Pride of Meru

Predator-deterrent lights being installed on a livestock enclosure © Born Free

We trial simple, cost-effective, and scientifically proven methods to help empower rural, farming families to reduce human-carnivore conflict.

Predator-deterrent lights are solar-powered flashing units that we install around bomas (purpose-built enclosures which keep livestock safe from predators). The flashing light disrupts night vision and deters large carnivores from approaching the area, as they associate the light with people, who they tend to avoid. Trials are on-going but initial results suggest that this could be a successful method to prevent livestock predation.

Cattle with eyespots painted on their rears © Peter Ndung’u

The eye-cow technique involves painting eye spots on the rumps of cattle to deter lions from attacking. Lions are ambush predators, and the eye spots give the impression that the cattle are facing towards them. More trials are needed to determine the effectiveness of this method at preventing livestock predation in Meru. Initial observations are very positive and livestock owners are keen to use the method.

We implement a variety of activities to improve community awareness and engagement in conservation efforts and provide community benefits to promote coexistence. This includes ‘Kick to Conserve’, which brings together thousands of community members either playing or watching football matches throughout the year.

The language of football is universal: from all sides of the pitch, common ground can be found, offering unique opportunities to learn from each other and gain perspective. We harness the power of football to deliver messages about wildlife and conservation while engaging the energy of footballers and fans, through litter-picks and tree planting sessions before or after the matches.

We also use comedy to deliver our messaging through the Kangaroo Actors who bring the issues of wildlife conservation to life through humour and drama.

Our Conservation Ambassadors are key members of our team. Each Ambassador, who has shown a huge passion for wildlife, has been selected from their community and trained in key skills. Coming from communities where livestock, including their own, have been attacked and killed by carnivores, they have a deep understanding of the issues and complex nature of living alongside wildlife. Seeing both sides of the issue, they are crucial to all areas of our work.

Each Conservation Ambassador collects data on conflict incidents in their community and works closely with rural families and wildlife authorities to get help and support after an attack. With the vast majority of our work based in communities, our Conservation Ambassadors are instrumental in helping deliver whatever is needed whether it is focus group discussions, sensitisation meetings, questionnaire surveys, mitigation method installation and many other activities.

Pride of Meru team monitoring lions in the field © Born Free

Since its conception, the Pride of Meru programme has led the monitoring of the lion population in Meru National Park. The team have an established and highly detailed ID database of the lions living in Meru. Our lion monitoring work is increasingly moving outside of the park and into community areas, where many lions roam. Monitoring outside of the park itself will enable the team to build on their current understanding of how lions live alongside humans in more built-up areas and monitor trends and patterns of conflict.

Utilising the immense power of ‘citizen science’, we train and equip tourist guides (and therefore tourists) to collect lion monitoring data, including photos, when out on safari. With more eyes on the ground, we can generate considerable high-quality data on lion sightings, distribution, health, and pride composition. This allows us to gather important information whilst simultaneously engaging tourists in the importance of lion conservation efforts in Meru.

The benefits of living alongside wildlife can be difficult to recognise for some people living in rural communities. To promote the benefits of conservation to local people, we will launch a Community Camera-Trapping scheme. We will give communities a set of camera traps to capture images of the wildlife on their doorstep and use a points system to create a competition based on the variety and number of species recorded.

Images of threatened species, such as lions and elephants, earn the most points. The top scoring community wins a reward at the end of each competition round. The rewards are chosen directly by the communities themselves and could be anything from school equipment to toilets. Community Camera-Trapping is inexpensive and can help directly link the presence of wildlife to local benefits, thus empowering people to embrace conservation activities.

Photographic data from these camera traps will also help us understand the movement of lions out of the park and into the community and even allow us to identify the individual lions which are doing so.