A Second Chance for Young Lions

The sun was just reaching it’s peak when a young man walked down a dirt track to the flood plains to check on his cattle. As he walked between the fence and the thorny thicket, his attention was brought to clear focus as he locked eyes with a young male lion feeding on a donkey. As the young man backed away slowly, the lion returned to feeding. It was not normal to see lions this close to the village, especially one so bold as to be feeding in full view. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) and CLAWS were informed and we raced out to capture the details. This was an ideal situation because our vet, Dr. Erik Verreynne, was with us for the week and we had tracking collars to deploy on conflict lions. This young male was a prime target!

Young male lion on one of the many donkeys he killed

As we came together, the young man shared his story. We discovered that there were three dead donkeys and Chris Dimbindo, our tracker, confirmed that there were in fact two young male lions about. The tracks led into the thicket and did not come out. After a few attempts, we had no way of getting close enough to dart. We would have to try the following day.

Upon our return, we discovered that the males had killed another donkey and fed on the meaty hind quarters. Considering their behavior and proximity to the village, these males were not long for this world. We could hear children, families, music and conversation where we were sitting. For their part DWNP released a warning to all in the vicinity to stay away from the flood plains.

After some time, the lions let Erik approach close enough to dart one to deploy a collar. He was a young disperser- between 2.5 to 3 years old. His mane was still growing in. He and his coalition mate are too young to hold a territory and found this place with ample food and no lions to harass them. What they did not appreciate was that they were in a very dangerous predicament and if they stayed much longer, they would not survive.  DWNP, considering all of the challenges, decided that they wanted to translocate these troublemakers, but only had one cage. We let the collared male wake up. We knew we could find him for translocation when necessary using the collar.

Dr. Erik Verreynne lining up his dart with one of the young males

The following morning DWNP had collected a second transport cage, so we returned to dart both lions. As Erik and Andrew Stein, our director, approached, we saw the collared lion feeding on another donkey. That made 6 in 3 days! As he fed in the open we saw him begin his stalk towards an unassuming cow. We needed to get this boy out of here! Erik pulled the vehicle in between the lion and the cow to prevent the attack. As the male returned to the thicket to stalk more cattle, we still had not seen the second male. Was he still around? We loaded a dart to translocate this collared male just as the shy male appeared. Erik lined it up and darted the shy one. The two males ran into the thicket together. Not ideal, but at least we could follow the signal from the collar. We ventured in after them. Thorns scratching the vehicle sides, logs and stumps obstructing our path. We finally got a visual of the sleeping lion in the shade of a small bush. The collared male was nearby. Erik climbed onto the roof of his vehicle and sent a dart through several branches to hit the collared male. In a matter of minutes, they were both sleeping well and the support team of Botilo Tshimologo and the DWNP were with us. They offloaded tarps and six of us carried each lion to a cage and draped the tarp over. The lions were given a reversal drug so that they would wake quickly and not twist and flop while being transported.

Department of Wildlife and National Parks with one of the anesthetized young lions

We drove for 4.5 hours from Seronga to Selinda. As we passed each village heads were turning and people began to point and ask what was happening. It was quite a spectacle.

Eventually we found a suitable release point at small pan with water. We tied a rope to the cage door and fed it through a pulley and then through the back window of the pick-up. With a strong pull, the cage doors opened and the lions leapt to their freedom and ran for cover. As we looked in the cage we discovered that the lion had slipped his collar and it was laying in the cage. Clever boy. Knowing that this male was young, we had fitted the collar very loosely. Although we were now unable to track him, we knew that it was better to put a loose-fitting collar on the young male than too tight. He was going to grow quickly and young males have the ability to disperse large distances- just like our friend Mandlevu who now resides in Namibia.

The dirt track to the release point with lion in the covered transport cage

Overall the operation was a success. We removed the threat from the village and gave the lions a second chance. Generally we don’t advocate lion translocation except in extreme circumstances. In this case we knew that these males would face certain death in the village and the relative high human population in the area meant that there was a good chance that a surprise encounter was imminent.

This story is a reminder that we can make a difference for communities and lions. It is our responsibility. It is our best chance. It is our only chance.

Happy World Lion Day from CLAWS!

Botilo Tshimologo (center) with colleagues from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks

Lion Darting Success!

Despite the unseasonably high floods, we were able to dart and collar 2 lionesses to add to our Lion Alert Program. Secharo’s collar was replaced and a second, previously uncollared female, was collared as well. We are hoping to have another opportunity early in the year when the floods have receded significantly! Here are a few photos of the operation. We are happy to continue our tracking activities and enable us to provide alerts to the villagers.

