Manzi Wild Dog Pack Updates in the Luangwa Valley
By: Thandiwe Mweetwa, ZCP’s Luangwa Valley Project Manager
The Manzi Pack has been the resident wild dog group in the main game viewing area of South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) for nearly a decade. Over the years, their range has stretched from the Kapamba River in the south to Puku Plain in the north. In the early years, the pack used to den and spend the dry season in the south of Chichele Hill and then come up north during the rains and mating season. For a long time, the Manzi Pack was one of the most successful wild dog groups in our intensive study area. When it came to size and reproductive success, they were rivaled only by the Hot Springs Pack from Nsefu Sector. Descendants from this legendary group have spread across the Luangwa Valley with dispersal groups and their offspring documented using eastern Zambia’s vast network of National Parks, Game Management Areas (GMAs) and Forest Reserves.
Earlier this year, a catastrophic incident befell the Manzi Pack. The alpha female Wild Dog 1350 suffered fatal injuries following a crocodile attack in Wamilombe. To make this tragedy worse, she was the only unrelated adult female in the group and was suspected to be pregnant at the time. This sad incident threw the pack into disarray as they sought to find a new alpha female to take Wild Dog 1350’s place.
Figure 1: Wild Dog 1350 before crocodile attack
The past few months have been a time of transition for the pack, with family ties severed and new bonds formed. They have covered the length of SLNP and even ventured into some of its GMAs. Five young sisters split from the group and formed a dispersal group in mid-August (Between the age of 1 and 2 years, wild dogs usually leave their natal pack to go and form their own breeding groups, either from meeting other dispersing dogs of the opposite sex, or by taking over an existing pack and chasing out the same sex dogs). At around the same time, the rest of the pack eventually entered Luamfwa Pack territory in Lupande GMA and managed to steal away one of the females from the small pack (which is currently denning in the Nchindeni Hills). Soon after that, the Manzi Pack made an epic crossing back in to SLNP. They swam through the dangerous, murky waters of the Luangwa with a hungry crocodile hot on their tails! This hair-raising event was captured on camera by Robin Pope Safaris guide, Perry Nyama and can be viewed here.
Since their search for a new alpha female had seemingly been successful, we expected the pack to settle back in their usual territory as they waited for the next breeding season. To our surprise, the group hasn’t slowed down! In recent weeks, they have continued making big movements along the Luangwa River as if the search is still on-going. The dogs spent some time in the Muphamadzi area along the northern boundary of SLNP after having moved into Munyamadzi GMA.
Figure 2: Map of Manzi Pack movements in August 2023
After the pack split, we had only been following the movements of the dispersal group of sisters through citizen science reports. A few days ago, they were sighted from the air by ZCP/CSL Pilot Gareth Broekhuizen and one of our field teams immediately followed up for a visual on the ground. The team managed to deploy a satellite collar on one of the dogs to enable us to better monitor their movements.
Although the main Manzi Pack’s future as one of South Luangwa’s Super Packs seems uncertain as yet, we wish these dogs the best! We hope to catch up with the group in the coming weeks to get more information on the composition of the pack and make sure all dogs are ok. These long distance movements, especially though GMAs, can put animals at a higher risk of encountering and being caught in wire snares. Our collaborative long-term wild dog monitoring and conservation work is supported by Tusk, Gemfields, Dazzle Africa, National Science Foundation, Lion Recovery Fund, National Geographic, Milkywire, WWF, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife Crime Prevention, Painted Dog Conservation Inc., Flatdogs Camp, Bushcamp Company/Mfuwe Lodge, Sungani, Robin Pope Safaris, and Puku Ridge.
Applied Adaptations in Teamwork, Resilience, and Innovation During a Global Pandemic Deliver Successful Conservation Impacts Across Three Ecosystems in Zambia
By: Dr. Matt Becker - ZCP CEO
As the largest pandemic in our lifetime roared through the world and eventually landed in Zambia, it had the real potential of disrupting and ultimately undoing the conservation gains Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) and Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) in collaborative partnership with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) had collectively made over the last decade. In response we pivoted quickly with the support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species to employ our unique brand of teamwork, local capacity building, resilience, and innovation that allowed us to adapt to the new normal and keep moving forward.
To secure Zambia’s threatened large carnivore populations, their prey and habitat we employed a three-pronged approach that focused on 1) Fighting wildlife crime, 2) Field-based protection and human-carnivore coexistence, and 3) Capacity-building for community-based conservation. Significant progress was made towards achieving the overall objectives and the majority of objectives were achieved across the three target ecosystems – the Luangwa Valley, the Greater Kafue Ecosystem and the Greater Liuwa Ecosystem.
Anti-poaching foot patrols and K9 operations increased in quantity and scope during the project period, with units making significant increases in wildlife crime arrests and contraband seizures. On the ground intensive monitoring and field-based protection of large carnivores continued successfully by ZCP field teams, and valuable weekly locations were provided to the CSL DNPW control room to enable informed patrol deployments in areas of high risk and high use by carnivores. As a result of the project’s multi-faceted approach, Zambia’s threatened wild dog, lion, cheetah and leopard populations were largely protected from illegal killings including an array of poaching methods such as shooting, snaring, and poisoning. This translates into a significant decrease in illegal deaths for carnivores across three ecosystems which comprise the majority of Zambia’s large carnivore populations.
