Day: February 15, 2018

We are deeply saddened received a sad report. A mass poisoning incident in the Wildlife Management Area (WMA) just outside Ruaha National Park. We received a ‘mortality alert’ from one of our collared lions, and the team responded rapidly. When they arrived at the site, they found a devastating scene – six lions (the collared adult female, three sub-adult females and two sub-adult males) had been killed, apparently from poison as they were all found close to a scavenged cattle carcass. This event had additional tragic consequences, with dozens of critically endangered vultures found dead or badly affected. RCP worked closely with colleagues from WCS Ruaha-Katavi, Tanzania, the Parks authorities and other local agencies, and they eventually found 74 dead vultures as well as the six lions. Thanks to the skills of the WCS team, four other sick vultures were able to be taken to the Park for treatment. Sadly, one died shortly after arrival but the others are currently doing well. The authorities are investigating this incident, but it appears as if someone poisoned a carcass after lions attacked cattle. Alarmingly, poisoning is a common response to conflict, and this highlights how vital it is to do all we can to prevent carnivore attacks on stock, and reduce chances of retaliatory killings. Cattle are extremely important to local people, and carnivores can cause major economic and cultural hardship when they attack stock – and, when people don’t benefit from lions, it is unsurprising that they resort to killing them. Thanks to support from many partners, we have made great progress in reducing such attacks, for example by predator-proofing enclosures and engaging communities, but there is much more to be done across the landscape, and protecting grazing livestock is particularly challenging. It is also vital to secure the Wildlife Management