Living with Lions

At night livestock owners keep their cattle, sheep and goats in thorn bush enclosures called bomas, and herd them across the plains during the day. Lions usually attack livestock at night by circling the bomas, unsettling the animals and causing them to stampede out, where they are easy prey.

By carrying out interviews and tests with livestock owners, the projects have found a number of methods to improve the safeguarding of livestock.

The team examine a poorly made boma, from which cattle stampeded out during a recent lion attack.

Their research has shown that if the traditional livestock husbandry techniques of day-time herding and night-time bomas are refined and strengthened they can be extremely effective against lion attack.

They have identified a number of factors that help reduce attacks on livestock, and are educating the cattle farmers about how they can protect their livestock better. They are showing communities how to construct ‘lion-proof’ bomas, and cattle owners who have followed their advice have found significant decreases in livestock losses to predators, and therefore have less need to kill lions.

The next steps are to extend the successful scheme to other areas and to help a local entrepreneur set up a business to supply materials for ‘lion-proof’ bomas directly to the communities.

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This livestock owner has made a strong boma for his goats and has experienced fewer attacks by lions and other predators.