Figures 1 and 2: CSL anti-poaching foot patrols deploy in South Luangwa National Park and surrounding Game Management Areas (Photo Credit: Eric Njobvu/CSL Zambia)
Figure 3: CSL’s K9 operations during one of their daily trainings (Photo Credit: Eric Njobvu/CSL Zambia)
Over the course of the past 3 years, we observed an increase in Human-Carnivore Conflict (HCC) in the Luangwa Valley, likely due to an increase in the number of livestock being raised in proximity to carnivore strongholds. The formation of an HCC working group involving all key stakeholders that meets quarterly is one step we have taken towards achieving our goal of coexistence by bringing together local leadership to explore ways of mitigating conflicts together. Further, we continued to expand the country’s first human-lion conflict mitigation programme in the Luangwa with extensive sensitisation work and the training and use of aversive conditioning equipment in affected communities. This has resulted in a shift in the pattern of conflict, which shows that deterrents are working, and indicates a need for further outreach. A new programme has been started in Liuwa which has developed a community compensation fund scheme and is preparing to distribute aversive conditioning tools. We hope to demonstrate that with concerted effort, people and carnivores can co-exist.
Figure 4: ZCP HCC Officer, Dennis Zimba and Copperbelt University student introduces cow bells to farmers for aversive conditioning (Photo Credit: Eric Njobvu/ZCP Zambia)
With decades of bio-monitoring data as part of what we believe now constitutes the world’s largest field-based carnivore project, we continued our intensive monitoring of an average of 984 individually-identifiable and known-age large carnivores across approximately 34,500km2. We completed the first comprehensive study on the impacts of the illegal bush meat trade on the large African carnivore and herbivore guild. We worked with DNPW to provide the core conservation science that went into the development of the National Conservation Strategies and Action Plans for Lion and Leopard and the Liuwa Plain National Park Predator Management Plan.
Figure 5: Johanne Mayems, Conservation Biologist Training Programme trainee, monitors carnivores in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem (Photo Credit: Stephi Matsushima/ZCP Zambia)
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, which restricted school programmes and public gatherings, we were still able to provide strong capacity-building and community support during our partnership with SOS. In some cases, such as radio shows, community clean sweeps, community game drives, and all of our training programmes (Conservation Biologist, Women in Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Vet Training Programmes) we actually learned ways and found opportunities to improve our impact.
Figure 6: Mukambi’s Conservation club students having fun with our education team from our Kafue project (Photo Credit: ZCP Zambia)
Figure 7: Community members pick up litter and snares in the Lupande Game Management Area as a part of our Clean Sweeps initiative (Photo Credit: Eric Njobvu/ZCP Zambia)
Figure 8: Community Game Drive participants watching a male lion in South Luangwa National Park (Photo Credit: Eric Njobvu/ZCP Zambia)
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Zambian Carnivore Programme and Conservation South Luangwa and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or the European Union.
Collaborative Veterinary Rescue Work in The Luangwa Valley
By: Thandiwe Mweetwa - ZCP Luangwa Valley Project Manager
Lions are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, but some populations in West and Central Africa are considered Endangered. Numbers are in decline across many parts of their range. Currently under threat from a variety of issues including habitat loss, conflict, illegal trade in parts, and bushmeat poaching using wire snares. It is estimated that lions may disappear from the wild by 2050 if urgent conservation work is not done. Losing an apex predator such as the lion would have devastating consequences for ecosystems and communities that rely on wildlife-based economies.
The Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) has been working with the Zambian government and NGO partners to conserve lions, their prey, and their habitats. The collaboration is critical for conservation as no one single organization can address these challenges. In the Luangwa, we are working with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) to reduce poaching as well as to conduct intensive ground and satellite monitoring of carnivores and aerial monitoring flights.
Furthermore, ZCP is one of the largest projects in Africa working to conserve multiple large carnivore species across diverse landscapes. In 2020, our field-based teams put in over 3500 person days conducting ground monitoring and visual snare checks on lions and other carnivores. Our overall goal is to limit the impact of wire snares on carnivores through proactive anti-poaching activities through our law enforcement partners and veterinary rescue work for animals caught in wire snares. With a low-density, wide-ranging top carnivore whose populations number only in the hundreds, the loss of key individuals to snaring can have big impacts. This work is beneficial for communities around South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) that rely heavily on tourism. Protecting a species of high ecological, economic and cultural value such as the African lion contributes to overall wellbeing of the local people and their economy.
At a time when the devastating impact of the ongoing pandemic on the local economy is expected to escalate the poaching crisis, continued veterinary rescue of snared animals, is critical. This is made possible by a network of collaborators who are vigilant in order to detect affected animals. So far in 2021, the joint veterinary rescue team has treated two lions for wire snare injuries. One of the victims was a young male who had a snare through his mouth.
Another lion that was treated was lioness ELI-768F. The lioness is part of the Big Pride, a high-profile group found in the main game viewing area of SLNP.
Keeping such prime aged lions on the landscape is critical for the Luangwa lion population. Both individuals have nearly fully recovered and we look forward to following their progress.
Figure 1: ELI-768F with a scar from a snare injury from July 2021 (Photo Credit: Aaron Mwale - Aaron Mwale Wildlife Photography)
This desnaring work is conducted in all areas where ZCP works and has resulted in significant population impacts. Collectively, all the 46 lions that have been rescued have resulted in 217 cubs.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Zambian Carnivore Programme and Conservation South Luangwa and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or the European Union.
Collaborative Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Work In The Luangwa Valley
By: Thandiwe Mweetwa (ZCP Luangwa Valley Project Manager); Emma Robinson (CSL Human Wildlife Conflict Programme Manager); Henry Mwape (ZCP Luangwa Valley Project Assistant Manager); Dennis Zimba (ZCP Luangwa Valley Project Human Carnivore Conflict Mitigation/ Research Officer)
Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) Employs A Variety of Mitigation Measures to Manage Human Carnivore Conflict in the Luangwa Valley:
Lions are Africa’s ultimate apex predator and are important for proper ecosystem function. They are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with some populations thought to be Critically Endangered. The main threats include habitat loss, prey depletion, the illegal trade in body parts, and human-lion conflict. In eastern Zambia, the main threats have been related to wire snare poaching in the short term and habitat loss in the long term. However, in recent years, human-lion conflict has been a growing concern. The number of livestock in the area has increased and this has led to an escalation in livestock predation by lions.
