A future for the Kalahari lions

In Botswana, there are many commercial cattle farms close to national parks and game reserves, which is a serious dilemma. Killing of cattle, goats and donkeys by predators occurs frequently. The so-called "farmer-predator conflict" is common in areas where domestic and wild animals live in close vicinity to each other.

The Botswana government compensates farmers for livestock losses due to predators. But in the eyes of many, the amount is too small and they don’t bother to make the effort to proof that their livestock fell victim to predators.

Reasonable measures would be: A close cooperation between farmers and conservationists, higher compensation and a more accurate monitoring program of problem animals using radio collars. However, all these measures are very expensive.

The SAVE project „farmer-predator conflict“

SAVE seeks solutions and points out new ways to prevent the shooting of predators. Hereby, SAVE cooperates closely with the Kalahari-Predator-Conservation and the CKGR & Magkadigkadi Research. Our local partners have continuous discussions with farmers, who are open to alternatives.

Protected from being shot. The anaesthetized lion can be taken to a save place now.

Instead of resorting to guns they now call the staff of CKGR & Makgadikgadi Research if they see lions on their farm. The researchers will immediately try to capture the predators and translocate them into safer areas. Their goal is to always find a common solution with the respective farmer. But this can only be an interim solution.

In the long term, SAVE hopes for new insights through research. Therefore, SAVE is cooperating with a team of scientists that is testing new methods to find a general solution for the conflict. “Monitoring” is an important research tool: Individual predators are radio-collared and monitored by satellite. The researchers can track the animals’ locations and movements. With the help of this method it appeared that the death of livestock is very often not the predators’ responsibility but is caused by diseases for example. Only close monitoring and subsequent documentation can bring this evidence and can eventually lead to a change of awareness among the farmers.

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