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Introduction to the Collar A Lion Project
  • The Collar A Lion project is an initiative aimed at conserving lions and promoting understanding of their importance in the ecosystem. The project has seen a positive start, with several sponsors already on board. These sponsors have played a significant role in propelling the project’s goals forward.
  • Among the notable sponsors are Gavin Courtenay, CEO of African Risk Transfer, Simon Espley, CEO of Travel & Conservation Company Africa Geographic, and the Southern African Conservation Trust. Individual contributions also include personal sponsorships and donations, such as those from Kobie van der Westhuizen, Tertius Bosho˜, and David Rosen in memory of his late father, Leo Rosen.
Education and Awareness
  • One of the key components of the Collar A Lion project is its focus on education and awareness. The project’s original educational lion comic, first distributed in 2012, is set to be updated and re-released.
  • This comic plays a crucial role in spreading valuable information to rural schools located near protected areas. It educates families on the importance of coexisting with wild lions, thereby fostering understanding and reducing potential conflicts.
Science and Human-Lion Conflict
  • A significant aspect of the Collar A Lion project is understanding and managing the human-lion conflict. By delving deep into the science of lion behaviour and movements, the project seeks to find solutions that can prevent confrontations and ensure the safety of both humans and lions.
  • The majestic nature of the African lion and its role in the ecosystem is celebrated, but it’s equally important to address the challenges that arise from their interactions with local communities. Through a combination of passion for conservation and scientific research, the project aims to strike a balance between lion conservation and human safety.
Role of the Southern African Conservation Trust (SACT)
  • The Southern African Conservation Trust (SACT) plays a pivotal role in the Collar A Lion project, especially in the use of technology for conservation efforts. A primary method employed is fitting satellite GPS collars on dispersing lions, particularly on males aged between 2 and 3 years.
  • These collared lions provide invaluable data on their movements, especially when they travel long distances in search of new territories. Such information is crucial for understanding routes for corridors between protected areas and ensuring the genetic diversity of lion populations. The collars also help in monitoring lions that might cause conflicts with nearby communities.
Community Collaboration
  • Collaboration with local communities is at the heart of the Collar A Lion project. The TKPP team and SACT have established a system wherein they closely monitor lion prides situated on park boundaries, which are often in proximity to human settlements.
  • Thanks to the GPS satellite collars, the team can provide an early warning system to the communities, informing them about the whereabouts of lions. This not only allows locals to safeguard their livestock but also ensures that any potential threats from lions moving out of protected areas are swiftly addressed. In some cases, the team takes proactive measures to deter lions from community lands and guide them back into the protected areas.

Get Involved

Please continue to support our efforts and help us preserve Africa’s wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL MEAN:

100% of your donation will go directly to any item/project you choose. Or if you prefer, we’ll select the project for you. Either way, you can be assured that your contribution will have a positive impact on conservation in Southern Africa.

No matter how small, your donation will make a difference.

You may also be interested in

species
Lion

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Project Description

Conservation of all Species in the Kruger National Park

The Kruger Large Mammal Research project aims to ensure the conservation of all species of wildlife in the Kruger National Park. SANParks recognises that large mammals are perhaps the most important biological assets for conservation as they drive African savannah systems and attract tourists which in turn benefits people living in these areas.

Preserving Biodiversity

The project aims to effectively manage the inevitable human-wildlife conflict and to preserve the biodiversity of the area through restoring the natural order of the ecosystems. The researchers here understand that ecosystems function best when they are unstable and are taking steps to restore natural order by removing unnatural interventions like additional water sources and fences (where it will not affect tourism) and managing mammal populations by relocating certain animals. These interventions are intended to contribute towards greater biodiversity. The research focuses on four areas: elephants, rhinos, carnivores and large herbivores.

HOW YOU CAN HELP BY SUPPORTING SATIB CONSERVATION TRUST

The SATIB Conservation Trust has provided a fully insured GWM research vehicle which will be used to support the large mammal research programme in the Kruger National Park.

We are also planning on assisting with conservation education for tourists and surrounding communities and a new human-wildlife conflict programme dealing with lion predation of cattle in community areas on the western boundary.