Unfortunately, improper herding practices, poor boma construction, and livestock left outside overnight present an easy-to-catch prey for predators. This requires agent attention to prevent adverse retaliation on lions by irate livestock owners.
To address this problem, we collaborated with our local conservation partners to design and implement several mitigation measures. With our partners, we conducted door-to-door sensitization visits and distributed educational material on lion behavior, proper livestock care, herding practices, and carnivore identification. We visited livestock farmers to register their livestock, taught them proper husbandry practices as well as personal safety techniques in an environment that has predators.
Figure 1: Sensitisation on aversive conditioning for carnivores (Photo Credit: ZCP Zambia)
Figure 2: Teaching students about personal safety through understanding lion behaviors (Photo Credit: ZCP Zambia)
We hope these approaches will help communities better coexist with lions as mitigating conflict is key to reducing retaliation and snares. Predation reduction is a direct benefit to the community as selling livestock allows farmers to take their children to school, buy agricultural inputs, and helps reduce poverty in many families.
In the past year, our sensitization program reached 4,075 people in 4 chiefdoms on proper herding practices, personal safety, dangers of snares, and the importance of coexistence with wildlife. 44% of the bomas were improved by the farmers following sensitization visits and we take this as a positive indication that people's attitudes towards livestock rearing practices are slowly changing.
Figure 3: Meeting with local farmers to discuss boma reinforcement techniques (Photo Credit: ZCP Zambia)
Figure 4: Predator-proof piggery demo enclosure built to illustrate boma reinforcement options (Photo Credit: ZCP Zambia)
Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) Uses Humour and Dramatic Storytelling to Engage Communities in Human Elephant Conflict Conversations:
Recently reclassified from vulnerable to endangered, African savannah elephants are under increasing threat of extinction. Well-coordinated anti-poaching efforts in South Luangwa National Park Zambia in recent years have successfully reduced elephant poaching, though increasing Human-Wildlife conflict with crop-raiding elephants threatens to undo this progress with a risk of increased retaliatory killings.
Due to the Covid pandemic negatively impacting tourism workers in 2020, there’s been an increase in rural farmers growing maize near the national park. An entire year’s staple food crop can be destroyed in one night by elephants, so tensions run extremely high as the maize crop ripens ready for harvest.
Conservation South Luangwa has a variety of mitigation strategies to reduce conflict with elephants, one of these is education and sensitisation. You can’t tell an elephant what to do, but we can advise and work with farmers to help them achieve a successful harvest ensuring food security. We are grateful to the funding of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species that has paid for 14 full-day sensitisation trips this farming season, enabling our team to reach remote rural areas where elephant conflicts are highest.
Humour and storytelling are powerful tools for sharing information; We’ve been working with a local drama group who are sharing memorable HWC mitigation messages this way. A recent drama told the story of 2 farmers, one guarding his field, and the other not. We laughed as the 2-legged elephant knocked over maize crops in an unguarded field, and were captivated by the accuracy of the actor portraying the elephant’s movements. Only too aware this is no laughing matter in real life.
Figure 5: Community watching CSL’s HEC drama (Photo Credit: CSL Zambia)
Figure 6: HEC drama on sensitization (Photo Credit: CSL Zambia)
After the performance, our Project coordinator facilitates a discussion with members of the community who gathered. Already highly engaged by the drama, he can effectively answer questions and share vital information in a way that it is welcomed and retained.
Our target was to reduce Human-Elephant conflicts by 15% in a year. However, with increasing pressure on farming blocks and more conflicts being reported thanks to a better understanding of the importance of reporting incidents meeting this target is going to be a challenge, our community work continues!
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Zambian Carnivore Programme and Conservation South Luangwa and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or the European Union.
Training Zambia’s Best and Brightest Wildlife Conservation Leaders
By: Anna Kusler, ZCP Kafue Project Manager
Notebook and pens in hand, the Luangwa Team takes notes during a Professional Development Training (PDT) session at DNPW’s SLAMU headquarters. Photo by: Thandiwe Mweetwa/ZCP
One of the core pillars of ZCP's work is the empowerment of aspiring local conservation leaders. Too often, the sustainability of research and conservation efforts is compromised because local communities are not effectively empowered and involved. This issue is particularly pronounced at the international level, where conservation and research efforts are often led by foreign nationals. But ZCP employs a comprehensive, multi-level approach to conservation that helps ensure sustainability through training, educating, sponsoring, and employing young Zambian wildlife professionals, from the primary and secondary school-level through to international graduate programs. Collectively, this helps to ensure that Zambia’s best and brightest have the opportunity to develop and contribute their talents to wildlife conservation now, and into the future. Essentially, we're working to empower young Zambian conservationists to lead Zambia's future conservation efforts.
With three long-term, field-based conservation projects each over a decade old, we can provide an unprecedented opportunity to build skills as conservation biologists, but leadership goes beyond just learning skills. As we all know, many traditional academic programs - both at the high school or university level - do not teach many "real life" skills as part of the curriculum, particularly for field-based careers. A university degree may ensure a theoretical understanding of ecological principles, but success in conservation and academia takes more than pure science coursework. Many of the nuances of being a successful professional have nothing to do with science. They are the "people" side of things: how to work and communicate in a team, how to lead and manage, how to set goals/objectives, how to communicate effectively, how to understand and utilize empathy, etc. Then there are the professional skills not often taught in a classroom setting: public speaking, science story-telling, the interface of science and the media, the nuances of professional writing, etc.
