Update from the i-cow kraal...
Now that the sun has set on another short field season in Botswana, here are a few reflections on the project so far, starting with our main achievements and minor setbacks.
Recent significant achievements:
- All (four) cows killed so far have been unpainted. The technique still has a 0% failure rate!
- Cow collars were made and deployed, and are holding up well in the conditions.
- We presented an update on the project to the local community, who were interested and supportive.
- We won an award for our project. Thank you to Taronga Zoo (and the kind donor who nominated us) for a prestigious Silver Shovel award!
- A student, Cam Radford, has been recruited to take on the project year-round, as part of his PhD through UNSW on ‘Developing signal-based conflict mitigation tools’.
- The project has continued to generate media attention (see here.), and this snazzy edit from France 24 for example.
Recent set-backs and solutions:
- Unfortunately we were unable to collar any conflict lions this season. This was mostly because collars were slow in production, and arrived with a technical glitch so parts had to be replaced. As expected, lions in the conflict-zone were wary of our approach (generally a good thing), and so the short time we had functional collars in hand was insufficient to get them out. With greater time, and the focused efforts of the PhD student, Cam, we anticipate greater success. (We’ve also decided to build our own collars down the line, so stayed tuned for those updates).
- The project is currently on hold as the waterhole that the test-herd uses dried up, and a few of the cattle died as a result of taking on salty water. After the rains when the cattle will be moved back in, and on Cam’s arrival in the field, the project will be kick-started again .
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Looking back on this season....
During this trip we managed to construct 10 cattle collars and deployed these on the test herd with the help of the herders, research assistants and the farmer himself.
Protecting the cows
We also managed to paint half of the herd again, and replenished these marks every three weeks.
The herd was counted in and out each visit, and we have the full herd composition sorted out.
Two days prior to painting and collaring, two calves were killed within 2km of the cattle-post. We confirmed these losses at the site, where bone fragments and stomach contents were found. The tracks of the responsible lions (a male and a female) were still clear to see.
During the study period, lions approached the cows in the kraal one night. The herdsmen, who sleep in a hut beside the kraal, were alert and responded quickly. Shots were fired into the night sky to scare them off without risk of wounding them, though the temptation to do so must have been great. A few weeks later, the lions returned during the day and took down a cow within a few kilometres of the kraal again. Herders were alerted to the missing cow when it didn’t return that night, and the circling of vultures the next morning betrayed its fate.
I walked with the herders later to find what remained of the carcass, which had been dragged into a dry pan and almost completely consumed. With the financial loss put to one side, it cannot be said that any part of this cow was wasted by its predators and the suite of scavengers that followed them. The only thing remaining was the hide, jaw and hooves, and from the hide alone we were able to determine that it was the first cow we collared last year. My heart skipped a beat a little as I remembered painting it in the past; was it painted now? I must admit I was relieved to note that we hadn’t painted eyes on her this year; but perhaps we should have!
Tracking down the lions
So what about the lions? A few weeks following the predation event, we picked up fairly fresh tracks of a male and female moving along the sandy road/track about 6km east of the cattle-post. The tracks were within range of the herd’s usual stomping grounds, and the lions were heading in their direction. We turned the vehicle around and followed the tracks along the road for a few hundred meters before they branched off and headed off-road to the North. We hopped off the vehicle, balancing the competing urges to both creep up on them silently for a visual check and to make a lot of noise so that they were aware of our approach and we wouldn’t stumble into too dangerous a situation. As soon as we picked up the tracks again and had determined their direction of movement, we hopped back in the vehicle and 'crept' in their direction, tracking from the vehicle as much as possible.
Soon we came across a rest site. Tracks led in and out of two large flattened out patches of sand at the base of a bush, where the lions had clearly lain together. The sun was hot at this point, and I noticed that the shade and the rest site were not well aligned. this suggested that they had not been here very recently, and judging by the offset of the lions and the present shade we reckoned that they had been there about an hour ago.
On we went finding another rest site a few hundred metres on, this time closer to shade. Then another, but now with shade and imprints perfectly aligned, and tracks indicating a scramble to their feet and trot away from our approach. This is such a privilege and the kind of moment where you finally feel alive (even the urine patch in the rest site was still warm). We took great care now to restrict our tracking to the vehicle, but the thick bush encroachment in this cattle grazed area hampered our progress and ability to creep up on our quarry. With the sun high now, and beginning to toast the skin, we tracked the spoor to two more fresh resting spots from which we had clearly just disturbed the lions, but never did we quite catch sight of them.
At this point I called off the search, deciding that the slim chances we had of getting close enough to call out a vet to immobilise them were outweighed by the potential stress we might be causing by pursuing them as the day warmed up. It’s never a popular call, but it comes down to putting the welfare of the animals above the research goals, which we always do. We would have to wait another day, when we might have to rethink how we go about getting collars on these conflict cats. Conflict lions have a very healthy fear of vehicles, and we certainly don’t want to discourage that, and so finding them on a natural carcass may be the best approach, but it’ll take a lot of time and perseverance I think.
On a different day I followed the tracks of two subadult male lions walking alongside the fence separating the wildlife and livestock sides of the fence. After a few hundred metres the tracks veered off-road, and I did the same. I was surprised to see the tracks clearly recording how each lion had jumped clean over the fence and disappeared off into the livestock area. Until that point I had thought that they would utilise the many gaps and holes present to make a crossing, but this is no barrier for lions. Although it was never designed to be lion-proof, I had I thought it might at least act to funnel them somewhat, and I'd originally planned to place cameras on the large gaps under the fence. Once again this is evidence of how the best laid plans can go to waste, but knowledge is power and we're staring to build up a fantastic picture of how the lions are utilising the livestock area, collars or no collars!
Overall, while I haven’t crunched the numbers yet, my feeling is that the predation rates overall were probably sustained from 2015, but despite this we only had one attack on the herd this year coinciding with the “painted period”. And so, in contrast to the hopes of the farmer, we find ourselves entering 2017 hoping for a few more predation events to confirm that the technique really works! 2017 should be a decisive year for the i-cow project, but in the meantime I’ll thank you all again for your support of this project, and endeavour to keep you posted as it develops.
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