GC’s Investments in Ngorongoro, Tanzania, Showcase Passion for Coexistence with Wildlife Amid Nightly Raids
Photography by Marcus Westberg
Human-wildlife coexistence officers watch an African elephant that had just raided the farmer's crops during the night. The lone individual strides on the border of farmlands and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. These local community officers often work with farmers in the middle of the night to deter wildlife that comes out of the conservation to forage on crops.
Introduction to Ngorongoro
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a natural wonder. From inside, it's difficult to believe that this was part of an active volcano two million years ago. Now, it's the world's largest inactive, intact volcanic crater, and it hosts one of the greatest densities of wildlife in all of Africa. Around 25,000 large mammals call this their home, including thousands of wildebeest, zebra, eland, and buffalo. The NCA contains one of the world's highest densities of lions, which thrive on the abundant prey.
With large tracts of wildlife habitat and corridors also supporting communal land use, the landscape is porous and remains a particularly critical area for collaboration between protected area and village authorities that seeks to mitigate the risks and negative impacts associated with human wildlife interactions, including human wildlife conflict.
Farmlands come right up against the protected wildlife areas in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Photo by Hans Cosmas Ngoteya/Ngoteya Wild
African People & Wildlife
Like in other parts of Africa, poaching occurs in Ngorongoro, with species like rhinos and elephants targeted for the illegal wildlife trade. Poverty and livelihood factors are important issues when it comes to poaching, illegal wildlife trade, and human retaliation against wildlife.
Global Conservation supports two conservation partners for the Ngorongoro World Heritage Site in Tanzania: African People and Wildlife (APW) and KopeLion. With APW, we provide support to human-wildlife conflict mitigation officers, with a primary focus on elephants, while KopeLion focuses on developing a sustainable model for lion-livestock coexistence.
These two complementary NGOs work together with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) and local communities to reduce human-wildlife conflict in an increasingly challenged landscape.
A Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation Officer talks with a local farmer about the struggles he's going through when it comes to both elephants and Cape buffalo raiding his farms at night.
GC Continues to Fund African People & Wildlife to Promote Coexistence
Global Conservation’s support of this important project is an investment in one of the world’s most diverse and ecologically important places, ensuring the continued development and practice of conservation best practices that marry strong community engagement and wildlife protection with technology-based solutions.
With support from Global Conservation, Conservation Nation, and the Elephant Crisis Fund, African People & Wildlife and its partners, including the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Karatu District Council, and local communities, foster communication and collaboration between trained, rapid response anti-poaching teams managed by the protected area and a specialized network of community Human-Wildlife Coexistence Officers—creating an enabling bridge between local communities and wildlife authorities.
One of the biggest food targets for Tanzania's megafauna are coffee beans. Tanzania is famous for its coffee and subsequent exports, but there's risk involved when dangerous wildlife, like Cape Buffalo, are eating the crops and all farm work is performed on foot.
African People & Wildlife (APW) was awarded a grant from Global Conservation for the project "Supporting rapid response anti-poaching teams and human-wildlife conflict mitigation officers in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area." This project is essential to the success of our community-driven conservation programs in Tanzania.
From August 2023 to January 2024, APW made significant progress towards meeting project objectives. During this reporting period, APW undertook three main activities:
1) HEC Officer Refresher Training
In August, the APW Human-Wildlife Coexistence and Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Adaptation teams conducted a 2-day refresher training for the Program Assistant and Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) Officers in Karatu District. The training took place in Karatu and included the following refresher training topics:
Review of human-elephant conflict data collected in and around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Human-elephant conflict mitigation methods and tools
Review and revision of crop raiding data collection protocols
Review and revision of human injury data collection protocols
Software updates and troubleshooting tips for mobile phones and Survey123 forms
Action planning and next steps for HEC Officers
During the training, the officers also had the opportunity to meet several NCAA representatives, Karatu District officials, and observers from APW’s concurrent ACTIVE Community Engagement Practitioners’ Workshop. This fostered a collaborative environment for community members, the NCAA, government, and APW.
2) Human-Elephant Conflict and Elephant Observations Data Collection
From August 2023 to January 2024, the HEC officers in all four villages responded to 97 reports of crop raiding. The HEC officers are also tasked with reporting observations of elephants in their area. During this reporting period, the officers reported 2,618 observations of elephants with an average group size of 3.2 individuals per observation.
