredation immediately by up to 88% merely by “locking away” their young cattle behind thick walls of thorn bush during the night. Thorn bushes don’t cost anything but are very effective in preventing the cats access to young cattle, and especially so during the late evening and early morning hours when cattle are unguarded and predation usually occurs. Farmers also report that using indigenous African cattle breeds like Nguni makes a difference because these races still carry horns and mother cows have much stronger instincts of protecting their young against predators.

During the day, the presence of a guard dog, a herder or a guardian donkey works best as the felids avoid areas of intense activity or disturbance. Young dogs and donkeys can be bonded with individual livestock herds and eventually “adopt” the newborn and protect them against any intruder, sometimes even the farmers themselves. The use of a guardian donkey is more applicable to cattle herds rather than small stock, and often proves more cost-effective than a dog as the donkey doesn’t require special training, supervision or supplementary feeding.

More recently, the researchers have also begun using so-called bio-boundaries to temporarily repel cheetahs and leopards from calving grounds and thus reduce conflict risks. This involves finding locations of frequent carnivore activity such as leopard caves and cheetah marking trees in the vicinity of these areas. The team then places fresh lion scat (which is sourced from captive animals) at the activity spots to simulate the presence of a larger, dangerous predator. Lions used to co-exist with cheetahs and leopards on farmlands but are known to kill other predators to reduce competition where these species overlap. Cheetahs and leopards therefore have an instinct of avoiding areas of lion activity or simulated activity. So far, this new technique has been very successful and no calves have been killed in areas where lion scat was used as a repellent.

On selected farms, the researchers also systematically capture cheetahs and leopards and fit them with GPS tracking collars. The movements of the cats are then monitored intensively on a daily basis to examine which individuals frequently utilize calving areas or were located near a livestock kill. This helps to objectively determine the exact animal involved in stock depredation which can then be captured selectively and removed from the farm. At the same time, however, GPS monitoring also provides robust evidence that not all large carnivores are responsible for livestock predation. Landowners are generally very tolerant of cheetahs and leopards that have been proven “innocent” of stock depredation and they are left unharmed in their breeding habitat to maintain free-ranging populations.

The translocation of a suspected or confirmed stock raiding predator is only used as a last resort because often there’s simply not enough strong evidence that the animal has actually been involved in stock depredation. Also, continued removal of large carnivores from their native habitat cannot be the answer. The success of using such translocations as a reactive management tool to livestock killings is carefully assessed by the research team and contrary to most other studies on this subject there are strong indications that the technique can work to help alleviate conflicts in selected situations. In partnership with the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative and Duke University, the researchers are now analyzing monitoring information gathered from 30 translocated cheetahs and leopards and this study will be published in 2013.

Nonetheless, the main focus of N/a’an ku sê’s work remains on preventing conflict with farmers rather than reacting to problems. Combinations of different livestock protection methods have already delivered encouraging results and reduced the numbers of cheetahs and leopards killed on partner farms. The ultimate aim must be to increase tolerance of large carnivores in their natural habitats, and if that happens to be commercial farmland, effective and economical protection measures need to be implemented that reduce the costs that farmers incur from living with large carnivores. The BCI has been N/a’an ku sê’s main supporter of this important field work in 2012.

Not far behind the recent killings near Nairobi National Park and elsewhere in the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya is again plagued by back-to-back occurrences of acute human persecution, this time with more wildlife falling as unwitting surrogates to mortal human combat over the past week.

 Nick Brandt, of Big Life Foundation, has posted the two briefings in the past 36 hours.  They can be found here along with regular updates: http://www.facebook.com/#!/biglifefoundation. 

Last week, a Maasai child was tragically killed by a buffalo. 

“One officer from Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) unfortunately blamed the killing on the Maasai, not on the buffalo,” Brandt reports online.   “All hell broke loose. 200 warriors went on a rampage to spear any elephants and buffalo they could find. One buffalo was killed and one elephant speared in the process, before the warriors were temporarily talked down, the KWS officer moved elsewhere, and a provisional agreement made that the Director of KWS would meet to discuss the communities’ grievances (this) week.”

