Lion Collaring & Conservation

Matusadona: Lions Conservation

Under the Matusadona Lion Project, 11 lions amongst 5 prides have been collared since 2014. Data from the satellite collars has allowed the project to better understand the conservation status of lions in the area and recognised actions that must be taken to improve the populations’s viability.

A collar’s battery life lasts around two years and these collars must be replaced in order to effectively study lions and reduce human-lion conflict. The project is also seeking to collar more animals across the landscape to help identify the conservation threats they face.

Camera traps are an invaluable tool for the project, helping to monitor predator and prey populations and distribution, providing a unique insight into animal ecology and behaviour, as well as providing evidence against poachers.

The project is currently halfway through a large carnivore landscape survey – the first comprehensive survey aimed at identifying the abundance and distribution of large carnivores across the Sebungwe region, as well as investigating elephant distribution and poaching incidence, which are information critically important in guiding effective conservation programs. Sadly, 13 cameras were stolen by poachers during the survey which hindered the continuation and progress of the survey.

At the centre of our work is Matusadona National Park, a roughly 1400km^2-wilderness found in the heart of the Sebungwe landscape of North-Western Zimbabwe. It forms an integral part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) and the Middle Zambezi UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Matusadona National Park hosts 48 mammal species along the shores of the world’s largest man-made lake – Lake Kariba.

Matusadona National Park is characterised by a sprawling floodplain of Panicum grass and endless Mopane shrubland across its valley floor before giving way to a larger, remote and rugged escarpment area covered with pristine Miombo woodland. The park is a designated Intensive Protection Zone for Black Rhino and was home to the famous ‘Chura Bull’ elephant – Zimbabwe’s biggest tusker, whose genes can still be seen amongst the current elephant generation and largest remaining elephant population of the Sebungwe region. It also once held Africa’s second-highest density of lions and witnessed a successful introduction of cheetah in the 1990s.

Sadly, these species have dramatically declined over the last two decades and are in need of dedicated conservation efforts. Matusadona National Park was also the home of the famous “Operation Noah” wildlife rescue operation in 1958 where over 6000 animals were rescued from rising lake water levels by the late Rupert Fothergill.