Get Involved

Please continue to support our efforts and help us preserve Africa’s wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL MEAN:

100% of your donation will go directly to any item/project you choose. Or if you prefer, we’ll select the project for you. Either way, you can be assured that your contribution will have a positive impact on conservation in Southern Africa.

No matter how small, your donation will make a difference.

You may also be interested in

project
Hwange Lion Research
post
Lion Conservation Best Practices
species
Elephant
species
Rhinocerous

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Project Description

Research into Human-Wildlife Conflict

Elephants for Africa researches the ecological and social requirements of African elephants, and puts these into the context of human-wildlife conflict through a series of research projects. Most human-elephant conflict involves male elephants and they are the focus of much of the research.

Education Initiatives

Education programmes are an important element of Elephants for Africa’s work and the goal is to develop young people into the conservation leaders of the future and to ensure communities benefit from their wildlife. This in turn, will increase understanding and tolerance of elephants within the communities living alongside them. This will help to reduce misunderstanding of the animals, highlight the benefits of ecotourism and find positive ways for humans and elephants to live alongside each other. Elephants for Africa’s education programme focuses on empowering the communities with the skills to enable them to come up with solutions to conflict that works for them in their communities and gives them ownership of both the problem and, more importantly, the solution. It is the participation and commitment of the people that live side-by-side with elephants that will ensure the survival of the species.

HOW YOU CAN HELP BY SUPPORTING SATIB CONSERVATION TRUST

The SATIB Conservation Trust has provided logistical support, insurance services, PR support and business advice for Elephants for Africa in Botswana. The Trust is also planning to assist with human-wildlife conflict issues, educational materials and supply of vehicles to assist the Botswana research.

The Chairman of SATIB Conservation Trust, Brian Courtenay, is a trustee of Elephants for Africa, a charity registered in England and Wales, as well as a trustee of the related Botswana non-government organisation.

Get Involved

Please continue to support our efforts and help us preserve Africa’s wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL MEAN:

100% of your donation will go directly to any item/project you choose. Or if you prefer, we’ll select the project for you. Either way, you can be assured that your contribution will have a positive impact on conservation in Southern Africa.

No matter how small, your donation will make a difference.

You may also be interested in

project
GLTP: Elephants Alive
NEWS
Green with Envy Newsletter
species
Elephant
NEWS
EFA Research Papers & Theses

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Project Description

Scope

Elephants Alive operates in South Africa’s Kruger National Park which has recently been incorporated into the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park along with the Limpopo and Gonarezhou National Parks. Elephants Alive’s aim is to preserve the elephant populations of the area and reduce human-elephant conflict through effective interventions and educational projects.

The research team focuses on the following:

  • Tracking elephants using cutting edge technology to understand elephant’s movements.
  • Individual based elephant identification studies to understand elephant’s social landscapes
  • Vegetation surveys to understand how elephants alter their environment
  • Questionnaire surveys to understand how people perceive elephants and their effects
  • Educational programmes and presentations to spread the word about pressing elephant conservation issues.
Tracking Elephants

The work of Elephants Alive centres on satellite tracking technology, examining the impact of elephant populations on their habitats and the monitoring of individually identified animals to learn more about the social dynamics of the herds. Some of these elephants are the last remaining big tusked elephants and they have become valuable assets in educational programmes aimed at addressing issues of elephant conservation and poaching. Elephants Alive also trains volunteers from local communities to assist with research and become ambassadors for wildlife.

HOW YOU CAN HELP BY SUPPORTING SATIB CONSERVATION TRUST

The SATIB Conservation Trust has provided a fully insured Land Rover Freelander research vehicle which will be used for elephant observations throughout Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The Trust also provides varied insurance cover for vehicles and liability insurance as well as equipment, PR support, transportation services, business advice and financial support. We are also planning on assisting with conservation education for tourists and surrounding communities and will begin investigating the establishment of a “fly camp” for research purposes and a volunteer researcher programme to assist with field work.

Get Involved

Please continue to support our efforts and help us preserve Africa’s wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL MEAN:

100% of your donation will go directly to any item/project you choose. Or if you prefer, we’ll select the project for you. Either way, you can be assured that your contribution will have a positive impact on conservation in Southern Africa.

No matter how small, your donation will make a difference.