Screenshot of the online training platform that connected ZCP’s field teams with international expert presenters on a variety of leadership topics. Photo by: Jennifer Dillard/ZCP
Kafue Project Team Members participate in one of the trainings from the field. Photo by: Johane Njobvu/ZCP
“The Professional Development Training (PDT) helped us develop important new skills and as well as manifest certain capabilities we have as individuals. From learning how to work and communicate in a team, to how to become a leader. We believe these skills are critical in becoming successful young conservationists.” ~Kachama Banda/ZCP Kafue Field Ecologist and Conservation Education Coordinator
It is hard to find time to do this during the busyness of the dry season, but fortunately the rainy season allows us to slow down with fieldwork and shift focus to training. For two months of the rainy season, we embarked upon an ambitious online Professional Development Training (PDT) programme that included expert presentations from around the world. The point of this training programme is to expose our teams of young conservation professionals to concepts, ideas, and professional skills they often do not receive at secondary school or through a standard university conservation curriculum. At its core, this programme is a leadership-building initiative. All of these young individuals have been identified as future leaders in conservation, and through this initiative we hope to empower them to follow their dreams.
Liuwa Project Team Members participate in one of the trainings from the field. Photo: Daan Smit/ZCP
On behalf of the entire ZCP team, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the expert presenters who graciously volunteered their time:
Patty Riexinger - Retired Director, Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Dr. Cat Sun - Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of British Columbia Wildlife Coexistence Lab
Will Donald - Research Coordinator for Musekese Conservation
Betsy Ukeritis - Inter-regional Environmental Educator at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Jenny Fitzgerald - Director of Special Projects at Gallery Wild and Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris
Dr. Linda Rayor - Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Associate at Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Entomology
Casey Anderson - American filmmaker, wildlife naturalist, television host, animal trainer and actor. He is the Creative Director of Vision Hawk Films
Carl Bowden - Founder/Leadership Coach and Consultant at Exemplify Leadership
Liuwa’s North Clan Hyenas Benefit From Collaborative Conservation Work
By: Sandra Martens, ZCP Liuwa Project Senior Ecologist
The morning promised to be a normal field day for the ZCP Liuwa team, with several ecologists fanning out to different areas of our study area in the Greater Liuwa Ecosystem to locate carnivores in order to collect data for our long-term conservation science programme. A seemingly easy and calm morning, however, very quickly turned into a much busier one when field researcher Dean Banda, a Conservation Biologist trainee and team member for almost 3 years now, had an unsettling discovery in North clan.
Liuwa Project Field Ecologists from left to right, Peter Musenge, Dean Banda and Bridget Mayani prepare to head out into the field. Photo Credit: Daan Smit/ZCP Liuwa Project Manager
North clan is one of the 11 clans closely monitored and studied by ZCP in the Greater Liuwa as part of our long-term collaborative carnivore conservation work with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), and African Parks Network (AP). The clan has also has been studied since the start of the ZCP project in Liuwa in 2010, when the clan’s territory was situated North of the ZCP basecamp, Matiamanene. Although over the years other clans have pushed them into the Eastern plains and though they are now, in fact, East of camp, they have never managed to shake the North clan title! The number of North clan hyenas has decreased over the years since they were pushed into more challenging territory by other clans, leaving them with less prey in the dry season and more human conflict. Their territory is lined on both the Northern and Southern boundary by villages, resulting in much human activity and increased threat of wire-snare poaching. The North clan hyenas appear to fall victim to those wire-snares disproportionately often.
In order to better follow and monitor clans—and protect them from snares—one to three females per clan are fitted with a VHF (or satellite) tracking collar. In North clan, three females are each fitted with a such a collar. These collars help us to track, monitor and follow individuals and hereby collect data on the demography, dynamics, and ecology, of not only the individual wearing the collar, but even more so of the entire clan. This is because hyenas are gregarious carnivores that are often found together in small or larger groups when hunting at night and resting during daytime. These groups generally include one to several females, their offspring and immigrant males. One of the collared females is LHY-471, affectionately called Bruno, who has been collared since April 2016 and has, through her collar, allowed us to get a lot of information about North clan’s territory, demography, reproduction rates, hunting behaviour and the threats that the clan faces. Bruno herself has proven to be quite the rockstar, successfully raising 4 cubs in 3 litters so far!
On that particular morning of the 11th of January, Dean found Bruno and several other hyenas resting in a pan by tracking her collar, and did a routine health inspection with binoculars (to check for snares, injuries or any other abnormalities). When checking Bruno, he immediately saw the wire snare that was deeply cutting into her neck, causing a deep and life-threatening injury to the throat.
A close-up of the deeply embedded snare around Bruno’s neck. Photo Credit: Daan Smit
Dean informed team members in camp through the park radio-system and while he stayed with Bruno, the matter was communicated to the team in Kafue, informing our Kafue-based vet Dr. Kambwiri Banda. Whilst the Liuwa team started preparing for de-snare action, Dr. Banda started his 9-hour journey to the plains of Liuwa.
By the end of the afternoon, big thunderstorms were rolling in from all sides, but the Liuwa team was ready and Dr. Banda and team members from our partners African Parks and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife had arrived. Despite the heavy rains making our mission even harder, we had only one plan: to cut that nasty snare around Bruno’s neck and save her life. The darting went well and only took one very accurate and well-coordinated shot by Dr. Banda. Soon after, Bruno was fast asleep and the team moved in. When an animal is immobilized like that, close monitoring of vital functions is vital and so each team-member has a task. While Dr. Banda attends to the wound, assisted by one person, other people monitor breathing, temperature, and provide overall vet-assistance. Everything went well. Dr. Banda removed the deadly snare wire and cleaned the wound. Soon after the reversal drugs were administered that woke her up, slowly and a little groggy, but snare-free!
