Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflict in Namibia Through a Rapid Response Unit

Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflict in Namibia Through a Rapid Response Unit

Namibia is one of the few African countries in which six large carnivore species (lion, leopard, cheetah, African wild dog, spotted hyena and brown hyena) occur outside protected areas. With over 40% of Namibia’s land use consisting of commercial farming, human-wildlife conflicts are inevitable. N/a’an ku sê’s Rapid Response Unit works towards educating the local farming community about the behaviour of carnivores, it aims to increase the farmers’ tolerance towards predators on their lands. This awareness and education, combined with the RRU’s response to conflict calls and the advice and aid imparted, beneficially impacts the relationship between farmer and conservationist. Our approach has reduced indiscriminate killing of carnivores on farmers’ lands by 80%, proven ~90% of carnivores to be non-conflict animals, consulted 820 farmers across a total area of more than 1M hectares of farmland. Finally, more than 70 carnivores have been collared and monitored to establish scientific evidence for deeper conservation impact

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