REDUCING LIVESTOCK LOSSES
The number of lions killed in retaliation is directly related to the number of livestock killed by lions. For that simple reason, one of LWL’s primary objectives is to improve livestock management practices to better protect cattle from predators. We work with cattle owners to identify cheap and culturally familiar improvements in their livestock husbandry practices to reduce livestock losses.
At night livestock owners keep their cattle, sheep and goats in thorn bush enclosures called bomas, and herd them across the plains during the day.
Lions usually attack livestock at night by circling the bomas, panicking the animals and causing them to stampede out, where they are easy prey. |
|
|
|
|
Our research has shown that if the traditional
livestock husbandry techniques of day-time herding and night-time
bomas are refined and strengthened, they can be extremely effective
against lion attack.
We are educating ranchers and pastoralists on how to better protect their livestock, by demonstrating how to construct ‘lion-proof’ bomas, and working with other conservation groups to spread these ideas through demonstration projects and video showings in the local languages. |
|
