News

Two lionesses speared after livestock killings

Lions are amazing animals, but can be extremely hard to live with – and much of their remaining range is on human-dominated land, where they often come into conflict with local people. WildCRU’s Ruaha Carnivore Project in southern Tanzania has been dealing with very intense conflict over the past few weeks: several lions attacked livestock and domestic dogs night after night, and eventually killed over 20 animals. The team did all they could to prevent more attacks, lion hunts or poisonings – the Lion Defenders stayed out at vulnerable households all night for several days at a time, and one of them (Mandela) even chased a lion off on foot!

However, eventually the attacks became too much and the villagers received permission from local authorities to kill the lions. Two lionesses were speared – one had very bad teeth indeed, which could be the reason for her becoming a problem animal. The team did a great job in calming the villagers and stopping poisoning or indiscriminate killing, so although everyone was sad at the lions’ deaths, our work on the ground prevented what would have probably been far more wildlife killing. These incidents highlight the need for ongoing work to reduce carnivore attacks, give people sufficient benefits to outweigh the costs of carnivore presence, and work closely with the local community to ease coexistence with these incredible but dangerous species. This is the approach that WildCRU takes in many projects around the globe, and although it is very challenging work, we are gradually improving our conflict mitigation methods and improving the outlook for both people and wildlife.