As part of our series on highlighting the work of people who run smaller organisations/charities and the work they are doing to help protect lions, we would like to introduce you to Marnus Roodbol, who is the Founder of Walking for Lions.
Marnus, firstly please tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be involved in conservation. I grew up in South Africa and have been involved with conservation from a young age. My parents instilled this passion and love of wildlife within me through their love and actions towards animals in general. From a young age it was my dream to become a professional ranger or
safari guide and when I completed my tertiary qualifications, I headed straight into the bush to live my dream of conservation and tourism.
In 2012 you launched Walking for Lions. Please tell us about why you originally created Walking for Lions and your plans for 2019. Walking for Lions started as an idea, a concept so to speak, where you put yourself on the line for wild lions. To draw attention to the large decline of wild lions through campaigns and projects through Africa. Using social media as effectively as possible to spread the word and then most importantly showing people that donate where their funds are going. I do this through constant updates of the projects conducted in various countries of Africa.
For 2019, we are pleased to launch a new contract/project in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Namibia in a remote area of Namibia known as the Nyae Nyae conservancy. The area is unique due to the local inhabitants, known famously as the SAN folk (Bushman) The aim of the project is to determine the viability and sustainability of wildlife within this area and whether the community is eager to assist with the development of the conservancy and a higher promotion of tourism.
In the years since you started what have been the biggest issues facing lions in the areas that you work? The largest contributing factor to the decline of wild lions over the years, in my opinion, has been the constant increase of human encroachment on lion territories. Livestock farming is and has always been an issue as livestock husbandry is non-existent in many areas of Africa. Tolerance of wildlife and knowledge on how to manage predators on farmlands is lacking drastically.
If wildlife does not directly contribute to a community or farmer through a monetary value, then species such as lions preying on livestock will always be in danger. They directly impact on the community or farmer’s current economic income and therefore will not be tolerated.
Please tell us about some of the projects you have worked in and what their benefit was to both lions and the community. I have been involved with various projects, mostly in Southern Africa, on lion conservation. Several projects related directly to determining or estimating the lion densities in areas of Botswana and Namibia through spoor surveys and camera trapping surveys. Conducting spoor surveys over a two/three-year period in one area provides specific trends where one can compare the results and establish through the “tracks left behind� the densities of specific predators and whether or not their numbers are stable or declining. Another project I was involved with was in Botswana in an area known as Pandamatenga (the bread basket of Botswana). The area borders the famous Hwange National Park that is based in Zimbabwe. Lion density per square kilometre determined to be rather healthy through the spoor surveys we conducted in Pandamatenga, which made lion interaction with humans rather frequent, compared to other others in Southern Africa. Predation on livestock is considered one of the largest factors contributing towards lions being harassed and at times euthanized by local farmers which led to us working with the local farmers on a mitigation strategy using Solar Panel LED motion detection light units to deter lions from attacking livestock at night once livestock enter the kraals (Cattle posts).
Lights were effective in the first year but typical lion behaviour, some became accustomed to the light units. Therefore, it was decided to alter the lights and modify them by combining light and noise when triggered. Working with engineers from South Africa, we managed to alter the lights thus when triggered a high-pitched siren also goes off to deter lions. The next year not one attack was recorded on the cattle posts we were working with, whilst neighbours did receive some visits from lions from time to time.
When you are in the field what does your day look like? A typical day in the field is to wake up before the birds, make a STRONG cup of coffee and then depart to either a farm, village or search for any lion activity. In most areas where we have operated in, lions fear humans (due to the close proximity both roam in) therefore establishing physical contact with lions require early morning or late-night work as cats tend to become bolder during the evening.
As you have mentioned, a lot of your work is around human wildlife conflict, how have you found working with those who come into conflict with lions and how do you go about changing their attitudes?
I do a lot of conflict work indeed and my aim is not always to change their attitudes but to make time for the people and understand their situation. If you show compassion and support attitudes automatically changes as they see you care about them as well as lions. I enjoy learning from each community I come in contact with as each have something special to share.
Obviously donations are very important to small organisations and every penny counts and is eked out so you can make the most impact. What do you use your donations for and what is currently on your “wish list� and how will that benefit your work. Donations are indeed extremely important to continue the work and most people think that a few dollars will not make a difference, but when you combine a few dollars from several supporters it pays for fuel, equipment, food etc. One of the most difficult parts of applying for grants are when you attempt to add in a small amount for the work conducted on the ground. Hiring trackers, researchers etc which are vitally important to help us and create local work are one of the most difficult to obtain and most often little funds are left for this specific desire. Wish list would mainly be funding to hire these people and the actual running costs of a project. Fuel, food, tyres, maintenance are amongst those hidden costs that is not always recognized but so important towards the overall research.
Thank you Marnus, we are truly grateful for the work you do on behalf of the lions and we support you totally in what you are trying to do. If like us, you think Marnus is doing some amazing work, please do think about donating to Walking for Lions. They really do make every penny donated stretch as far as possible for the benefit of the lions. There is a donation link on the Walking for Lions website page and we thank you in advance for considering helping Marnus and the team bring peace to both lions and humans. https://www.walkingforlions.org/
(Please note they are so busy helping lions that not all the project information on the website is up-to-date but the donation button is in the top right-hand corner of the first page). For further information please also follow them on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WalkingForLions/ Or on Twitter - https://twitter.com/walkingforlions?lang=en
All photos contained in this article are copyright Walking for Lions, apart from Nyae Nyae Conservancy Map taken from My Tribe Collection by RM on pinterest.