Thank you Experiment Supporters!

Hello Experiment Supporters! I have recently returned from my field expedition to Botswana to fit 6 lions with new collars- including the collar sponsored by you.  Before telling his story, I wanted to give you a little context.  Our program Pride in Our Prides started in 2014 in response to a devastating bout of poisoning events that killed 60% of the local lion population. We decided to help people and lions by providing information about area lions to the affected communities. In 2016, we had 2 consecutive years without a poisoning event AND no recorded lion kills. We are so proud of our work and our preliminary achievements.

I arrived in Botswana on December 13th, drove 8 hours to my field site on the 14th and set up our field camp on the 15th before darting our first lionness that evening. No need to sit around and relax!  We had multiple missions for this trip- first, collar six lions in eight days. Four of these six lions had satellite collars that were due to expire, so it was imperative that we find and re-collar these cats. As well, we wanted to target 2 new cats to expand the coverage of our research and conservation programs.  At the heart of our work is an outreach program with the community where we have select villages provide a local name for our study animals, then using a special feature on the tracking collars, we provide an alert whenever the lions cross a programmed line of coordinates indicating that they are within striking distance of the village. We receive these alerts via text and pass them on to village leaders who in turn help the villagers prepare for the potential intrusion. Therefore, it is critical that we deploy collars on each known lion social group (pride or male coalition) in order to provide the most comprehensive approach. 

Combined with our collaring effort, we were accompanied by a film crew from National Geographic who documented our field efforts for a web series called Expedition Raw. Further, we deployed CritterCams (animal go-pro cameras) on 4 lions to record their behavior in an 18 hour period following the darting. Since at least one of our females recently had cubs, we were hopeful that these cameras would provide useful information on the litter size and intimate behavior of the mother in the early stages of cub life. These videos were essential in our mission to encourage greater tolerance for lions by individualizing the cats. 

During the first several days of darting we were on the hunt for our collared cats. First, we targeted Mayenga, a female who we suspected had cubs because she was seen mating in early August and her movements were restricted for several weeks around one particular thicket. We found her in the open on the first day of darting and we were able to tranquilize her to swap the collar. She did not go down so easily- running straight into the thicket , then requiring two extra doses of drugs to subdue her.  This was particularly hairy because myself and members of our research team had to follow her into the thicket to check whether she was sleeping before our operation could continue. The first two checks showed that she was in fact groggy but still awake which was not comforting while 40 yards into a thicket on foot. She eventually went down and we were able to deploy a CritterCam. 

The next day we found tracks of lions to the west close to a nearby lodge. We followed these tracks all morning but we were unable to catch up with the cats. Even our expert bushman trackers were confounded.

By day three, we hoped for better luck. Two of our collared male lions were had been out in the floodplains- an area inaccessible by our land cruisers in this the early wet season. Last night, however, we heard them roaring and rushed to intercept them on their route.  Getting ahead of them, we set up a speaker system and played calls of feeding hyenas and distress vocalizations of a dying wildebeest calf. The lions came rushing in. We were able to dart both and fit them with new collars and CritterCams. Since these males spend time apart, we felt that it was worthwhile to keep track of each one in case they do solo raids on the village. 

As the males started waking up, we retreated to camp to avoid the coming rainstorm and nap. In the evening, we got back to work. We returned to the area where we had seen tracks the previous day and set up another speaker station. This time a solo lioness approached. She was uncollared and a perfect candidate for our study. She was not well known, but we had seen her and a subadult female a few months back. Otherwise, we suspected that she frequented the floodplains where most cattle are killed by lions. As the darkness descended, we darted her. She was nervous. Our calls brought her in as well as spotted hyenas and male lions were calling in the distance. She rain into the night and we had to follow closely. If she fell asleep alone, the hyenas might find her and kill her. We searched for several anxious minutes before finding her asleep by a sagebush. As our team took measurements, blood samples and deployed the collar, we noticed that she had extended teets. Is she pregnant or a recent mother? We deployed a CritterCam to find out.  For those keeping score- days = 3, lions collared = 4!

On day four we looked for new clues. Our last collared lioness had a den on an island in the floodplains. We were not getting there even with our vehicles. A month earlier our team attempted to get to her and got stuck in the mud for 7 hours!

So we looked for another target animal. We found tracks of a coalition of two males- one very large and one a bit smaller. The tracks were fresh so we went after them. Following roads, crossing dry floodplains, we lost them, them after several hours we heard them roar! Our tracker was within a few hundred yards when the lions heard them and let out a warning. We followed with vehicles but the lions were too smart. They went onto an island with thick vegetation and we could not get close. After a long day, we returned to camp defeated. We knew that we were not going to be able to get those males as long as they remained out there, so we would have to wait. They were perfect cats for our study though and well worth the effort.

By day six we were still feeling confident, but with two days left it was a little worrisome. Would we get all 6 collars out? Would we be able to get the cats we wanted? We set out looking for tracks but found nothing to go on. The trail had gone cold! After a long day we had nothing to show for it.

On day seven we got a break. The males from day 5 were back. We tracked FRESH tracks to a thicket near the lodge. It was mid-day now and we decided to wait until the lions became active in the afternoon.  We went for a swim in the river- first checking for hippos and crocs of course.  In the evening we brought out or speaker system and sure enough after about 45 minutes the two males approached.  They sat 15 yards from the vehicle giving our vet a perfect shot. He got the big male who jumped and walked away slowly. His companion was a bit smaller, but also had a pronounced limp- possibly an injury from a previous buffalo hunt. Again, we had to operate in the dark. This time, with the big male down, we arranged our three vehicles around him to shield our operation from the injured male who sat roaring 30 yards away. It is a little daunting to measure lions in the dark with a male lion calling nearby. We had members of our team watching and in the end we were able to get the job done. This sleeping male was massive- the biggest I have ever seen upclose after years of lion research.  His paws were like dinner plates. We decided that he would be our Experiment cat!  As the night rolled on, we waited until about 2 am before he was sufficiently on his feet. We were excited!

Waking up at 7 am the next day we gave one last try to our sneaky collared female that was denning on the island. I drove out with the vet and we tried route after route to get closer to her den. At one point we checked and the signal from her collar was actually behind us. Sneaky girl, she was not on her island, but on a sandbar nearby. We kept driving closer and listening. She was on the next island over. We tested and found a crossing. She was ours now. As we feverishly approached, we found her with a young male. He seemed to be slowing her down and we actually got within striking distance. She rested in a thicket and a small gap between the branches exposed her right shoulder to the vet. He set a dart that struck her perfectly! We had her! Backing off, we chased off the male with the vehicle so that we could swap her collar. He was curious, but did not show aggression moving off eventually. This was our biggest challenge. The sneaky female- so named by the locals as Maleherehere.

With the final day of darting complete, we were able to do our entire operation as scheduled. Such hard work and good fortune. 

We look forward to our community meeting to learn the name of our new male lion and share his story with you all. 

Please follow our work at clawsconservancy.org! We really appreciate all of your support.

All the best for 2017

Andrew