Volunteer in Kenya, Africa Olowaru Lion & Elephant Conservation Project

Please note, placements in Kenya are not available at this time due to the unrest surrounding the recent elections.  We will continuously evaluate the situation with our partner in Kenya and begin placements when the situation improves.

Location: Tsavo-West National Park, Kenya

You’ll be picked up from the airport and spend the first day and night in Nairobi for orientation. Then you’ll be taken to the research camp, just outside the border of Tsavo-West National Park and within sight of Mt. Kilimanjaro, on private Mussai land.

General:
In 2004, a conservative estimate of the number of free-ranging lions in Africa was 23,000. They are found mainly in the protected areas (290-350 of them), which account for only 9-12 percent of their home ranges.

Outside these protected areas, their numbers are threatened by both direct and indirect persecution. They are persecuted directly when lions are killed due to threats to human beings and livestock. Indirectly, they are threatened when there is competition for prey with human beings due to poaching, trophy hunting, and competition for grazing areas. These factors have greatly reduced the numbers of lions in their former range.

Your Volunteer Project:

Animal Numbers
This will involve direct and indirect animal count data collection. The direct counts will transect counts in pre-selected blocks. The blocks will represent areas of differing land-use patterns. This data collection will involve the use of a 4x4 vehicle driving along the roads and recording encounters of any predators or elephants

Animal Diet
This will be done by observation of kills, flora destruction, and examination of the dung collected. This will be augmented by counting the wild herbivore in the area of the predator range.

Conflicts and Local Attitude
Reports of lion or elephant attacks will be followed up and recorded. This will be compared to the reports made to Kenya Wildlife Services. Where the lion and elephant attacks are confirmed, data will be collected on the circumstances and the habitat at the attack site. This will include such data as the herding system (i.e., presence of a herder and/or herd dogs).

Eligibility

Accommodation: You will stay in our Olowaru Tented research camp, in tents set on private Masai land bordering Tsavo-West National Park. We do not operate in the Tsavo National Park, but understand there are no fences at all in these areas so wildlife traverse freely.

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