Maasai leaders took great offense at what they perceive as having been “snubbed” by the Director of KWS at this week’s meeting, who instead sent lower-ranking deputies.

“The Maasai were furious and over 100 moran (warriors) went on the rampage, killing any animal they came across outside the park on community land….where many of Amboseli’s elephants go every night,” notes Mara-based Big Cats Initiative (BCI) grantee Anne Kent Taylor.  “One of the bulls, called Ezra, was well known – 46 years old and a gentle soul.  …he was hit many times by spears, including one in his head – and died sometime later in agony.  (Another) was killed whilst sleeping under a tree and the carnage went on…”

EZRA, a well-known 46 year old male elephant was speared repeatedly, including in the head, following negotiation conflicts between Maasai and the Kenya Wildlife Service. Ezra eventually succumbed to his wounds. Photo by Nick Brandt

Nick Brandt reports that fortunately, “community and council leaders announced that there is to be no more killing.”  While this is certainly a relief, “some warriors are still out hunting, their blood up.  The meeting between the KWS director and community leaders is scheduled for August 6.”  In the meantime, however, the current crisis is far from over.

“Our rangers have still not been given the go ahead to go back out and get back to work protecting the wildlife, says Brandt.   “The ceasefire remains tentative, and poachers could come in now and take advantage of the situation if we cannot get our rangers (120) back into the field now.

Only our Tanzanian rangers monitoring the situation in that side of the border are out.”  For now, Amboseli’s wildlife currently remain relatively exposed and underproteced in the midst of ongoing crisis. 

The connected nature of human and wildlife populations and the intrinsic linkages between the well-being and support of both remains evident.  If we are to consider ourselves a part of the interdisciplinary global collective of conservationists, humanitarians, politicians, managers, researchers, storytellers, advocates, and local citizens, our way forward must be infused with a theme of equality, respect, and partnership.  BCI grantee Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld reflects that these events “really reinforce the importance of comprehensive approaches to conservation that work to strengthen community rights and participation in the management of natural resources and the derivation of benefits from them.”

LION KILLING IN KITENDEN, JUNE 2012

by Richard Bonham, Founder of the Maasailand Preservation Trust and Director of Operations for Big Life Foundation

The shocking statistics of the recent alarming decline of lion numbers in Africa has been well documented: an estimated mere 20,000 lions are left across Africa, a 90% drop in the last 20 years.

But we are in danger of witnessing an unprecedented and still-greater escalation.

Last week, we saw the massacre of a lion pride outside the Nairobi National Park—see “The Kitengela Six” post on this site.  We are now also sad to report the loss of a young male lion speared to death in Tanzania, just across the border from Amboseli National Park.

The lion strayed from the park into Tanzania, and made the fatal mistake of killing a cow, feeding on it, and not leaving the scene of the crime. As the Maasai of this area are reliant on livestock for their livelihoods, their reaction was predictable—they retaliated.

The nearest Big Life Foundation/Wildlife Management Area (WMA) team was alerted and able to get to the site quickly. With a posse of Maasai warriors tracking for another lion that had also roamed outside the park, the Big Life/WMA rangers went in pursuit to try to prevent them from killing any more lions.

The rangers managed to persuade the warriors to back off, allowing the lion to make it back into Kenya and the relative safety of the park and the adjoining group ranch.

The ranch is one of a number on the Kenyan side that has a compensation policy for local people whose livestock have been taken by lions. This program has been statistically proven to go a long way in helping mitigate human-carnivore conflict in the region. This latest unfortunate incident shows that such a program is also much needed on the Tanzanian side of the ecosystem.

by Dr. Paula Kahumbu, WildlifeDirect and the Big Cats Initiative 

The Kitengela Six: Video 1 of 3 (Warning: Graphic)

Yesterday morning’s killing of  six lions just 15 kilometers south of the Nairobi Park has sparked outrage in the Kenyan news and the news has gone global sparking huge debate. These weren’t any old lions, they are all individually known lions The two females (AF3 and AF4) and their cubs, two juveniles and two young cubs.

