8/4/2019 What Conversing with the Maasai has taught me about carnivore conflict: an open letter to american ranchersRead NowIn mid July, I had the opportunity to visit with a Maasai village in Esilalei, in the Arusha area of northern Tanzania. The goal was to speak to the Maasai, interviewing them about carnivore-human conflict. The Maasai were forced to move out of Serengeti National Park, and receive no monetary compensation for livestock losses by predators- something that happens in America. They are also not legally allowed to kill a predator unless in the case of endangerment to human life. The conversations were thought-provoking, fascinating, and a testament to how universal carnivore-human mitigation really is. After the experience, I wrote an open letter to American ranchers who prefer shooting wolves and other carnivores on sight instead of looking for peaceful, nonlethal methods of livestock protection. I posted it on the POUNCE Instagram (@pounceconservation), and want to share it here. All photos are mine. July 15, 2019 To the ranchers, farmers, and livestock keepers who insist on shooting wolves on sight: I’m a carnivore biologist who currently works on gray wolves, but currently is spending a month in Tanzania studying human-carnivore relationships. Today, after gaining special permission from the village leader, I went into a Maasai community with a translator to ask some questions regarding livestock predations by lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and jackals. The Maasai people are generous and very willing to share their homes with strangers — at each homestead I visited, a Maasai man or woman immediately welcomed us in (“karibu!”) and offered me a chair. Perhaps the most striking conversation I had was with an elderly man and woman, two very respected leaders of their community. They were very interested in my questions, and most of all, they were very interested in discussing the ways in which they tried preventing livestock depredations. Just two nights ago, hyenas had taken 16 goats and sheep from a boma- enclosed shelter- outside their home, leaving them with perhaps 2-3 animals. I was sympathetic, as I am sympathetic with anyone who makes their living off animals who loses one. I asked them how they protected their animals- the response was an enforced boma with wire fencing. I asked if they killed the hyenas- they said no. I asked why not, especially considering such a detrimental loss— a loss not compensated monetarily by the Tanzanian government. The man replied that he values the nature that God gave the Maasai, and that he wants future generations to be able to see and appreciate these animals. He then asked me for suggestions to improve their ways of preventing livestock deaths. I suggested livestock guarding dogs, and also some way to let the predators know of human presence— like a shirt or rag with a sharp human scent laid over the boma fences. I also suggested light and fire. The man and woman were very happy with the suggestions, and said that they are very willing and enjoy exchanging ideas regarding these predators. It struck me then how incredibly selfish some American ranchers can be. Most, if not all, wolf states compensate livestock loss in some way. Additionally, very few ranchers lose most of their livestock to wolves; even if they did, they have opportunities in abundance to start over and move to a new path in life. But instead, many ranchers prefer to shoot predators on sight. Yet, out in the dusty, barren plains of the Maasai, the people actively work to try not killing wild animals, and have a huge respect for them and their world. A day before, I went hiking with a friend in some lowlands and a leopard passed five feet in front of me; a local told us later that it was a female with cubs, and that if you shooed it away, she’d leave and not attack. He was part of a banana plantation, and worked less than 2 minutes away from the leopard sighting— yet the option was to simply shoo the big cat away. A tradition of the Maasai is that, when a warrior boy comes of age, he proves his manhood by killing a lion and taking its name. With increased urbanization leading to increased Maasai-lion conflict, lion numbers fell. A program called Lion Guardians stepped in to the Maasai that were willing to join. Now, the Maasai boy, instead of killing a lion, vows to protect it and gives it his name. Technology has helped them track lion prides and move their herds away from the incoming predator- communities who have used this program have seen an extremely sharp decrease in lion predations, and no lions have been killed. And when I asked the Maasai man which of the animals - lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena, or jackal- was his favorite, he and his wife both laughed and picked the hyena. They admired its intelligence, they said, and how it would quickly run away from people. I leave those of you who shoot predators left and right to protect livestock with this story in the hope that you reconsider your tactics. Wolves are a part of America, and have been long since you or your relatives arrived. Giving them a chance to live is not quite so hard as you think, and it can be combined also with keeping your livelihood safe.
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Gerri Clemens
8/6/2019 01:49:58 pm
Aspen this will be a powerful blog. Beautifully written. I loved the spear throwing. Nice job. I put it on my Twitter page. I'm going to forward it to Washington State hoping they may find it helpful as well. I love what your doing. I'm in Colorado on vacation and hoping to get to wolf sanctuary.
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