A new paper by Dr. Philip ‘Flip’ Stander, founder of Desert Lion Conservation, details the return of northwest Namibia’s lions to the Skeleton Coast. Though there is evidence that lions previously predated seals, cormorants, and scavenged whales in the area, Dr. Stander’s research is the first systematic look at coast lions. Two prides, which Dr. Stander has termed the Uniab/Obab and the Hoanib Floodplain prides have made the coastal area an important part of their home-range.
Dr. Stander is an important part of the Lion Ranger program: he serves the program’s primary trainer and scientist and brings more than twenty years of full-time field experience to managing human-lion conflict in northwest Namibia. In February Dr. Stander provided important classroom and field-based training modules to Lion Rangers from six lion-range conservancies as well as staff from AfriCat North, IRDNC, and the University of Minnesota Lion Center. We are so pleased to be working closely with Dr. Stander. You can read his paper in full here.
Winning war against HWC is possible in any given context. Community based conservation begins with the communities and ends with the communities. This is really a good initiative and intervention.
We need to train more Lions Rangers to ensure cohabitation between Humans and Wildlife prevail and livelihoods are not hindered.