Carnivore Collaring – Sioma Ngwezi National Park
Last year, between September and November, WWF Zambia, in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and Panthera, collared six carnivores in the Sioma Ngwezi National Park. The park lies within the Silowana Complex, an area between the Zambezi River and the Angolan and Namibian borders.
The first of the six carnivores to be captured and collared were a female wild dog, a male lion and a lioness. A couple of months later two more lions and a further wild dog were also collared. It is useful for research to collar both sexes of each species, to monitor how they all utilise an area, gaining data on their social behaviour, how they interact with other species and to learn more about their home ranges. By monitoring and studying the data collected, they hope to also help reduce human/wildlife conflict in the area.
“Knowing when carnivores will be in proximity to their land can enable farmers to secure and protect their livestock and thus reduce potential conflict.“ WWF Zambia
In January the male lions moved along the Kwando River and were being closely monitored to see if they crossed into the Angolan side or move south into Namibia, as their movements could indicate an important wildlife corridor. Tracking them will also show how the carnivores negotiate passing through the human populations along the Zambian side of the river.
The collars will remain on the wild dogs for two years, and five years for the lions, as theirs are significantly larger, having larger battery packs. They will continue to track the collared animals, and will seek to get more funding, so that they can collar more animals in different packs or prides. It is hoped that this project will help guide future conservation efforts to both help protect the carnivores and to reduce human/wildlife conflict with people, and their livestock, in the region.
The Silowana Complex is growing in conservation significance, being adjacent to the large Angolan Luengue Luiana National Park. This region has seen a significant decrease in wildlife population over the years, so it is hoped that the pristine habitat in the national parks will attract migrating wildlife populations from neighbouring Namibia and Botswana.
This is the first time collaring and research has been undertaken in the Silowana Complex and it is hoped that the data collected will provide crucial information on how the carnivores respond to changing wildlife populations. Researchers consider large carnivores to be ‘umbrella species’ – the health of these species serves as an indicator as to the health of the overall biodiversity of all species in their region. This project will also help in the understanding of human activities on the surrounding ecosystem.
You can find out more and keep up to date with their research on WWF Zambia’s Facebook page and on their website – www.wwfzm.panda.org
Main Photograph ©WWF Zambia / Shadrach Mwamba