Tag archives for Big Cats Initiative
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Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend. Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend, or pick your favorite segments and listen now below! Episode: 1309 – Air Date:…
Lions No Match for Young Boy and His Invention: Richard Turere at TED
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on February 27, 2013 
“At the age of 6 to 9, I was responsible for my fathers cows,” says Richard Turere, now 13, and having just spoken in front of about 1500 people at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California. “And these lions were very annoying, because they were killing my father’s cows.” Taking his responsibility seriously, Richard…
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It’s Day 2 of our Big Cats Week Closer Look series and we’re bringing you a story you have to hear to believe. Not many people can say they’ve been this close to a lion, much less had one fall asleep on top of them.
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The king of the African savannah is in serious trouble because people are taking over the continent’s last patches of wilderness on unprecedented scale, according to a detailed study released this week. The most comprehensive assessment of lion (Panthera leo) numbers to date determined that Africa’s once-thriving savannahs are undergoing massive land-use conversion and burgeoning human population growth. The decline has had a significant impact on the lions that make their home in these savannahs; their numbers have dropped to as low as 32,000, down from hundreds of thousands estimated just 50 years ago.
Posted by 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,…
Ruff. Roar. Snoop Dogg Rebrands
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on August 1, 2012 
Rap legend Snoop Dogg has shifted his attention to reggae music and changed his name to Snoop Lion. Lions themselves face bigger issues than rebranding alone could solve.
In recent weeks, human-wildlife conflict in Kenya has grown more severe. This week, Maasai warriors rampaged across the Amboseli ecosystem, following an unsuccessful interaction between tribal leaders and the Kenya Wildlife Service. Not far behind the recent killings near Nairobi National Park and elsewhere in the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya is again plagued by back-to-back…
Nairobi National Park is likely one of the most visited protected areas in all of Africa, home to wildlife including lions and other big cats that are possibly viewed by more people than any others in Africa. Yesterday morning, six lions were killed just outside the protected area. Big Cats Initiative Grantee Dr. Paula Kahumbu is dedicated to protecting…
Big Cats Initiative grantee Florian Weise reports on GPS tracking and camera trap photos of a beautiful four-year-old leopard in the mountains of south-west Namibia.
“WILD SUPREME” Photo Exhibit Opens in NYC
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on June 7, 2012 
A new exhibit of photographs by NG Explorer-in-Residence Beverly Joubert brings the majesty of the wild into the heart of Manhattan, and draws attention to the plight of big cats in the wild.
Rather than the open plains of the Serengeti, the habitat for this study has fairly dense vegetation, making direct observation of cheetah behavior nearly impossible. That’s where Crittercam comes in.
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In Namibia, I visited a foundation with their ear to the ground on the latest technological developments in conservation. From cyber-stalking their GPS collared cheetah via Google Earth and Sirtrack to scanning footprints (spoor) into an analytical database, N/a’an ku sê Foundation is combining new tech with on-the-ground analogue (so to speak) work in the…
The Big Cats Initiative Grants Program seeks to identify and support projects that engage in immediate actions leading to reductions in big cat mortality. 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…
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 Grantee Florian Weise provides this dispatch from the field: Leopard given GPS collar after capture on Namibian cattle ranch A large portion of central Namibia’s landscape is used for cattle…
Community-Based Conservation Saves Big Cats in Iconic African Park
Posted by Marcus & Kate Westberg on February 8, 2012 
Text and photos by Kate and Marcus Westberg The Masai Mara is a place of great beauty and drama where people and wildlife live side by side. While having a savannah full of wildlife on your doorstep seems amazing to us, living with lions is never easy. With the generous support of the National Geographic…
National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative has teamed up with Panthera, the world’s leading organization devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s 37 wild cat species. Together, we aim to further the global fight to save big cats in the wild.
Elvis Kisimir is the African People & Wildlife Fund’s Human Wildlife Conflict Officer. He is a young Maasai man, well known and respected in the Maasai Steppe where the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative and Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld of the African People & Wildlife Fund have teamed up to save lions.
African Wildlife Conquers London
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on July 5, 2011 
Epic vistas, heart-pounding action, and intimate details are all on display in a new exhibit of photos by Explorer-in-Residence Beverly Joubert, collected over a ten-year period studying lions, leopards, and other wildlife in the Okavango Delta, Duba Plains, Mombo, and the Selinda Reserve.
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.
Kenyan Chainsaw Gang Thwarted
Posted by Amy Bucci of NG Staff on June 4, 2011 National Geographic Big Cats Initiative grantee Anne Kent Taylor continues her updates from the field in Kenya this weekend. Her adventures this week include a giraffe rescue and an encounter with a chainsaw gang. Taylor has been using funding from the Big Cats Initiative to provide wire fencing to Kenya’s Maasai herders, on the basis…
National Geographic Big Cats Initiative grantee Anne Kent Taylor sent another dispatch from the field in Kenya’s Maasai Mara region. Her account details life among Africa’s wild big cats and the growing conflict between humans and animals competing for the same resources. Anne Kent Taylor’s National Geographic grant supports her work in providing chainlink fencing…
Anne Kent Taylor continues her reports from the field in Kenya, where she and local collaborators have been providing chainlink fencing to farmers to shield their cattle, goats and other animals from big predators. In the face of “horrific” predation of livestock, the fencing program has been achieving very encouraging results. One farmer reported watching…
Anne Kent Taylor reports from rural Kenya that her project to help livestock farmers fence their animals at night has put barriers around 200 bomas–and so far there have been no reports of predation in the protected enclosures. The work is supported by the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, an initiative by the National geographic…
Investors in sport hunting in Uganda’s game parks have up to January next year to stop shooting wild animals for fun, The Uganda news site The New Vision reported recently. According to The New Vision: “This follows a resolution from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to cancel hunting concessions offered years ago to the wildlife…
Continuing her blogging from the field, in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, National Geographic Big Cats Initiative grantee Anne Kent Taylor reports that to date some two hundred livestock enclosures have been fenced against predators–and thusfar there has not been a single report of a protected animal taken by a big cat. “This is so…
