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Human-wildlife conflict is taking a toll on the world's great cats and rare canines. More >

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If you're a kid that likes animals, or you know one, this is for you.
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Lions have long been symbols of strength and courage. Associated with honor, leadership and indeed, royalty, they are one of Africa's most recognizable and popular animals. Ironically, their high profile is helping to mask a serious problem. Over the past decade, lion population numbers have dropped from over 100,000 to fewer than 23,000 remaining. Conflict with livestock herders and ranchers has become the greatest threat to lions, just as it has for many large predators around the world. The Laikipia Predator Project is working to develop management techniques that foster coexistence of people, livestock and predators in areas bordering national parks and other regions without formal protection. The Laikipia District of Kenya, 6200 square miles of unprotected land north of Mount Kenya National Park and south of Samburu National Reserve, is an ideal "laboratory" to develop and test these types of management tools because its landowners are willing to tolerate large predators.

Imagine one of the most common images associated with Africa, the silhouetted profile of two or three giraffe, back lit by a stunning red-orange sunset as they head towards a lone acacia tree. Now replace the giraffe with livestock herders shepherding their cattle to safety for the night and you begin to see the rest of the story. Humans share the African ecosystem with wildlife, coming into contact with them on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this contact often results in conflict as people struggle for subsistence and human development expands into dwindling wildlife habitat, putting many species at odds with people. The Laikipia Predator Project (LPP) is the first to attempt to resolve these conflicts by combining ecological studies with efforts to manage and conserve large predators, particularly lions, living in human-dominated African landscapes.

Dr. Laurence Frank, project director of LPP, and Alayne Mathieson M.Sc., LPP project biologist, have radio-collared close to 100 lions, hoping to gain more knowledge on how their land use patterns are being impacted by human activities. Data on lion numbers and distribution is gathered by counting radio-collared prides from the air during weekly radio-tracking flights; while tracking and capturing the animals on foot yields data on reproduction, mortality rates, etc. and a chance to collect blood samples which are screened for diseases. Radio collars are also vital to finding, identifying and characterizing "problem lions," lions that have become habitual livestock killers.

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