Tanzania - Manyara - Lion Collaring for Coexistence

Spanning over 44,000 acres, Manyara Ranch Conservancy is a remarkable landscape that sits at the heart of a vital corridor between Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks.

The success of this conservancy is a testament to the strength and commitment of the local communities who call this land home, but human-wildlife conflict is one of their largest challenges.

In particular, the pastoralist communities of Oltukai and Esilalei, who live on the edges of the conservancy, face challenges from the around 20 lions that roam freely in the area and prey on their livestock.

In retaliation and defence of their livelihoods, these communities have speared and killed lions. These losses have been devastating for conservation, but equally painful for the families who depend on their animals to survive.

So, we have partnered with Maasai Steppe Carnivore Conservation Trust (MCCT) to fit selected lions with GPS Tracking Collars to provide an early warning tracking system for Manyara’s lion prides. The collars provide real-time tracking of lion movements, so MCCT can alert herders to avoid them, and they enable the researchers and response teams to have an early warning system to proactively prevent conflict before it happens.

Lion collars have been proven to be an effective method of reducing human-lion conflict and enabling human-lion co-existence across various African landscapes.

Outside the nearby Tarangire National Park, lion collars have allowed MCCT to alert pastoralists to the presence of lions when they roam near to them so they can keep their livestock safe. They have also enabled Dr. Bernard Kissui and his team at MCCT to identify high conflict risk zones where they now deploy further mitigation efforts to protect people and carnivores.

Collared lions continue to lead their prides, breed successfully, and behave as they naturally would, without adverse effects. Collaring also provides important monitoring data, which helps inform conservation strategies to protect lions from other threats to their populations like disease outbreaks.

Three adult lionesses from three separate, loosely connected prides in Manyara Ranch Conservancy have been identified as target candidates for the collars.

The first collaring has been successfully undertaken by an experienced veterinary team, coordinated by renowned carnivore ecologist Dr. Bernard Kissui and the Maasai Steppe Carnivore Conservation Trust, building on over 20 years of trusted, on-the-ground experience in Tanzania.

You can be part of this initiative by supporting a lion collaring pack for $8,800 and your support will help:

– Reduce livestock losses and retaliatory killings

– Support faster response to disease threats

– Promote peaceful coexistence between lions and pastoralist communities

– Preserve the ecological role of lions in this vital wildlife corridor

Donate

You can donate to this project through our Royal African Foundation. 100% of your donation will go to project costs for the project you choose. Please contact us if you have any questions.