The local communities argue that their losses of livestock are not taken seriously by the Government authorities. The Government has threatened to arrest those responsible for killing the lions which has only hardened the community stand. This morning a local elder told me angrily that he was ready to go to jail – for saving his community’s livelihood.

The Kitengela Six: Video 2 of 3 (Warning: Graphic)

WildlifeDirect, working with the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative has been discussing the challenges with the local communities and seeking a lasting solution that will enable people to benefit from living lions to secure their future in this landscape. We are exploring how to secure adequate land for lions.

The Kitengela Six: Video 3 of 3 (Warning: Graphic)

By Florian J. Weise, Head researcher at N/a’an ku sê Foundation

Worldwide the management of large predators in human-dominated landscapes becomes more efficient and professional as monitoring technologies and scientific protocols advance. The carnivore researchers of N/a’an ku sê Foundation in Namibia use a variety of techniques and tools to shed light on the elusive lives of apex predators such as leopard Panthera pardus. The research programme mainly focuses on human-carnivore conflicts on Namibian livestock ranches but also documents the translocation of large carnivores from high conflict properties into conservation areas to assess this technique in biological and management terms.

Camera Trap Photo of Leopard Carrying Zebra Carcass. Photo courtesy N/a’an ku sê Foundation.

For example, field researchers employ a combination of GPS tracking collars, wildlife cameras  and direct observations to follow the animals’ fates for as long as possible after their release, in many cases for several years. This research yields important data on carnivore movements, survival, breeding status, prey selection, conflict with landowners, competition with other predators and the financial costs of intensive monitoring to determine the success rate of translocations.

As part of this monitoring scheme, N/a’an ku sê field researchers recently followed a four year-old leopard female, known as N027, that was released into a large nature reserve in December 2009. The female has since settled into a consistent range spanning approximately 223km² in the vast mountain ranges of south-west Namibia. Following her  release this leopard has not caused any conflicts with local landowners; quite contrary, she has moved into a low impact eco-tourism area, feeds on wildlife and her presence is regarded as an asset. The lodge owners have occasionally been lucky enough to spot the leopard at a waterhole during night observations with their guests.

Camera Trap Image of Leopard at Zebra Carcass. Photo courtesy N/a’an ku sê Foundation.

As a sub-adult, female N027 was captured by a cattle rancher as part of indiscriminate carnivore eliminations and her mother was shot in the same trap cage a few days earlier. Marlice van Vuuren, director of N/a’an ku sê, retrieved the leopard and oversaw her subsequent minimum-contact management to avoid habituation to humans, and with the purpose of relocation and release. The medical examination showed that the tip of her tail had been cut off by the trap door but the veterinarians were convinced that this would not impact her hunting skills significantly. Dr Rudie van Vuuren, Marlice’s husband and co-director at N/a’an ku sê, made arrangements for her release in prey-rich complex of adjoining conservation areas. Once strong enough to cope with the stress associated with a translocation, the leopard was fitted with a GPS satellite collar and released.

N/a’an ku sê’s field researchers have closely followed this female for well over two years now, and in the process have documented crucial parameters of the translocation. During a field expedition in February, the first photograph of the animal could be taken since her release in 2009 and it shows that N027 remains in excellent physical condition. Whilst monitoring tagged carnivores intensively, the scientists also record valuable data on other predators. For example, one of the motion-triggered wildlife cameras placed in N027’s range area recently provided a rare series of exciting images of an un-collared, resident leopard male feeding on a juvenile Mountain zebra.

