The Lion Assemblage

Growing lion populations and recent expansion of their ranges have notable impact on other species.  KAZA TFCA is one of the last global refuges for large predators, hosting approximately 20% of the remaining lion populations, ¼ of African wild dogs and other vulnerable carnivore species. However, negative interactions between humans and wildlife, mainly referred to as human-wildlife conflicts (HWC), present a major challenge for large predator survival and TFCA visions of connectivity and coexistence. In revenge for attacked livestock, pastoral farmers often kill carnivores. In addition, poisoned carcasses targeting lions often kill other species such as vultures. In Northern Botswana, a stronghold of carnivore species in the KAZA TFCA, this has resulted in the killing of a significant part of the local lion population in the early 2010s. Today the lion population is again recovering. Various international programmes are seeking measures to mitigate HWC and to promote coexistence between humans and wildlife. Protective fences (kraals, bomas) have been widely applied to support rural households to enclose their cattle at night. However, these fences are not always locally used or maintained. Free-ranging unattended livestock vulnerable to carnivore depredation has become a common feature of many rural areas in the region. Thus, some programmes have broadened their field of action to changing local husbandry systems, through e.g. employing professional herders or establishing communal herds. This also gives rise to new hybrid pastoral cultures of knowledge.

The researcher focusing on this work package will accompany and interview people sharing landscapes with large predators as well as members of conservation organizations experiencing different forms of interaction through e.g. livestock depredation, wildlife tourism, tracking technologies and monitoring.

Key questions of this work package regard:

1. How is the concept of coexistence conceptualized and mediated among different scales of local, regional and global actors in the KAZA TFCA? To what extent does this impact its enactment?

2. Why has livestock herding increasingly disappeared in Northern Botswana and how can traditional herding knowledge be revitalized and applied in coexistence interventions?

3. How are coexistence interventions changing local perceptions and interactions with lions? How have lions and other large predators adapted to measures related to these interventions?