You may also be interested in

project
Niassa Elephant Research & Anti-Poaching
article
SATIB donates research vehicle to Elephants Alive project
species
Elephant
project
Botswana Elephants for Africa

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Project Description

Research and Conservation

The African Wildlife Conservation Fund is a non-profit organisation that originally started through the efforts of a group of people dedicated to the conservation of the endangered African Wild Dog in Zimbabwe. The African Wildlife Conservation Fund’s work has since expanded to include the conservation of other large predators, community outreach, initiatives to stop illegal hunting for bush meat and helping to raise funds for a rhino anti-poaching team. The Gonarezhou Predator Project is one of these programmes and focuses on the large predators of the Gonarezhou National Park including lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs and spotted hyenas. It has been discovered that the extremely low populations of predators in the park are due to an illegal trade in skins, the snaring and poisoning of large predators and the killing of predators who prey on livestock by local communities.

Anti-Poaching

The Gonarezhou Predator Project aims to conserve the predator populations of the park through assisting with anti-poaching and snare removal, empowering the authorities to deal with problem animals in non-lethal ways, educating local communities about the benefits of wildlife to reduce human-wildlife conflict and to improve relations between the park and its neighbours. The conservation efforts are monitored regularly and an increase in the lion population is an encouraging sign that they are already working effectively.

HOW YOU CAN HELP BY SUPPORTING SATIB CONSERVATION TRUST

The SATIB Conservation Trust has developed a brochure for the African Wildlife Conservation Fund to promote the work being done in Gonarezhou and to assist with sponsorship of the project’s research and education initiatives. These have been distributed locally and in the US. In 2014, we are working on providing educational content on human-wildlife conflict in pamphlets for communities adjacent to Gonarezhou National Park.

Get Involved

Please continue to support our efforts and help us preserve Africa’s wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL MEAN:

100% of your donation will go directly to any item/project you choose. Or if you prefer, we’ll select the project for you. Either way, you can be assured that your contribution will have a positive impact on conservation in Southern Africa.

No matter how small, your donation will make a difference.

You may also be interested in

project
Vic Falls Human-Wildlife Conflict
article
Conservation in Action
species
Wild Dog
species
Leopard

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Project Description

Research and Conservation Programmes

The Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust runs several programmes focusing on research and conservation in Zimbabwe. The Trust aims to assist with rhino conservation through anti-poaching measures such as de-horning and ear-notching as well as genetic analysis of the remaining rhino in Zimbabwe. This analysis will help to build a database of related animals in order to make recommendations about the management of rhino populations and to assist in the prosecution of poachers who can be tied back to an individual animal.

Reducing Human-Wildlife Conflict through Education

One of the most significant elements in the conservation of large predators is avoiding conflict with humans who often kill large predators that prey on livestock. The Victoria Falls Human-Wildlife Conflict Programme aims to investigate human-wildlife conflict incidents and implement sustainable solutions to reduce their occurrence such as using chili and bees as deterrents for elephant and predator-safe boma designs to protect livestock. The Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust hosts between 800 and 1000 children to a day of enjoyable education every year at Wild Horizons Wildlife Orphanage and Sanctuary. This facility cares for animals injured through human intervention, including wire snares, and injuries sustained from vehicle collisions always aiming to release them back into the wild and offers a wonderful opportunity to teach children about wildlife up close. Schools are given training manuals which focus on the importance of wildlife conservation, the economic benefits of wildlife and the dangers of poaching for the teachers to use back in the classroom.

Disease

A major consideration in conservation is disease in wild animals and there is a laboratory at Wild Horizons which works to screen both wild and domestic animals for disease in order to prevent outbreaks – an essential element in conservation management.

HOW YOU CAN HELP BY SUPPORTING SATIB CONSERVATION TRUST

In 2014 the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust aims to continue their research and conservation efforts in assessing the regional lion and large carnivore population as well as the ongoing research focusing on rhinos. An important element of the Trust’s work is reducing conflict incidents, which are monitored through a hotline number, and working with the local communities to find solutions. The rescue and rehabilitation of injured animals will continue as will the children’s conservation program. The Trust aims to be able to host the children most interested in wildlife conservation for a week long programme this year. The SATIB Conservation Trust provides assistance to the Victoria Falls Human-Wildlife Conflict Programme, supporting community conservation education and providing PR support and business advice. In 2014, a human-wildlife conflict comic is being developed focusing on increasing awareness of the importance of the wildlife and solutions to human-wildlife conflicts amongst local children who are encouraged to take home the materials to share with their families.

