Tanzania

Surveying Lions and Other Carnivores

The Lukwati and Piti Game Reserves in Tanzania are part of the Greater Ruaha-Katavi Landscape. WCS, the Tanzanian government, and local communities have protected wildlife here from poaching for the past decade. Recently, a team composed of both WCS and Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority staff members surveyed carnivores in the two game reserves. Their goal was to assess population distribution and densities to inform conservation efforts.


Photo Credit: ©WCS Tanzania

The team left from Mbeya, where our WCS office is located. This was my first field survey with WCS, but I have worked extensively in the country.

Photo Credit: ©WCS Tanzania

A key focus of this project was estimating lion populations, as these reserves haven’t been formally surveyed before.

At our camp. We’re in the field for about 100 days in total.

On this trip, we placed camera traps to help in assessing species distribution and densities. The equipment doesn’t always last as long as we’d like, though.

We did spot my favorite species: a caracal.

We also conducted spoor surveys, which involve identifying and counting animal tracks.

We spotted female lions with cubs and recorded the sighting in SMART, a special digital monitoring and reporting tool.

Always a thrill to see.

Follow along with additional WCS conservation work

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