A recent paper, co-authored by conservationists at the Namibian Chamber of Environment, examines human-wildlife conflict at a national level. This interesting mapping and analysis shines a light on some of the unique challenges of human-lion conflict – in particular the need for locally-based approaches to mitigate, manage, and prevent human-lion conflict. The exercise sought to identify whether certain environmental variables could meaningfully predict when and where human-lion conflict would take place. In the results Tavolaro et al. write “no predictor variable was found to have a significant effect on number of annual reports of livestock depredation by lion[.]” They continue in the discussion, “[n]one of the predictors for livestock depredation [for all carnivore species] were statistically significant, which could be because impacts are so pervasive and widespread across such diverse landscapes and farm management systems…that no variable or set of variables can explain the spatial variability patterns…This suggests that drivers of livestock depredation need to be explored at a finer scale (i.e., regional or conservancy level) for an improved understanding and subsequent mitigation.”
These findings underscore the importance of a locally-based approach to limiting human-lion conflict. With no predictable environmental patterns to draw-upon, lion movements, livestock movements, and human-lion conflict require eyes and boots on-the-ground. This is the approach of the Lion Rangers program.
The Lion Rangers perform foot- and vehicle-based patrols in their respective conservancies to monitor lion and livestock movements. In our five years of work we have learned a great deal about which areas serve as human-lion conflict “hotspots” and what times of year conflict is most likely. This knowledge comes from a deep understanding of different areas, the effects of rainfall on wildlife movements, as well as the individual behavior of lions and groups of lions depending on demographic and other variables. The foundational pillars of community-based natural resource management emphasize the importance of local perspectives in custodianship of wildlife. It is encouraging to see this perspective reinforced by this high-quality, national study.
Of particular interest are other findings within the paper, which reads, “we found a strong negative correlation between the annual reports of livestock depredation (per conservancy) and the estimated abundance of ungulates counted annually[.]” These findings suggest that as large-bodied prey species decline, carnivores may turn to livestock for sustenance. The adage correlation does not equal causation applies here, but the findings are suggestive nonetheless. This highlights the importance of conservancies’ role as custodians of prey species and continued pursuit of evidence-based management relevant to such issues as quota-setting and anti-poaching initiatives. Of course all of these aspects take place under the uncertain shadow of climate change. Conserving the entire suite of wildlife in conservancies can help limit livestock depredation by carnivores, which has been shown to have dramatic effects on livelihoods in Kunene. This too is an important part of the work of the Lion Rangers.