Get Involved

Please continue to support our efforts and help us preserve Africa’s wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL MEAN:

100% of your donation will go directly to any item/project you choose. Or if you prefer, we’ll select the project for you. Either way, you can be assured that your contribution will have a positive impact on conservation in Southern Africa.

No matter how small, your donation will make a difference.

You may also be interested in

project
Hwange Lion Research
NEWS
Chilli Pepper Workshop
species
Elephant
species
Hyena

Project Gallery

Project Description

Scope

The Hwange Lion Research Project, which has been running for 15 years, is aimed at understanding, managing and conserving the lion population of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park through the collection of valuable long-term monitoring data of population demographics, ecology and behaviour. The project is run under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology which has grown to be one of the largest and most productive conservation research institutes in the world

Reducing human-wildlife conflict – The Long Shields Lion Guardians

As part of this valuable research, the Hwange Lion Research Project focuses on reducing human-animal conflict, which poses a significant risk to the survival of all carnivores in the wild, through a detailed understanding of the ecological and social factors that influence conflict. In the Hwange area, this conflict arises from lion predation on the livestock of rural communities who frequently retaliate by killing the lion. The Hwange Lion Research Project has implemented several strategies to alleviate lion predation. The employment and training of Long Shields Lion Guardians – local people who form a link between conservationists and their communities, providing information and encouraging cooperation – is an important initiative which has proved very successful. The Lion Guardians monitor wildlife populations and alert local herdsmen when a lion is nearby, allowing them to move livestock to safety or to frighten the lion off. Although in its early stages, the initiative has been widely accepted by local communities.

Bomas

A critical factor that is highly effective in reducing lion predation is the housing of livestock in bomas overnight. The Hwange Lion Research Project is evaluating existing bomas utilised within the communities and is now working with the communities to build and encourage use of community mobile bomas. Early trials have shown a noticeable reduction in lion predation since the introduction of the Long Shields and the boma programme.

Community education

Education is an essential element of all conservation projects as it will be the support of rural communities which determines the success of many conservation initiatives. For this reason, the Hwange Lion Research project has designed an illustrated book called Vusa the Lion Guardian for distribution to schools in the area. The comic focuses on the importance of protecting livestock and the children are able to take it home to read to their parents.

Anti-Poaching

Anti-poaching is also a priority because illegal snaring has been shown to have a significant impact on lions. The project employs anti-poaching scouts who patrol the park alongside the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

In addition to these measures for reducing human-animal conflict in the area, the Hwange Lion Research Project is uncovering valuable information about lion populations in the area, including data about their long-range movements between protected areas. This research underscores the importance of preserving corridors of natural habitat to allow for different populations to meet and mate – an essential element in the long-term survival of the species as a whole.

HOW YOU CAN HELP BY SUPPORTING SATIB CONSERVATION TRUST

The SATIB Conservation Trust has supported the Hwange Lion Research Project for the past five years, helping to fund the Long Shield Lion Guardians (including the donation of a GWM 4 x4 vehicle) and providing material support for the Anti-Poaching Unit. It has also assisted with an extensive educational programme, PR support and conservation information for visitors to the area. The SATIB Conservation Trust helps to provide clothing and equipment for the Lion Guardians and the Anti-Poaching team as well as insurance and transportation of equipment to the project site. In 2014 the SATIB Conservation Trust plans to provide additional mobile communal bomas for deployment into communities and further educational materials for communities. The SATIB Conservation Trust will also support the extension of the Hwange Lion Research Project to the western boundary and into Botswana.

Get Involved

Please continue to support our efforts and help us preserve Africa’s wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL MEAN:

100% of your donation will go directly to any item/project you choose. Or if you prefer, we’ll select the project for you. Either way, you can be assured that your contribution will have a positive impact on conservation in Southern Africa.

No matter how small, your donation will make a difference.

You may also be interested in

project
Vic Falls Human-Animal conflict
article
Latest project reports from WildCRU research team
article
VUSA comic
species
Lion