Liuwa’s team members Dean Banda, Bridget Mayani, Sandra Martens, Kings Chimungu (Field Ecologist), and Peter Musenge all have their part in assisting Dr. Kambwiri Banda (ZCP Wildlife Veterinarian) with de-snaring Bruno – It is an all hands-on effort! Photo Credit: Tineke Floor/African Parks’ Fundraising Director Europe and Senior Management Netherlands
After she was fully recovered, we returned to camp and planned to check on her the next day as per procedure. But we were expecting the best as Bruno woke up so well and moved freely. And we were right. And a few weeks after the de-snaring mission, Bruno was seen again, by our very own Dean. She was in good health, nice and fat from the kill she had eaten that night and rocked a barely visible snare scar!
Bruno was the 7th Liuwa hyena in 3 years’ time to be successfully desnared by ZCP, DNPW and AP. Hopefully she will continue to live strong, in good health and with many cubs to strengthen the North clan for many years to come.
Snare successfully removed and wound cleaned. Photo Credit: Daan Smit
The unexpected impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on a wildlife-based economy in South Luangwa, Zambia and the benefits of aerial surveillance for large scale carnivore conservation.
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has completely upended the world as we know it. Its impacts on peoples’ lives and the economy were the most immediate and significant of course; however, one less intuitive but important negative impact from the virus was its potentially grave effects on wildlife conservation in Africa. With the cessation of global travel and tourism, Africa suddenly found itself virtually empty of international visitors, and the impacts cascaded through communities and ecosystems.
A pack of wild dogs on a hunting expedition, as seen from the airplane. Photo Credit: Dr. Matt Becker/ZCP CEO
Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park and the adjoining Game Management Areas (GMAs) comprise the country’s premiere wildlife tourism area, and a recent study funded by the Global Environment Fund estimated an annual economic turnover of over $28 million USD generated by safari tourism in South Luangwa. Without tourists on safari of course things looked considerably different. Overnight lodges and safari operators found what looked to be a very busy tourism year come to a virtual standstill. With no income and no work, the camps closed temporarily and over 1,000 people employed as guides and camp managers and staff were suddenly furloughed or laid off. Similarly, the economic impacts of the pandemic rippled through the country at large, and the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) budgets, already strained, were further reduced. The economic downturn and subsequent impact on food security also meant that the likely spike of poaching in the absence of tourism and potentially reduced law enforcement was very high. The future of Zambia’s most productive wildlife-based economy and the wildlife driving it did not look good, and would there be any wildlife left when the tourism economy returned?
An aerial view of a pride of lions resting in the early morning sun. Note the radio collar on the female in the center of the photograph. This enables the aerial monitoring team to locate the pride. Photo Credit: Dr. Matt Becker/ZCP CEO
For years a partnership between Zambia’s DNPW, Conservation South Luangwa (CSL), and the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) has been very productive in South Luangwa, with the organizations working together on an array of conservation activities ranging from anti-poaching, to community education, to research and monitoring, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. One of the most effective integrations of work however centers around aerial and ground operations between anti-poaching and field-based monitoring teams. The South Luangwa Valley is a vast, remote and seasonally inaccessible ecosystem, with the park alone over 9,000 km2 and the addition of the GMAs makes our areas of operations often over 14,000 km2. This is equivalent to about 1.5 times the size of Yellowstone National Park in the US.
Aerial surveillance enables the effective monitoring of wild dog and lion populations across an area of 14,000 km2. Photo Credit: Les Dillard/ZCP-CSL Pilot
Most major parks in Africa have aerial support given the size of the areas, and the positive impacts of an efficient and responsive aviation programme. South Luangwa finally got aerial support in 2013, with the donation of a Cessna 180 light aircraft, and it has fulfilled a key need in all operations. For anti-poaching the plane provides DNPW and CSL with a range of activities not previously possible, including regular, rapid and extensive surveillance across the Valley; the ability to rapidly respond to poaching incidents using coordinated communication with ground patrols. In addition, the deterrence factor to poaching as a result of aerial support is tough to quantify but undoubtedly is important. The Luangwa valley is home to the country’s largest strongholds of lions and African wild dogs, both of which are species of concern. IUCN Save Our Species/European Union-funded work of ZCP ensures that we can continue to monitor and protect these animals from snaring and conflict. However, these species range over thousands of square kilometers, making aerial support critical for finding and monitoring over 215 individual lions in 20+ prides and nearly 200 wild dogs in 15 packs that range across 11,000 km2.
ZCP-CSL pilot, Les Dillard completes pre-flight checks with a DNPW scout before an early morning monitoring flight in South Luangwa, Zambia. Photo Credit: Filipe Pereira/ZCP Finance Officer
Collectively these initiatives supported by IUCN Save Our Species and co-funded by the European Union, help ensure communities will continue to benefit from the lucrative wildlife tourism economy around South Luangwa, and that the animals that drive the tourism can survive the pandemic. Perhaps the silver lining is that when the pandemic is over, we may have a new appreciation for the value of wildlife tourism and wildlife-based economies.
This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Zambian Carnivore Programme and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or the European Union.
Broader Impact of Collaborative Lion Conservation Work
By: Thandiwe Mweetwa, ZCP Luangwa Project Manager
African lions are the largest and most social of the big cats on the continent and have a critical role to play in ecosystem structure and function. There are estimated to be fewer than 30000 lions left in the wild and lions have disappeared from the around 80% of their historical range. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with some sub populations thought to be critically endangered. It is estimated that lions may become extinct in the wild by 2050 if nothing is done to protect them.
