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 article’s abstract reads:
In the Kunene Region of northwest Namibia, desert-adapted lion (Panthera leo) numbers increased from the late 1990s to 2015. They have since declined by as much as two-thirds. This is primarily as a result of lions killed following human-lion conflict (HLC) incidents, within communal conservancy lands. HLC and conflict with other predators threatens pastoralists’ already-tenuous livelihoods, eroding the economic instrumentalism pillar of the conservancy system. Our survey quantitatively and qualitatively examined pastoralists’ livelihoods, perceptions of lions, and the efficacy of recently implemented HLC interventions in core lion range conservancies; it is a follow-up to a previous survey (Heydinger et al. 2019). Results show that livestock losses over the past decade likely exceed 80%. These losses are overwhelmingly attributed to the effects of drought and predators. Lions are considered the most problematic species, with 57% of respondents holding negative attitudes towards lions, while 84% say they do not benefit from having lions in their conservancy. Yet, problems with other predators, such as spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) and black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), are more widespread. The effects of HLC interventions, including Lion Rangers, human-wildlife conflict Rapid Response Teams, an early-warning system, and predator-proof livestock enclosures (kraals), are not uniformly experienced and show no unequivocal improvement in respondents’ attitudes towards lions. Results are discussed in the context of supporting pastoralists’ livelihoods, and as part of an ongoing process for strengthening HLC interventions for the conservation of lions and other carnivores on communal lands.
The Namibian Journal of Environment has previously published other research on lions in northwest Namibia, including examinations of lion diet and human-lion interactions at the Skeleton Coast, and a history of lions in Etosha. The Journal is a fantastic resource for those interested in learning more about Namibia’s natural environment and the people who reside within it.
