Carnivore Conservation

Africa’s great cats and rare canines are losing ground in the conservation battle. Lions, leopards (pictured below right), cheetahs and wild dogs play critical roles in African ecosystems, but their future is uncertain due to loss of habitat, disease and conflict with their human neighbors.

The need for conservation of Africa’s great predators is urgent. National parks and other protected areas play a critical role, but many of these animals live outside of parks. To survive, predators must have room to roam and hunt without clashing with human communities.

AWF's carnivore conservation efforts focus on finding ways for people and predators to co-exist. The Large Carnivore Research Project near Chobe National Park in Botswana, the Laikipia Predator Project in Kenya, and AWF's lion research near Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park are leading the way in securing the future of these great animals.

Africa’s predators are under siege – beset by habitat fragmentation, loss of prey, and humans protecting their livestock. Lion populations are plummeting, and no more than 23,000 lions now survive in the African wild. African wild dogs have been wiped out in some areas.

AWF has responded to the plight of Africa’s predators with innovative research and conservation programs in the African Heartlands.

Like other big cats, lions benefit from AWF’s habitat protection programs. The research work of AWF’s Gosiame Neo-Mahupeleng in the Kazungula Heartland is providing important insights into the behavior of lions moving back and forth between Botswana and Namibia along the Zambezi River.

Bernard Kissui’s work in the Maasai Steppe Heartland is studying human-lion conflicts around Tarangire National Park in order to develop more effective conservation efforts.

In the Samburu Heartland, the AWF-supported Laikipia Predator Project is working to conserve large carnivore populations by promoting sustainable rural development.

AWF launched the Greater Kruger Leopard Conservation Science Project in and around the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The project will play a key advisory role in formulating management plans and techniques to promote leopard-human coexistence in South Africa.

African wild dogs (sometimes called painted wolves) have long been persecuted as livestock raiders, but this reputation may be largely undeserved. To help sort out the truth, AWF and its partners in the Samburu Heartland are training local scouts to protect the dogs while identifying livestock management techniques that minimize contact between the dogs and local communities.