Lions face a variety of threats in their current range. In eastern Zambia, the illegal bush meat trade poses a serious threat. Wire snares are a common method of poaching, passively set to catch small to medium-sized antelope on game trails and around waterholes. But like a fishnet, snares are non-selective and can catch any animal unfortunate enough to encounter them. Given they frequent the same areas as their prey, lions are sometimes caught as snaring bycatch. Lions that utilize Game Management Areas (the buffer zones around national parks where communities live are often at risk of getting snared. The impacts can be devastating. Animals may lose limbs and even their lives as a result of these snares.
To protect big cats in the landscape we work, collaborative effort is required. The Zambian Carnivore Programme and Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) work closely with the Department of National Parks (DNPW) to reduce the risk of snaring for these animals. Using satellite/GPS collar technology and a strong field presence on the ground and in the air, ZCP and DNPW constantly monitor over 200 lions in 18 prides, and provides the information on the movements of these groups to anti-snaring patrols conducted by CSL/DNPW scouts to help direct their efforts into areas of high risk for big cats and their prey. ZCP and partners also works with a network of tour operators and safari guides to run the Luangwa Valley Carnivore Monitoring Programme that helps provide sightings throughout the Valley, and this is critical for understanding lion movements and detecting individuals with wire snare injuries. When lions are found carrying snares we rapidly mobilize the CSL-DNPW-ZCP vet response teams, lead by some of the country’s most experienced large carnivore vets.
The de-snaring work done on individuals has population wide impacts, as lions that would have otherwise died are able to reproduce and add to the Luangwa lion population. The story of one of the males in the Chipela Coalition highlights this. In September 2018, this animal, Lion 737, was on the verge of death because of a tight wire snare around his neck. His head had swelled to nearly double its normal size and he could barely breathe. He was reported to our team by a safari guide who saw the lion during a game drive.
Chipela Coalition male with a tight snare around his neck (Photo: Thandiwe Mweetwa/ZCP)
With DNPW Vet Dr. Lengwe, the snare was removed and the injury treated. ELI-737M carried scars from this brush with death for some time and earned himself the nickname 'Cut throat'. Cutthroat is currently raising 5 cubs with the small, but steadily growing, Chipela Pride. With his two coalition brothers, he is also pride male in another group called the Big Pride which has two new cubs this year.
Removing the snare (Photo: Thandiwe Mweetwa/ZCP)
Scar left by the snare (Photo: Thandiwe Mweetwa/ZCP)
In this case, saving Cutthroat from a snare benefitted not only him, but also his coalition and their dependent prides. Stable male coalitions are critical for reproductive success in lion prides and any male lion saved from snares benefit many dependent cubs, 7 so far in this case. The desnaring work has contributed to maintaining a thriving lion population in the main game viewing area of Zambia’s premier national park. As an iconic safari species, these lions contribute to bringing visitors to an area where local communities are largely dependent on tourism. A recent study funded by the Global Environment Fund estimated a $28 million annual economic turnover in the wildlife-based economy of South Luangwa’s gateway communities.
Chipela Male with cub (Photo: Thandiwe Mweetwa/ZCP)
The impact of rescuing snared lions compounds over time, as these individuals remain on the landscape and produce cubs, who also produce cubs, none of which would have existed if the lion died in a snare. A graphic illustration of this is provided in the figure below, showing 187 cubs were born to 44 de-snared lions in our long-term study sites. Collectively, this work which is supported by IUCN Save Our Species, and co-funded by the European Union helps keep lions on the landscape for the mutual benefit of people and ecosystems.
This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Zambian Carnivore Programme and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or the European Union.
Tails of Hope and Resilience for the Holidays: The Baobab Pack
Pups from the new Baobab Pack nuzzle their mother. One of the largest packs currently in the Luangwa, the pups’ father and pack’s alpha male was dying from a snare in 2014 but rescued through our collaborative anti-snaring work. Photo: Edward Selfe/Edward Selfe Photo Safaris
Dear ZCP Friend and Supporter,
As we close another year, we wanted to share with you one of many inspiring stories from our collaborative conservation work in 2019. Work like this is made possible by your support. We thank each and every one of you for your generosity and commitment this year to conservation here in Zambia, and we look forward to a great year ahead.
“Snared and dying as a pup in 2014, this rescued dog had returned in 2019, now as the alpha male of a new 16-strong pack.”
The pup’s future was looking bleak: with a snare cutting deep through the back of his mouth that prohibited him from eating, it was only a matter of time before he would die. Fortunately for Wild Dog 635, several of his aunts and uncles wore radio-collars, enabling our teams to locate the pack, detect his injury, and rescue him. Together with the DNPW and Conservation South Luangwa, we darted the dog and treated his wounds, and while he was forever left with a deep ‘Joker Smile’ scar, he made a full and fast recovery.
Wild Dog 635 grew into a yearling and in 2015, together with one of his brothers (which we also de-snared in a separate incident), he dispersed from their natal pack. For several years 635 had to roam the vast expanse of the Luangwa Valley to form his own pack with the perfect female.
The Baobab Pack's Alpha Male as a pup in 2014 getting rescued from a deadly snare lodged through his mouth. Photo: Elizabeth Ellis
This August we were treated to a great surprise when the rescued pup 635 reappeared as the alpha male of a 16-dog pack in South Luangwa National Park’s Baobab Forest! This new pack ranged widely before denning late and raising four new pups, becoming mobile with them just as the rains arrived.
Like many wild dogs in the Luangwa, the Baobab Pack would not have existed without over a decade of intensive anti-snaring work on wild dogs by ZCP, DNPW, and CSL. Today, the Luangwa holds the country’s largest dog population and is one of Africa’s premiere places to view this endangered species.
