Can lions, cattle, and people coexist?

Several years ago, I came across this tragic scene near Tanangire National Park. A group of angry Maasai had taken revenge on a pride of lions that had killed their livestock. Six lions were killed and four men were injured.

The project we are funding, designed by and for Maasai through the Serengeti Preservation Foundation, will help!

With the right training, Maasai can replace large herds of traditional cattle with fewer, more productive breeds. Because less rangeland is needed, people and wildlife have a chance to live together in relative harmony, as Maasai have done for centuries. See below to learn more.

We hope you will help us fund this vital program.

David Blanton

Director

A sad note: As this email was being prepared, we learned that Loonkito, perhaps the world’s oldest lion, was speared to death in Kenya.

Just 20,000 lions are left in Africa, down 43 percent in just two decades! Tanzania has a large share of those remaining. Estimates of its lion population range from 10,000-14,000, including some 3,000 in the Serengeti. So the stakes are high.

Dr. Laurence G. Frank, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley states, “The widespread use of cheap and lethal agricultural pesticides has devastated lion and hyena populations in much of Africa. Because lions return to a kill to feed again the following night, an aggrieved cattle owner need only sprinkle a dollar’s worth of pesticide on the carcass and a whole pride is dead in the morning.”

Projects such fencing around Maasai settlements, motion sensor lights to scare predators away, and the Lion Guardians Project are helping. But so much more needs to be done if there is to be a lasting solution.

One important answer – reducing livestock

Land and water are limited, and the cattle population is huge compared to decades ago. For instance, in 1959, there were an estimated 160,000 cattle in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area alone. In a recent census, 660,000.

Our program – educate women on the management of improved breeds of dairy cows, ensuring food security and reducing the need for larger herds. Empowering women will mean more girls attending school, a key factor in reducing family size. We’re entering Phase II of this program now, training our first groups of Maasai women.

Click on the image to see our program.

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Serengeti Watch / Earth Island Institute

706 Cayuga Heights Road

Ithaca, NY 14850 USA

Serengeti Watch is a project of the Earth Island Institute.