It is extremely important that applied management practices such as translocations are carefully and consistently monitored, and responsibly accounted for, including successes but also failures. Tracking collars, cameras and a lot of walking are usually required to achieve meaningful results. Yet only through such efforts will it be possible to improve carnivore management and develop evidence-based decision protocols. At the same time, monitoring allows us extraordinary insights into the ecology of these charismatic large predators.

Camera Trap Photo of Leopard Eating. Photo courtesy N/a’an ku sê Foundation.

National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative supports the field research in 2012 and thus helps to generate critical information for the benefit of Namibian landowners and the country’s large carnivores.

Big Cats Initiative and its grantees have a near-uniform shared theme of conservation via deep engagement with local communities and stakeholders.  The connection between Paula Kahumbu, a BCI grantee and recipient of the National Geographic -Howard G. Buffett Award for African Conservation, and young Richard Turere is a shining of example of how the BCI’s grassroots-based conservation actions collaboratively find and implement the most imaginative, yet simple and effective conservation techniques.

Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld, Executive Director of the African People and Wildlife Fund, has been the recipient of multiple BCI grants and provides a prime example of how the BCI and its grantees work together to keep big cats safe. The Living Walls Program, spearheaded by Laly and the APW, results in both effective big cat conservation and improved lives for local people: a true win-win situation in which National Geographic is very proud to play a part.

Laly provides the following dispatch from the field:

Maasai Women Speak Out for Living Walls

The African People & Wildlife Fund and its partners, including the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, are thrilled to announce that we achieved our 2011 goal of 100 Living Walls in the Maasai Steppe!

APW’s Living Walls are now protecting approximately 25,000 head of livestock on a nightly basis and positively impacting nearly 2000 community members.

With livestock safe at night, reduced lion-livestock conflict means better outcomes for the big cats. It’s a win-win-win scenario that keeps cattle safe from lions, lions out of the way of Maasai spears and local habitat intact.

Read more about how our Living Walls are positively impacting women in an interview with Helena Mbarnoti and others in the Maasai Steppe by Mary McLaughlin, APW & US Peace Corps Volunteer:

How do you feel about wildlife (specifically lions/cheetahs)? Is this the common view of wildlife in your community?

Wildlife is a source of profit for the community. Many people are starting to see this but not all. The wildlife brings tourists here and that brings business to us (for selling our jewelry).
In the past, many people in the community saw animals as an annoyance (predators to their livestock) and used to set out bait or poison to kill the wildlife.

How do people in the community generally interact with wildlife?

Before we had living walls, there was a great deal of wildlife disturbing the livestock at night. This was because there was not a strong enough reinforcement around the Boma (homestead) to keep the livestock in and the wildlife out. Now more and more people in the village have the living wall, (wire fencing attached to growing Commiphora trees) which is providing a strong reinforcement in the Boma to keep the livestock in at night and other potential predators out. This has greatly reduced predation and therefore has reduced instances of retaliation such as putting out poisoned bait to kill wildlife.

The ‘ukuta hai” (living wall in Swahili) give us peace of mind so that we can sleep better at night knowing our livestock (livelihood) are safe.

Why did you decide to have a living wall put in at your home?

Other people in the village had put in living walls and I saw the peace of mind they had from the living walls. People have been very welcoming of living walls in the village because they see many benefits and very little cost to install. We women help cut the [Commiphora] trees in the dry season for planting as the main reinforcement of the living wall. The trees must be dry when planted in order for them to take root. APW helps us to bring the cut trees back to the Boma, where they are planted by the men and then APW helps to put the wire fencing around the trees as a strong reinforcement. We contribute 25% to the cost of the wire fencing.

The living walls then provide us with safety for our livestock for years to come. The benefits are great; I saw that it was well worth installing a living wall at my home.

Has the living wall changed your daily activities?

As women in a Maasai Village, we help perform daily tasks to take care of the livestock. Before living walls, we used thorn bushes as reinforcement to reduce predation. The thorn bushes (masanzu in Swahili) dry out and therefore have to be replaced often. It is the job of the women of the household to collect the thorn bushes.

