Large Carnivore Research Project

Big cats and other African predators are some of the most admired creatures on earth. Yet the very things that make them popular also put them in direct conflict with humans. Because of their vast hunting range and lethal prowess, they are rapidly disappearing from the face of the earth.

AWF knows that better understanding carnivores and their interactions with humans is the key to these animals’ future. Since 2002, AWF’s Large Carnivore Research Project has undertaken research aimed at ensuring the continued survival of large predators in the Kazungula Heartland.

The main goal of the Large Carnivore Research Project is to gain an understanding of predators in the Heartland – their populations, their behaviors and their movements – and their interactions with people in order to develop appropriate conservation actions.

The project studies a variety of carnivorous species including African wild dog, lion, spotted hyena, leopard, and jackal, but focuses primarily on lions and spotted hyena. The size and abundance of lions and hyenas mean that these animals have a larger impact on the landscape than other species, including greater potential for conflict with humans.

Conflict with humans is in fact the biggest threat to the large carnivores. Because of livestock predation, the most common human reaction to carnivores is killing them. This has resulted in the near extinction of wild dog throughout Africa and a precipitous drop in all predator numbers across the continent, including lions. The loss and fragmentation of habitat due to agriculture and livestock activities is an additional and ever-growing threat. Expanding human populations are putting carnivores and humans into even more conflict. The challenges for the future will be not only to conserve sufficient space (and habitat connectivity) for carnivores but also to find ways to minimize human-wildlife conflict.

In northeastern Botswana and the Caprivi region of Namibia, AWF’s Gosiame Neo-Mahupeleng is studying the large carnivores and their impact on the human settlement across the Chobe River through participatory surveys with local communities, radio telemetry, and large landscape surveys of human population and distribution.

The project has collected data on carnivore and prey populations and human-wildlife conflict and has attached GPS/radio collars in order to collect data on movement patterns. The project team is also gathering important information on the economic impact of predators in the region.

In addition, Gosiame has become an important member of conservation policy circles in the region and has established strong working relationships with the wildlife conservation and protected area authorities of both countries. He has also established solid partnerships with communities and local organizations. This is one of the most important outcomes of the project in determining the future success of future conservation in the Kazungula Heartland.

Thus far, the research in the Kazungula Heartland has collected much interesting data, but has also raised several intriguing questions. Though a typical male lion dominates a pride and a territory for only two to three years, at the Chobe waterfront two unrelated male lions have dominated for the last six years and the whole population is now related to the two males. Have these males become successful due to the strength they have gained from good hunting, enabling them to fight off other competitors? Or, are human impacts on the landscape making it difficult for young adult males to arrive at the Chobe waterfront to continue breeding and roaming their new territory? The answers to these questions, as well as information about human-lion conflict in this area, will help conservationists manage lion populations – and human-carnivore conflict – in the Kazungula Heartland in years to come.