We hope Wild Dog 635 follows in the footsteps of his father, an alpha male who lived to a record 12+ years and sired over a dozen packs and 160 pups, grandpups and great-grandpups, and was also rescued from a lethal snare. With our conservation work ongoing, the Baobab Pack and its new pups are in the running for the Luangwa’s next wild dog dynasty.
On behalf of everyone on the team at ZCP, we wish you a happy holiday season and hope you’ll consider supporting us in the coming year.
Sincerely,
CEO/Programme Manager
Zambian Carnivore Programme
Working together to save Zambia’s big cats from a silent killer
By Anna Kusler (ZCP/Panthera), Ben Goodheart (ZCP) and Dr. Kambwiri Banda (ZCP)
When most people envision the issue of “wildlife poaching” in Africa, they likely imagine the graphic scene of an elephant or rhino resting in a pool of blood, its tusks or horn hacked away, to be sold on the black market. What most people don’t think of is this: a little piece of wire.
But these wire snares – loops of inconspicuous metal that constrict and trap the legs and necks of unsuspecting animals – are silent killers. Laid by poachers to trap and kill animals for the illegal bushmeat trade, snares are indiscriminant; antelopes, warthogs, lions, leopards, even elephants can fall victim to their grasp. It’s unknown how many animals die each year from snaring, but the number is easily in the tens of thousands.
So you can imagine our horror when, one sunny afternoon, we came across a snare binding the lower foot of a young male cheetah.
This cheetah, nicknamed “Lunga”, and his brother “Lu” are known as the Lwengu Males. The brothers, who form a tightly-bonded coalition, live in northeastern Kafue National Park, in central Zambia. Lu is fitted with a satellite GPS collar and is part of a monitoring and research effort conducted by the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP), a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Zambia’s large carnivores, and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). And our routine visit to the Lwengu Males could not have come sooner; we had to get this snare off Lunga’s foot before it caused any serious damage, because a three-legged cheetah is a dead cheetah. Occasionally, group-living animals such as wild dogs, lions, and hyenas can survive the loss of a snared limb thanks to the support provided by their pack, pride or clan. But a cheetah – an animal who needs its speed to take down prey and escape larger predators – won’t last long with a wire noose around its leg.
Thankfully, we were able to call in Dr. Kambwiri Banda, ZCP’s field-based veterinarian. Dr. Banda was on the other side of the country working to de-snare a similarly unlucky hyena in Liuwa National Park, but after a sleepless night and driving hundreds of kilometers, Dr. Banda was able to arrive and successfully remove the snare from Lunga’s leg. Thankfully, because we had detected the snare so quickly, Lunga had no permanent damage. By the next morning, he was already on the move with his brother and had successfully killed and fed!
And although Lunga’s story is one of success, his plight is unfortunately all too common. Not more than three weeks prior, our routine monitoring of a lioness uncovered yet another snared carnivore – this time her six month old cub, his leg held tight by the branch of a sprung whip snare. Without the fast response by our team and partners, that cub would have inevitably died, either from starvation, thirst, or a poacher’s spear.
Interestingly, it’s actually quite rare to see a snared cheetah or lion cub. It is much more common to find an unlucky hyena or adult lion trailing one of these deadly wires. Why might that be? Well for cheetahs, it may be because they’re good at avoiding snares in the first place. Cheetahs are typically found in grasslands and more open habitats, so perhaps they’re able to avoid snares by living where there are fewer trees and game trails where the snares can be set.
But perhaps, unfortunately, we do not often see snared cheetahs and lion cubs because they’re too weak to pull themselves free once trapped. This means they remain connected to the snare and its anchor – just like that young cub – and die soon thereafter. Without a tracking collar to inform us of their location, we never have the opportunity to find them and help them escape.
This is why the work of ZCP is so important. Working with our partners the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Conservation South Luangwa, and Panthera, we work tirelessly to monitor and protect the large carnivores roaming across Zambia’s vast landscapes. The collars we fit on these animals are equipped with GPS transmitters that send us their locations via satellites. These locations allow us to visit and monitor the collared animals and the prides, packs, clans, and families with whom they live. So although Lunga and that lion cub were not collared, the collars on their brother and mother saved their lives. So just one collar on an individual can provide protection to the entire group.
Through intensive on-the-ground monitoring and de-snaring efforts, satellite GPS collars provide immediate protection for hundreds of lions, cheetahs, and African wild dogs. But they also do more; the valuable GPS data collected from the collars also provides us critical population information, informs us of crucial hunting grounds, and of where the animals den and raise their young. Once ZCP determines which areas are most in need of protection, the DNPW and partners are able deploy anti-poaching units to patrol and remove snares from these areas. This effort creates a “halo effect”, providing a halo of safety where the animals need it most.
To date, ZCP and its partners have successfully removed dozens of snares from lions, cheetah, and wild dogs. And thanks to tireless anti-poaching efforts and our “halo effect” program, we are seeing fewer and fewer snared animals. Here at ZCP, we continue to expand the range of our monitoring programs to include animals that live along the edges of the park’s protection and within its adjacent Game Management Areas. Here, unfortunately, we find that snares are still all too common, which highlights the importance of increasing our intensive monitoring in these areas. Cheetahs and wild dogs, in particular, have vast ranges, and often move well beyond the relative safety of the park boundaries. For now, close monitoring remains our best measure to ensure the well-being of these animals. But as the anti-poaching efforts of our partner organizations grow, so too will the safety of these incredible carnivores and the magnificent landscapes in which they live.
Luangwa Wild Dog Press Release
Press Release
December 31, 2018
The Luangwa Valley is now home to Zambia’s largest African wild dog population
In an exciting win for conservation, the Luangwa Valley is now estimated to have the largest population of wild dogs in the whole of Zambia. Despite being one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores, wild dogs in and around the South Luangwa National Park have enjoyed several years of increasing numbers, and there are now estimated to be approximately 350 adults and yearlings living in the Luangwa Valley. This wildlife conservation success is in large part due to the collaborative efforts of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP), and Conservation South Luangwa (CSL).