“At any time my husband could ask me to go and collect thorn bushes to put around the livestock, even late in the evening.”

Do you feel that the living wall has any specific benefits for you as a woman in the Maasai community?

It has reduced the workload by creating a permanent barrier around the livestock so that we don’t have to go out collecting thorn bushes on a weekly basis.

According to some of the women who wished to remain anonymous, their husbands would punish them if they did not collect the thorn bushes. They said that living walls have not only reduced their daily work but in several cases have also reduced cases of spousal abuse.

Has the living wall changed your attitude towards wildlife in your community?

People have greater peace of mind and have less harsh feelings towards the wildlife. If we hear wildlife near our Boma at night we do not wake in fear, we know we can sleep because the predators are not able to get to our livestock. The walls have reduced retaliation through poisoning or hunting down predators for killing livestock.

Many thanks to all our partners, supporters and local community members who helped the African People & Wildlife Fund to achieve this important milestone for lion and cheetah conservation and the improved coexistence of people and big cats. We would like to extend special recognition to the Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative for their critical support of this work.

Leopard given GPS collar after capture on Namibian cattle ranch

A large portion of central Namibia’s landscape is used for cattle production. On these vast cattle ranches indigenous apex predators such as lion and spotted hyena have long been extirpated and in the process other large carnivore species, including the leopard, have become dominant and flourished in numbers. Leopards coexist with both livestock and game animals on the ranches, but conflicts with ranchers frequently arise during calving seasons when young cattle are vulnerable to predation by leopards. The researchers of N/a’an ku se have been working with Namibian cattle ranchers since2008 inorder to mitigate these conflicts for the benefit of both ranchers and the big cats. The research aims to document population characteristics and dynamics of leopard and cheetah as well as brown hyena on cattle ranches and assess conflict levels. At the same time, it contains applied elements in testing livestock protection measures and carnivore management techniques to prevent predation and in the course increase tolerance of the large carnivores on ranches.

The truth is that not all leopards are livestock predators and the ranchers know this and are generally tolerant of the large cats, even if some livestock losses occur but remain in acceptable thresholds. Individual leopards, however, can cause significant economical damage to ranchers if they develop a habitual taste for cattle. These scenarios need be dealt with and ranchers increasingly make more use of scientific information available from intensive carnivore monitoring programs.

For example, Marlice van Vuuren, director of N/a’an ku se, was approached by a cattle rancher from the Khomas Hochland area in central Namibia after a calf had been killed by a young leopard male. The leopard had been known to live on this particular cattle ranch for approximately one year already and previously had never caused any problems as he was pursuing natural prey, especially mountain zebra and greater kudu. After attacking the calf, however, the rancher decided to trap the leopard. The remains of the calf were used as bait in a live trap and the leopard was captured within 24 hours. Footprint assessments at the kill and capture sites confirmed that the responsible animal had been caught. Moreover, no further stock losses were noted in the following days. As part of their partnership with the research program, the rancher refrained from trapping several other leopards known to roam the property, including an adult female with dependent cubs.

The rancher also agreed that the leopard could be released again onto a game reserve if the animal was fitted with a tracking device for subsequent monitoring. With the help of a veterinarian, the researchers immobilized the leopard and performed an intensive health assessment. In addition, several body measurements were taken and the 3.5 year-old male, now registered as N047, weighed 42kg and showed intact dentition. Finally, the leopard was tagged with a modern GPS satellite collar that will enable the researchers to closely follow the animal’s movements through satellite tracking and ground monitoring. The device has been programmed to document 4 positions of the leopard every day for up to 3 years. After the necessary permits had been obtained from government wildlife authorities, the leopard was moved to the new Neuhof Nature Reserve where it was released. The reserve measures in excess of 300km² and harbors high natural prey densities but not many leopards. Namibia is fortunate enough to still have these large land tracts with very low human population densities and land uses compatible with the presence of large carnivores. Especially in the southern parts of the country large areas of land, like Neuhof, have recently been converted from traditional livestock ranches to conservation and/or tourism reserves where species like the leopard can roam freely and have very little chance of causing conflict.

