Preventing Conflict Between Lions and People

 

Saitoti Petro is trying to change his neighbors’ ideas about lions. Petro lives in northern Tanzania, where people and lions have lived together for as long as anyone can remember.

But that relationship is uneasy¹.

Petro is one of more than 50 lion monitors in an area known as the Maasai Steppe. It is named after the Maasai people, who live there and work as herders raising cattle.

Each day, Petro walks around the area, helping² herders protect their animals from lions. He and other monitors get support and training from a non-profit group called African People and Wildlife. The group has offices in Tanzania and the United States.

Over the past 10 years, African People and Wildlife has helped more than 1,000 families build secure, modern fencing to protect their livestock³. The fencing is partly made of chain-link fence and living acacia trees.

The method is experimental. However, the survival⁴ of lions and other large animals living in East Africa’s grasslands⁵ may depend on it. The goal is to find a way in which people, their livestock and wild animals can continue to use the land together.

The lion is in danger

Across Africa, the lion population has decreased by 40 percent over the past 20 years. That number comes from the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The group says that scientists are considering putting lions on the list of animals thought to be threatened with extinction⁷.

Lions can no longer be found on 94 percent of the land in Africa where they used to live. The biggest reason is the loss of grasslands to farming and cities. This loss is the biggest risk to wildlife in Africa and around the world. But for lions, illegal hunting and revenge⁸ killings¹⁰ are also major threats.

Lion monitor Saitoti Petro works closely with the Maasai people. Lions are respected in Maasai culture. But when the animals kill prized cattle, Maasai often seek to answer the attack by killing⁹ lions. These revenge killings have become more deadly in recent years. The reason: herdsmen have stopped using traditional spears and now leave out poisoned meat, which can kill lions and other animals.

Petro wonders if these conflicts can be prevented. “Our elders killed and almost finished off the lions,” he said, “Unless we have new education, they will be extinct⁶."

It is rare for people to live close to large, meat-eating animals. For example, there has been heated debate in the United States over whether to let gray wolves live near Yellowstone Park.

But on the high plains in northern Tanzania, herders have been living close to wildlife for a long time. Their cows, goats and sheep live on the same grasslands as zebra, buffalo¹¹ and giraffes – and the lions, leopards¹² and hyenas¹³ that hunt them.

What happens on the Maasai Steppe may be important to the future of lions all over Africa. Tanzania is home to more than one third of remaining African lions. Oxford¹⁴ University researchers puts that number at 22,500.

There is some evidence that efforts to ease the conflict between human beings and lions are working. In 2005, the village of Loibor Siret reported three attacks on livestock each month. By 2017, the number had fallen to one each month. The biggest change was the addition of improved fencing.

Also, the group African People and Wildlife says lion monitors helped in 14 incidents that might have led to a lion hunt. But lion hunts still happen. In July, wildlife officials reported on a hunt which included a picture of a dead lion with its four feet and tail cut off. The body parts are considered traditional talismans¹⁵.

Craig Packer is a biologist who set up the Lion Center at the University of Minnesota. Packer says efforts like the one Petro takes part in are helpful, but he worries about the future.

“These conflict-mitigation efforts clearly help lions, although there’s always the question of whether they’re going to last 20 or 50 years with a growing human population,” he said.

Wildlife refuges¹⁶ do not fully¹⁷ protect animals, like lions, that need very large spaces in which to live. For example, in Tarangire National Park, zebra and wildebeest spend periods with little or no rainfall inside the park. But when rains come in the winter, the animals move outside of the protected area, and the lions and cheetah¹⁸ follow them.

Michiel Veldhuis is an ecologist at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He has studied parks and wildlife.

Veldhuis told The Associated Press, “The current way of just thinking about the borders of protected areas isn’t working.” He added, “We need to think about how to include people living next to protected areas.”

Some people are unsure about living in areas with dangerous wild animals nearby.

“We don’t want to hear lions roar at night,” said Neema Loshiro, a 60-year-old woman who lives in Loibor Siret. She likes giraffes and impala because “they’re pretty and don’t attack people or crops.”

But Tanzanians’ opinions about wildlife are also changing.

Petro’s 69-year-old father killed his first lion when he was 25. Four years ago, he moved into a new home that included improved fencing. He has not lost any livestock to lions or other animals.

“The modern fence is very helpful,” he said.

Petro’s father said, “Now I love to see lions,” but not too close to his home. He also supports his son’s effort to educate neighbors about avoiding conflicts with lions.

I’m Anne Ball. And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

monitor – n. someone who watches over so something or someone

elder – n. someone who is older; an aged¹⁹ person; a traditional leader

spear – n. a sharp-pointed instrument; a weapon with a sharp head

livestock – n. farm animals

talismans – n. an object believed to have magical powers

mitigation – n. to make some situation less harmful

pretty – adj. pleasing or nice

roar – n. the sound made by a lion

1 uneasy   

adj.心神不安的，担心的，令人不安的

参考例句：

• He feels uneasy today.他今天心里感到不安。
• She had an uneasy feeling that they were still following her.她有一种他们仍在跟踪她的不安感觉。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

4 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

5 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 extinct   

adj.灭绝的，不再活跃的，熄灭了的，已废弃的

参考例句：

• All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。

7 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

8 revenge   

v.报...之仇，为...报仇 ；n.报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• She poisoned his mind with ideas of hate and revenge.她用复仇的思想来毒害他的心灵。
• There was anger in his eyes and revenge in his heart.他两眼闪现怒火，一心只想复仇。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

11 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

12 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

13 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

14 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

15 talismans   

n.护身符( talisman的名词复数 )；驱邪物；有不可思议的力量之物；法宝

参考例句：

• Talismans are a form of contagious magic, carried on the person. 护身符就像是一种流行的魔法，携带在人的身上。 来自互联网
• We should welcome the Tiger and the Dragon as talismans. 我们应当把这一龙一虎当作吉祥物欢迎。 来自互联网

16 refuges   

n.避难（所，处）( refuge的名词复数 )；避难所；庇护者；慰藉

参考例句：

• But, anyhow, there will be two refuges left for civilization. 但无论怎么说，世界还会给文明留下两个庇护之所。 来自名作英译部分
• In the summer heat these refuges must be especially grateful. 在炎热的夏天，这些避暑的地方一定特别受人欢迎。 来自辞典例句

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

18 cheetah   

n.(动物)猎豹

参考例句：

• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal.猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。
• The distribution of the cheetah ranges from Africa to Central Asia.印度豹的足迹遍及从非洲到中亚的广大地区。

19 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。