Botilo Tshimologo testing the collar tightness on Secharo

Moving the newly collared lioness to the shade for safety.

Reflections on our herding program. Photos and Text Dr. Erik Verreynne

Keeping us safe from the lions, keeping us safe from man.

The calves’ bellowing in the mobile kraal warn you long before you hear their bells. A lingering dust cloud behind the tree island gives away the approaching herd. Then you hear their bells, and the bellows, and the voices of the herders. 
And through the dust you see the shining horns of the cattle, walking closer and closer to the night’s protection, and to their calves.

I am south of Eretsha in NG12 on the flood plains of the Okavango Panhandle, assisting the herding program for Pride in our Prides, an initiative by Communities Living with Wildlife (CLAWS). The program is aiming to conserve the lion population in the area by promoting co-existence between people, their livestock and the lions. While the elephants challenge is pausing, still dominating the media landscape, life silently moves on for this group of people, dedicated to protect the fragile coexistence between man and lion beast that existed for years on these flood plains.
Not only subsistence crops are the livelihood of the communities. Cattle is an important part of their daily existence. It is their source of meat and milk, often their ploughs and transport. It is their bank. When they sell one or two or three big oxen, it is money for school clothes, school books, maybe a generator, or furniture, building material for a house, or maybe even down payment on a car.....

The cattle stream into the kraal, the calves rushing to their mothers to suckle the warm richness of their full udders. The oxpeckers retreat from their tick removing duties with shrill protest. Silence soon settles with the dusk and the setting sun as I sit down with Dr Edwin Mudongo to discuss the progress of the program under his care. Behind us a elephant break some branches. To our right a hippo express his annoyance with us. A lonely scops owl calls above in the lead wood tree. The moon is just a ghost as the herders voices quiet down.

The following morning, the calves are separated again. Lured by the whistling of the herders, the adults leave the kraal, herd as far as 6km away where the best grazing awaits. The calves are chased out later to hang around the kraal. As I follow the herd, they cross the inflowing water several times, drinking before moving through, the many hooves stirring up the “dust” on the bottom of the stream. The herders spot a few elephant bulls on an island ahead and skillfully direct the cattle around. Using two way radios assist with coordination and communication. Soon they reach the grazing area and settle, the herders forming a watchful circle around the cattle, while some of the cows walk deep into the water to graze the green soft reeds.

About 3km to the west lurk a few lions in the thickets of an island, sleeping but still keeping an watchful eye on people and cattle passing near. We heard them roaring early last night to the south west. One male has a satellite collar around its neck, his current location is a dot on the computer of Dr Sianga Keoikantse at Jumbo Junction. If the male moves closer to the cattle, a clever computer program that considers both the movement of the cattle and the lions, and the location of the villages will warn Sianga. And the program will warn Edwin and the herders. Should any of the lions move closer to the people, or conditions favorable for lions attacks occur, the program will warn the villagers or cattle owners by text, in their own language, on their own phones. The CLAWS program has three legs: Monitoring the lions, protecting the cattle and educating the people. It uses high level technology and trusted old fashioned methods in combination.

The flood plains become a dead zone certain times of the year. When the water retracts, exposing the lush flood plains, livestock and wildlife descent on the abundance, followed by the lions. The many dry skeletons on the flood plains silently testify to that, their hollow eye sockets telling stories of feasts.

This year is different. The inflow is low. The usual deep water levels preventing use of the floodplains before August is not there. The rain that provides grazing in the mopane veld north from the flood plains for the cattle, and grass on the apple leaf islands for the wildlife to the south did not come. The carnage will start early. And as most previous years, the conflict will reach a breaking point, often with deadly consequences to the lions. And that is why we are here.

The herding has only started recently. At first it was met with suspicion. Only about 300 cattle are being herded at the moment. But the owners of more than 1000 cattle have agreed to join, just waiting for the veterinary department to finish the Foot and Mouth Disease vaccination program. Then the herd will grow, with it more training to the herders to monitor the health of the animals under their care. Vegetation maps and controlled rotational block grazing will ensure optimal use of the area. 
Eventually all farmers will join. The flood plains will be empty of cattle at night and the lions will prowl away from the villages. And a win win situation is created whereby the cattle, their owners, the grazing and the lions benefit.

Tomorrow, while the herders are taking the cattle out, we will be off with Sianga and Pro and Chris to locate a few problem lions, fitting them with collars to enable monitoring their movements. Pro will inform the people. Life will continue as usual on the flood plains.

We know the flood plains will claim a few more cattle in the next few months. And most likely a few lions. Life on the flood plains has always been fragile. But every day the work these guys do, will bring life here a step closer to the balance, a balance where there is a future for both man and beast. And most importantly a future for the flood plains.