The Lion Rangers are pleased to congratulate Mr. Uakendisa Muzuma for his recent promotion with Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) to Senior Conservation Scientist. For the past six years, Mr. Muzuma has served as part of the Lion Rangers Leadership Team as Senior Advisor and Director. Following the release MEFT’s Human-Lion Conflict Plan for North-West Namibia in 2017, Mr. Muzuma joined the young Lion Rangers Program soon thereafter. His guidance and commitment to the program in the ensuing years has been central to growing our Early-Warning System, limiting human-lion conflict and lion mortalities, and to the emerging research on the desert-adapted lions. In his new role as Senior Conservation Scientist, Muzuma’s portfolio is expanding to include a greater role on international large carnivore issues as they pertain to Namibia and increased input into management and research policies. A native of northwest Namibia’s Kunene Region, Muzuma contributes an important voice for the desert-adapted lions and other desert-dwelling species at both national and international platforms. We are please to congratulate Mr. Muzuma on a well-deserved promotion.

Over the weekend the Lion Rangers and MEFT Game Capture staff worked non-stop to safely translocate back to Etosha six lions away from conflict in the Ehi-Rovipuka Conservancy.

Human-caused mortalities have long been a major limit to the lion population in northwest Namibia. This has been set down in research reports for years, including by Etosha ecologist Hu Berry, and desert-adapted lions researchers Flip Stander and John Heydinger. Recently an important new paper was published in Global Ecology and Conservation examining the factors contributing to lion mortalities along the boundary of Namibia’s Etosha National Park.

The rainy season has begun in northwest Namibia and the Lion Rangers have been hard at work monitoring the desert-adapted lions in the communal conservancies of Puros and Sesfontein. During the past year certain areas within these conservancies have been sites of human-lion conflict and our Western Patrol Leader Steven Kasaona has gone to great lengths to work with his Rangers to stave-off future conflicts.

The Lion Rangers’ work was recently spotlighted in the New York Times Style Magazine: Australia. Seasoned environmental journalist Anthony Ham visited with the Lion Rangers this past March following training at Mowe Baai. There he met with our Research Director, Dr. John Heydinger, and Southern Patrol Leader, Benjamin Kordom. A wide-ranging conversation touching on different aspects of desert-adapted lion conservation and the work of the Lion Rangers took place.

We appreciate Mr. Ham’s time and interest in our work and appreciate his willingness to accurately spotlight the role of the Lion Rangers – working to ensure a future for the desert-adapted lions.

The Lion Rangers Leadership Team, with some of our partners, recently authored an article detailing the effects of human-lion conflict on communal lands in northwest Namibia. This research examined the challenges communal farmers face in lion range conservancies, as well as farmers’ attitudes towards lions, and the effectiveness of human-lion conflict interventions. Published in the most recent issue of the Namibian Journal of Environment, this article provides another important update on the context of the Lion Rangers’ work and the need for further strengthening community-based natural resource management.

The work of Dr. Philip Stander, who helped found the Lion Rangers program, was recently spotlighted in a wonderful documentary film, Lions of the Skeleton Coast (trailer above). This stunning documentary follows Dr. Stander’s efforts to record and study the lives of three young lionesses within Namibia’s Skeleton Coast National Park. Stander’s work has been critical to better understanding the desert-adapted lions and it is great to get more of the lions’ story to the world.

Also, check out a very cool behind-the-scenes on the filming.

This past week four Lion Rangers were awarded for their tireless efforts and dedication to the cause of community-based lion conservation. At a ceremony held by Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism in Opuwo, Rinoveni Tjauira, Kaidue Uaroua, Esau Matundu, and Ndjitjiuee Olga Karizemi were each presented with a plague, certificate, cash prize, and livestock as small tokens of recognition for their tireless efforts.

Over the past week we are glad to report that two sets of lions have come together and started mating. Along the boundary of the Anabeb and Omatendeka conservancies, the dispersed male NPL-39 met up with the female NPL-34. On the night of 17 October, the pair killed a juvenile giraffe near Omukutu, which was photographed by the Lion Rangers and Rapid Response Team monitoring the area. During this same period the male XPL-143 made his way to the Hoaruseb, where he found the solitary lioness XPL-150.

This past week the South African Wildlife Management Association (SAWMA) held its annual conference in Windhoek. Hosted by the great folks at the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, this conference brought together wildlife researchers and conservationists from around the world with dozens of presentations on exciting research touching the future of Southern Africa’s wildlife.