AFRICAT FOUNDATION

The AFRICAT North
Carnivore Conservation & Community Support
The AfriCat - Okorusu Communal Carnivore Conservation Programme (CCCP)

HUMAN WILDLIFE CONFLICT along Etosha's borders

When told that there were not that many lions in Etosha (at that point estimated at approx. 350 adults and sub-adults), an elderly, pioneer who had farmed cattle and suffered losses to predators for more than 50 years along the borders of the Etosha National Park said that he was sad that he did not have long enough to live in order to shoot the last remaining lion . . . !

This statement may have shocked those who read his comment in the press, but the fact remains, that still today, 61 years after some of these hardened farmers began livestock farming adjacent to the Park, the Human-Wildlife Conflict (hereafter HWC) remains unsolved.

Africat North (then Afri-Leo), set out in 1997 to find practical solutions to this so-called farmer-lion conflict; no easy task when the fence separating farmland from Etosha is porous and in dire need of upgrading and regular maintenance.

Various programmes have been tried and tested by AfriCat, and the Communal Carnivore Conservation project (CCCP) is now in place with expertise and support, offering improved livestock protection from predators, especially lion:

hwc

i) solar-powered electric fencing – this is the most effective yet most expensive method, keeping warthog from digging holes under fences thereby reducing the chances of lions from entering farms; despite its efficacy, even electric fences must be patrolled and maintained.

hwc ii) the use of old motor-vehicle tyres strategically placed in well-used warthog holes, together with rock baskets (gabions) strengthening the base of the fence, preventing further digging: less expensive but still effective, these tyres allow for the passage of harmless burrowing animals such as porcupine and warthog, but generally block the movement of mature lions and spotted hyaena. Packing rock baskets is practical and also regulates erosion gullies; most farmers have access to such tyres, which are relatively inexpensive. Regular patrol and maintenance is still imperative to the success of this method.

hwc

iii) strengthening & heightening nocturnal kraals (pens), packing thorny acacia barriers around the outer kraal base, reduces the chances that lion will jump or climb the fence and hyaena from digging underneath.

hwc

iv) reinstating herdsmen, to drive herds to selected grazing areas during the heat of the day as well as monitoring fresh predator tracks whilst in the field. Once predator movement is noted, cattle should be kept in the kraals at night.
hwc

Through donor support, AfriCat assists communal farmers with the upgrading and erection of strong kraals.

At times, lions kill livestock on farmland adjacent to Etosha; the farmers set gin-traps or shoot at these predators, in the hope of driving them off their property. When AfriCat is called to assist with this HWC, the original carcass has often been removed completely or stripped of meat by the farmers, thus reducing our chances of attracting the lions back to this carcass for immobilisation to remove and / or to collar the individuals. Our only option is, with assistance from the Etosha Wardens, to drag the carcass remains from the kill-site back into the Park, in the hope that the lions will follow this scent and return to where they came from.

hwc hwc

hwc

With a most generous sponsorhsip by Okorusu Fluorspar Mine, AfriCat is now in a position to support farming communities as well as contribute to the conservation of the Namibian lion.

africat north map