Whilst the translocation of large carnivores is arguably a controversial management tool and only comes into play when damage has already been done, the technique has rarely been assessed properly or been evaluated in scientific terms. The data that will be gathered from this leopard will contribute towards a larger PhD study on these issues and help researchers understand whether translocations are a feasible and suitable carnivore management option. So far, the leopard is doing very well in its new environment and the team will keep a close eye on him. For 2012, National Geographic’s Big Cat Initiative supports the research work of N/a’an ku se in the endeavor to promote more evidence based big cat management on Namibian ranchlands.

While a new government statement announces the stretch across the Park will not be paved, conservationists’ concerns remain–focused on the traffic, not the tarmac.

Photo of wildebeest migration by Stuart L. Pimm.

The Background

Wildebeest and other mammals, in what is certainly the most famous terrestrial migration on Earth, seasonally move up the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara in Kenya and back. Laid in the path of these migration routes, The Road would interrupt some of the most important and well-known natural cycles in Africa. Enabling hundreds of vehicles to cut through the park per day, the plan not only puts individual animals at risk from direct roadkill impacts, increased poaching or smuggling, and greater exposure to traffic pollution, it has the potential to disrupt the natural functioning of the ecosystem as a whole, which is home to roughly ten percent of the world’s lions.

In June of 2010, shortly after this issue went public, Nat Geo News Watch, the NG Big Cats Initiative, and advisor Prof. Stuart Pimm published “The Serengeti Road to Disaster.” In September 2010, 27 more scientists of international renown published an article in Nature entitled “Road Will Ruin Serengeti.” A massive collective of organizations, institutions, universities, and individuals have hammered this issue at every turn. The intensity of criticism has not substantially waned over the past year, nor has the prominence of those voicing concern.

The initially proposed road (red line) would bisect the annual migrations of wildebeest, zebra and other species as they move seasonally. The road would cross a substantial part of the Serengeti and associated ecosystems (shown in green), including its wildest areas (paler green). Map and legend by Stuart L. Pimm.

This Week’s News

The government of Tanzania issued a statement Wednesday on the “State of Conservation of Serengeti National Park.” It states “The 53km section traversing Serengeti National Park will remain gravel road…” and declares that the “proposed [tarmac] road will not dissect the Serengeti National Park and therefore will not affect the migration and conservation values of the Property” … but there’s a lot of wiggle room in there.

While many are celebrating the statement as a declaration that the road is “scrapped” or “stopped,” others are more cautious. The other roadbuilding plans outside the Serengeti are proceeding, and the gravel road into and across the park would still be met a few kilometers past its borders at either end by a major tarmac highway. Traffic through the park likely could still rise considerably.

The preferred solution for conservationists is to have the road avoid the park altogether. In recognition of this, the government said that it is “also seriously considering the construction of a road … running south of Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park.” However, past experience keeps some experts skeptical.

Dr. Paula Kahumbu, a Kenyan conservationist who is founder and director of the NGO WildlifeDirect, a National Geographic Big Cats Initiative Grantee, and winner of a 2011 National Geographic Society/Buffett Award for Leadership in Conservation is one of them. “We would like to see a stronger commitment that defends the Serengeti in to perpetuity. As it now stands, there is no promise not to go ahead with preexisting plans once the heat is off. It’s happened before.”

The Future

Whether the government’s statement is a permanent promise, or an effort to temporarily relieve international pressure remains to be seen. I am hopeful that we’ll soon receive word of a commitment to pave an alternate route south of Serengeti National Park.

Until then, we’re still just kicking the can down “The Road.”

Photo of zebra migration by Stuart L. Pimm.