Over the weekend, the Lion Rangers of Anabeb Conservancy, partnering with Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) Game Capture Unit, successfully collared three desert-adapted lionesses in mountains of eastern Anabeb.

This group, which has been the cause of human-lion conflict incidents since at least April of this year, has recently moved to a remote waterhole in the mountains, where they are having good luck hunting mountain zebra. Over the past few weeks the Lion Rangers and IRDNC Rapid Response teams have been working diligently in the area to understand the lion’s movements, to maximize the chance of success during the collaring operation.

Over two nights, the Lion Rangers, MEFT, and Naankuse veterinarian, Dr. Maaike de Schepper, placed bait and played audio recordings to attract lions to the area. Long nights waiting for lions are not uncommon when collaring – sometimes it takes nearly a week to be successful. The patience and coordination of the team paid off in the early morning hours of the second night, when all three lions settled at the bait and were darted without incident. Two satellite and one early-warning collar were placed on the group. This will help monitor the lions’ movements and inform nearby farmers when lions are close to their homesteads. Said Anabeb Conservancy Natural Resource Monitor, Ronald Karutjaiva, “these are important lions and it is important that we take responsibility to monitor them.”

Thanks to all the hard work of the Anabeb Lion Rangers and MEFT’s experienced Game Capture Unit. Special thanks to Naankuse for availing Dr. de Schepper for these operations. Collars were provided through a grant from the Community Conservation Fund of Namibia, supported by KfW.