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Kenya, East Africa: Laikipia Predator Project

Conservation at a Glance

• Lions are losing ground to people in Africa. With less land and less prey available to them, sometimes lions resort to eating livestock.
• Livestock are important fooda, economic, and status sources for many people in Africa.
• To protect their livelihood, livestock herders sometimes resort to shooting or poisoning lions.
• The Zoo is financially supporting the Laikipia Predator Project in the East African country of Kenya to help livestock herders and lions live together.  Zoo guests can contribute to the Laikipia Predator Project in the Zoo’s big cat exhibit, Bank of America Big Cat Falls, or on the Zoo’s website.
• Zoo staff members have traveled to Kenya to assist in the Laikipia Predator Project.  The Zoo is also helping to support the development of educational materials to educate local ranchers about the importance of predators and how best to protect their livestock.
• The Laikipia Predator Project teaches herders how to improve their livestock holding pens (“bomas”) using inexpensive, simple tools and thus protecting their livestock from lions.  If less livestock are eaten, less lions are killed in retaliation.
• The Laikipia Predator Project studies lions to determine how much land and prey they need.  Studies include putting collars on lions that emit radio signals so that the lions can be followed and their land use patterns mapped.  
• Techniques being explored in this project can be used to help large predators in other areas of Africa and around the world.