Niassa Carnivore Project

Our mission is to conserve lions and other large carnivores (leopard, spotted hyena and African wild dog) in the vast Niassa National Reserve in northern Mozambique in collaboration with the Mozambican Government and local communities. Our long-term vision is a unique protected area where lions and other carnivores continue to thrive with the full participation and support of Niassa’s people.

We acknowledge that living with large carnivores can be difficult and even dangerous. They are capable of attacking people and killing livestock. In return, lions and leopards are killed in retaliation, for their skins, as sport hunted trophies and accidentally in snares set for bush meat. We focus on identifying and implementing practical, sustainable solutions based on sound research with ongoing monitoring, environmental education, and outreach. Mentoring of Mozambican conservationists is a priority.

We work on all the large carnivores (lion, leopard, spotted hyaena and African wild dog), but lions are a priority. There are fewer than 40,000 wild lions left in Africa today and the need for locally derived grass roots solutions has never been higher. Only a handful of conservation areas in Africa currently support more than 1,000 lions. These are the strongholds for lion conservation and Niassa National Reserve is one of them. This protected area has been called one of the “last of the wild” places on earth. It is a national treasure and vitally important for conservation efforts in the region.

Conserving large carnivores requires collaboration, innovation and a long term view. We have been in Niassa Reserve since 2003 and remain deeply committed to protecting this wilderness and its lions in collaboration with our partners.

Download the latest annual report here.

Website design by Ad Dawg Creative. Special thanks to Leda Marritz and Meredith Watts for website content. Special thanks to Sue McConnell for additional images of us in the field.