Lion Landscapes - Wildlife Ranger Challenge 2025

Uniting To Support Africa’s Rangers #ForWildlifeRangers

Lion Landscapes

Amount Raised:

$4,750

31%

15 remaining days

Target: $15,000

35 Donations

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Rangers are Africa’s unsung heroes. They hold diverse roles as conservationists, teachers, community support workers, leaders and much more.

The Wildlife Ranger Challenge, organised by Tusk, is a celebration of solidarity, connection and camaraderie for the ranger profession. Culminating on 20th September 2025, the campaign raises vital funds for Africa's biodiversity guardians.

Laikipia Lion Rangers: Supporting Coexistence on the Front Lines

At Lion Landscapes, we work with conservation partners across the Laikipia landscape to train and support local rangers already working on the ground to address human-carnivore conflict. These ‘Lion Rangers’ reduce predation on livestock in their areas by helping livestock owners with predator-proof husbandry techniques, and by closely monitoring lion movements.

By helping to strengthen livestock enclosures and finding lost livestock, as well as alerting herders when lions are nearby, they help prevent incidents before they occur. When conflict does arise, they respond rapidly, using best practices to resolve the situation and minimise the chances of future losses of livestock to predation, and retaliatory killing of carnivores. This includes safely responding to any wildlife poisoning events, minimising the risk to other wildlife, people and livestock.

Rangers also collect important data on conflict incidences and wildlife sightings that improves our understanding of human-carnivore coexistence and carnivore population dynamics.

By strengthening the skills and capacity of these rangers, our programme empowers them to support coexistence between people and carnivores at the landscape scale, benefiting both people and wildlife.

Give today and the Scheinberg Relief Fund will match every dollar donated, amplifying your impact. Find out more at wildliferangerchallenge.org

The Challenges of Collaring Lions

Sep 8, 2025, 10:04:07 AM

Rangers are more than just protectors of wildlife and livelihoods, they are problem-solvers, helping to maintain the balance between people and predators. Our previous blog discusses how the data from satellite collars on lions helps rangers to prevent conflict between livestock owners and lions, however, first the collar needs to be deployed on the right lion. Collaring lions may sound straightforward, but it is a test of patience, skill, and sheer determination for any ranger. Finding the right lions is the first challenge. Without prior monitoring data, rangers rely on their deep knowledge of the land, interpreting paw prints in dusty tracks or listening for distant roars. Sometimes the lions disappear entirely, leaving no tracks, no sounds, nothing to follow. Even when located, some lions ignore the call-back sounds (recorded prey calls used to bring them close enough for the Kenya Wildlife Service vets to safely dart and collar) especially in areas where they are wary of human presence. Human interference adds another layer of complexity. On one recent occasion, a call-back was heard at a community boma. Concerned residents, thinking their livestock was at risk, arrived with dogs, creating a potentially dangerous situation for both people and lions. The rangers adapted, remaining calm and focused, carefully managing the situation while continuing their work. Collaring is tough, unpredictable work, but deploying satellite collars on lions at high risk of killing livestock remains one of the most practical and effective approaches for protecting lions and livestock. Each collar allows rangers to keep track of a lion’s movements, guide herders and their livestock away, and help safeguard coexistence between people and wildlife.

Collaring for Coexistence

Sep 3, 2025, 6:00:06 AM

In Laikipia rangelands, rangers are the first line of defence for both wildlife and livelihoods. Every day, they patrol vast areas, respond to reports of predator sightings, and work to keep peace between people and the wildlife that roam these shared landscapes. Even a single predator attack on cattle or goats can spark tension, making the rangers’ job even more challenging. That’s why Lion Landscapes partners with conservation partners to provide training, resources, and technical expertise to help rangers do their human-wildlife conflict mitigation work more effectively. One aspect of this support is providing satellite collars for lions at high risk of killing livestock Recently, our team, together with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) vets and conservancy rangers, tracked and collared two lions linked to repeated livestock losses in the conservancies and neighbouring communities. These collars are more than just research tools, they are lifelines for coexistence. By fitting a lion with a satellite collar, Lion Landscapes and conservancies can track its movements, anticipate potential conflict hotspots, and warn rangers, who in turn inform livestock herders before trouble strikes. After days of patient tracking, reading paw prints along dusty trails and following distant roars through the bush, the team successfully collared a solitary lioness, locally known as Nalotoo, and an experienced mother with two young cubs, known as Naborru. Naborru’s pride ranges widely across both private and community lands. With each lion collar deployed, rangers gain the ability to track lion movements and guide herders away from collared lion locations, helping to prevent livestock losses and reduce retaliatory killings. In this way, collars are a useful tool, helping rangers to maintain coexistence across these shared landscapes.

Wildlife Rangers are The Guardians of Coexistence

Aug 28, 2025, 9:50:52 AM

In Laikipia, life is a daily balancing act between protecting wildlife and local livelihoods. Here, lions still roar at night, and herders lead cattle to graze under the same sun that warms large carnivores like lions, leopards and spotted hyaenas. Keeping this delicate balance requires careful practices, vigilance, and a deep commitment to coexistence. The Laikipia rangers work at the interface between the wildlife and people who share the same landscape, helping to protect wild animals from people but also protecting people and their livelihoods from wildlife. Our Conservation Officer, Thomas Mojong, regularly visits conservancies and ranches for intensive, hands-on ranger training sessions. These multi-day sessions give rangers the chance to discuss and refresh their knowledge related to large carnivore behaviour and ecology, and technical skills such as securing a wildlife poisoning scene, minimising negative impacts to people and wildlife. They also explore practical, low-cost strategies to reduce conflict: grazing livestock in safer areas, making noise to alert predators, counting animals regularly to find lost animals early, and staying close to their own herds to keep predators at bay. Each session is an investment, not just in skills, but in relationships, trust, and the shared future of people and wildlife. Real coexistence isn’t the work of a few; it’s a commitment from everyone who calls this land home.