Photo: Edward Selfe/Edward Selfe Photo Safaris
Successfully increasing the wild dog populations in the Luangwa has required extensive efforts to reduce the impacts of snaring, which has had devastating impacts on wild dogs in the past. Poachers set wire snare traps for illegal bushmeat, however as wild dogs are wide-ranging and highly social animals, packs are unfortunately prone to getting caught and killed in poaching snares. The minimum viable pack size at which a pack can successfully survive and raise pups is considered to be five dogs; and so the loss of any individuals can have a substantial impact on a pack’s survival.
Long-term conservation work has enabled the DNPW, ZCP and CSL to effectively mitigate these impacts, which has resulted in an increasing wild dog population. This work involves intense monitoring of approximately 150-180 dogs, through ground-based field crews, aerial tracking and satellite-GPS collar technology. These efforts allow DNPW-CSL teams to detect snared dogs, and then to treat them for injuries through field-based local vets. The data provided by collared dogs is also used in anti-poaching patrols, which target snare removals in areas of high snaring risk for dogs.
A radio-collared dog feeds the pups of the Hot Springs pack. Radio-collars have enabled dog packs to be found, monitored and de-snared. (Photo: Edward Selfe/Edward Selfe Photo Safaris)
“We have seen pretty devastating impacts of snares on wild dogs over the years in the Luangwa,” said CSL CEO Rachel McRobb. “Until recently most of a pack or key individuals like an alpha could suddenly be gone as they get caught in a snare set, and the pack would dissolve. In addition because dogs are so low density and wide-ranging you might never see a snared wild dog again and have a chance to dart it and save its life. We still have big snaring threats, but now we are able to combat it much better than before by keeping wild dogs on the landscape and helping packs survive and proliferate.”
While this population increase is encouraging news, the wild dogs still face an uncertain future, particularly outside the areas in the Luangwa where they are not intensively protected. “Conservation successes are hard to achieve and we cannot relax, as they can quickly be undone if we are not vigilant,” said ZCP Ecologist Thandiwe Mweetwa. “Nevertheless we should celebrate this conservation success for Zambia and the region’s wild dogs.”
An intensive, long-term and year-round field effort is required to help protect the Luangwa’s wild dogs, with ZCP’s teams logging over 1,000 person days per year. (Photo: Marcus Westberg/Marcus Westberg Photography)
Luangwa lions Ginger and Garlic
Ginger and Garlic—given their names by local guides--have been the highlight of many thousands of safaris occurring each year in South Luangwa National Park, and they are arguably Zambia’s most famous lions (after Lady Liuwa, who died in 2017). The two males, dubbed the Spice Boys, are not only favorites because they are pride males in the most visible pride in the main game viewing area, but also because of Ginger’s unique coloring
Ginger and Garlic—given their names by local guides--have been the highlight of many thousands of safaris occurring each year in South Luangwa National Park, and they are arguably Zambia’s most famous lions (after Lady Liuwa, who died in 2017). The two males, dubbed the Spice Boys, are not only favorites because they are pride males in the most visible pride in the main game viewing area, but also because of Ginger’s unique coloring.
The two males have been part of ZCP’s collaborative lion study with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Zambia’s longest running lion project. Throughout the course of their lives-- from the time they were cubs to their current status as coalition males with their own territory—Ginger and Garlic have helped generate valuable data on lion population dynamics, prey selection, coalition dynamics, and habitat use, among others—critical information that has helped guide conservation and management decisions. We have kept track of them with the help of collared females in their prides and our citizen science initiative with safari guides called the Luangwa Valley Carnivore Monitoring Programme.
Both males are originally from the Luwi Pride. Ginger was born in 2008 as part of a litter of 3 cubs, all with unique coat markings. One of the cubs was so dark and spotted that he could pass for a leopard cub at first glance. Ginger was, however, the most unusual of the litter. He was born with a very light colored coat (hence his name) that made him easily stand out from the whole pride. He also had a distinct lack of the dark pigmentation that lions usually have on their noses and the bottom of their paws. Ginger had no black fur behind his ears like most lions and his tail tip was orange instead of black.
Life as a young male lion is challenging, and it was expected to be more so for Ginger with his distinctive coloring. He dispersed from the Luwi Pride with a cohort of 3 other males in 2011 and was rarely seen on game drives. Most of the infrequent sighting were reported by guides on walking safaris. People predicted he would not survive the dispersal phase because his appearance would make him seem weaker, making him a special target for competing males. However, he defied the odds and returned at the end of 2015 and, with Garlic, took over the nearly 30-strong Big Pride.
Garlic, an amazing lion in his own right, was born in 2010. He stayed with the Luwi Pride for two years after Ginger and the other males dispersed. Garlic was regularly seen with 4 lionesses until the end of 2013. Sightings of him became rare till he teamed up with Ginger and took over the Big Pride. Not much is known about the fate of the other males that Ginger initially dispersed with but it was quite interesting that he would reunite with his pride mate despite the two year difference in dispersal times.
Since their return to the main game viewing area of SLNP, Ginger and Garlic have become local celebrities. The first sighting in the main game viewing area was around Chichele Hill and it was greeted with a lot of excitement. Like the prodigal sons had returned! Since then, they have been regular safari fixtures and have gained quite a following. Ginger even has his own page on Facebook and people in the village regularly ask ZCP staff and guides how the males and their pride are doing. Perhaps the most remarkable sign of their popularity is the fact that people in the village are naming their pets after the Spice Boys!
