Carnivore Conservation

Africa’s great cats and rare canines are losing ground in the conservation battle. Lions, leopards (pictured right), cheetahs, Ethiopian wolves 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. No more than 23,000 lions now survive in the African wild. African wild dogs have been wiped out in some areas. The Ethiopian wolf is on the verge of extinction.

AWF has responded to the plight of Africa’s predators with innovative research and conservation programs in the African Heartlands. AWF is also working to pass important legislation in the U.S. Congress that would provide key funds to protect these cats and canines.

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 is launching the new 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 a livestock raider, 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.

The Ethiopian wolf is the most endangered canine species in Africa. As their natural range continues to be eroded by human settlement, these wolves are increasingly targeted as a pest species. The small size and isolation of remaining wolf populations make them especially vulnerable to disease. A 2003 outbreak of rabies nearly wiped them out until conservation groups, including AWF, mounted an emergency vaccination program. With only 400 or so adult wolves clinging to survival in Ethiopian’s Bale and Simien Mountains, the Ethiopian wolf is on the verge of extinction.