If nothing is done to help lions, they could be extinct by 2050 (AWF King of the Jungle, 2020). The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is working on reversing the trend of killing lions by stopping the killings, trafficking and demands (AWF King of the Jungle, 2020). AWF have equipped anti-poaching rangers and helped build bomas, where livestock can be put in at night to deter lions from predation on livestock (AWF King of the Jungle, 2020). AWF uses canine units to search for illegal wildlife being trafficked (AWF King of the Jungle, 2020). AWF is campaigning to countries where there is a market for illegal wildlife products to try and get them to not buy into the illegal wildlife trade (AWF King of the Jungle, 2020).
Lion Guardians is an organization that creates long-term solutions for people and lions to coexist (Lion Guardians Promoting Coexistence, 2020). The Lion Guardians use their core values to use community participation and science to effectively mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, monitor lion populations and help encourage coexistence with lions (Lion Guardians Promoting Coexistence, 2020). Their core values are trust, science-based, participation and community oriented, valuing coexistence and collaborative (Lion Guardians Promoting Coexistence, 2020). The “Lion Guardians conservation program is based on evidence-based strategies, and the integration of social and biological sciences, including traditional and indigenous knowledge” (Lion Guardians The Guardians, 2020).
The guardians are made up of traditional warriors, skilled trackers, and community members (Lion Guardians The Guardians, 2020). They monitor an area of 80 square kilometers looking for lions and warn herders if there is a lion nearby (Lion Guardians The Guardians, 2020). They also find lost herders and livestock (Lion Guardians The Guardians, 2020). The guardians also track lions and stop lion hunts from occurring (Lion Guardians The Guardians, 2020). In 2018 alone the Lion Guardians reinforced 243 bomas, stopped 24 lion hunts, found 7,232 missing livestock, and found 7 missing herders (Lion Guardians The Guardians, 2020).
Panthera created Project Leonardo where they are working on creating the long-term survival of lions across Africa and getting the population of wild lions to 30,000 by 2030 (Panthera Project Leonardo, 2020). The project supports local law enforcement and invests the communities in their efforts to reduce illegal hunting and trafficking, mitigating the risk of lion depredation on livestock by building bomas and sharing better herding and grazing practices with herders (Panthera Project Leonardo, 2020).
We must all work on coexisting with wildlife and share the land with them.
Literature Cited
African Wildlife Foundation. (2020). The king of the jungle has one deadly predator-humans.
CNN. (2014, July 25). CNN heroes: Lion guardians [Video]. YouTube.
Lion Guardians. (2020). Promoting coexistence. http://lionguardians.org/about-us/
Lion Guardians. (2020). The Guardians. http://lionguardians.org/the-guardians/
Panthera. (2020). Project Leonardo. https://www.panthera.org/initiative/project-leonardo
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