The majority of observations were evidenced by dung (69%), with 28% identified by tracks and 3% by visual sightings. Note that these figures do not represent the number of individuals, nor can APW estimate population size based on these data. While most observances can be verified from photos upon request, due to the large number of observances, HEC officer reports of elephants are not routinely verified by APW.
Community engagement, especially while on patrol, is important for earning the trust of the local people whose lives are affected by wildlife. Building rapport while guiding towards understanding how to coexist with wildlife is at the core of African People and Wildlife's program.
3) HEC program demonstrations in APW’s ACTIVE Community Engagement Practitioners’ Workshops
APW led two ACTIVE Community Engagement Practitioners' Workshops during this reporting period, and they chose the HEC program in Karatu as the location for a field visit.
Participants from Projecto Lisima of the Okavango Eternal project in Angola visited the HEC assistant and officers in Oldeani village in August. The assistant and officers described the program at a village government meeting and then escorted the workshop participants to a farm where they demonstrated the data collection protocols and smoke techniques for conflict mitigation.
In September, participants in the ACTIVE workshop from the Aid by Trade Foundation's Cotton Made in Africa program visited the HEC Assistant and Officers in Oldeani village. The workshop participants were particularly interested in shadowing the HEC officers because of the high levels of elephant crop raiding experienced by cotton farmers in Tanzania and Zambia. During this session, the HEC Assistant and Officers demonstrated their newest pilot mitigation technique: chili smoke bricks.
Elephant dung and chili peppers combine to create these bricks. Elephant dung causes the brick to smoke when lit on fire, and the chili-infused smoke serves as a deterrent to elephants. APW also invited a representative from Wild Survivors to participate in the field visit and contribute to the discussion on mitigation methods. The Wild Survivors Data & Research Coordinator, John Masaka, gave a presentation on their beehive fence project and the camera trap monitoring they use to measure the impact of the fence. Both workshop participants and APW facilitators learned about the technique and agreed to continue collaborations with Wild Survivors.
A farmer shows his crops that were raided by cape buffalo just minutes after they passed through the area.
An Elephant-Sized Challenge
One of the biggest challenges taken on by the APW team is trying to make sure that elephants are herded back into the wild areas of the Ngorongoro Crater Area. Of course, it’s not a straightforward endeavor. Farms border each other just outside of the conservation area, which leads to the farmers themselves trying to herd elephants away, even if it means the elephants are herded into another farm.
An image shows one of the herd very near the farmlands of a local farmer. As is the usual case, this African elephant only returned to this area from the farmlands as dawn crept in and humans start to get more active. Elephants are keenly aware of exactly which areas they are allowed in.
STATUS OF HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT IN THE NCA
Crop-raiding Incidents
Between August 2023 and January 2024, HEC officers in the project landscape responded to 97 reports of crop raiding. Elephants were responsible for 70% of these conflicts, with buffalo responsible for another 28%. Reports also identified baboons as a crop raiding species.
Within the farmlands, elephants break open water pipelines meant for the crops. This makes farming especially difficult during the dryer seasons.
A total of 68 reports of elephant crop raiding were analyzed for this report. This represents a significant decrease in crop raiding incidents since April, due to the end of the harvest season and the lack of palatable crops available. The data show that crop raiding incidents peaked in May and then declined steadily until August. From August through November, only 21 crop raiding incidents were reported, many of which were related to property damage rather than crop damage. The completion of most harvesting by August coincides with the agricultural calendar. In January, incident reports increased, again in line with the agricultural calendar.
During this reporting period, beans were the most commonly raided crop, closely followed by corn and banana. In total, farm owners reported 29.6 acres of crops damaged by elephants out of a total of 151 acres of farmland owned by these individuals.
Many of the elephant crop raiding incidents did not include any property damage. However, nine farm owners did report a damaged fence. This represents an increase in fence breakages since the first reporting period. This is likely due to the decreased availability of crops in open fields and natural forage during the dry season, causing elephants to be more determined to access palatable crops enclosed by fences or in food stores.
The APW team can see one of the three elephants in a group who are attempting to outwit the team and farmers by hiding in dense vegetation, making noise, and then stealthily backtrack into another area. It initially works, but, of course, the APW team catches on and pursues them back into a protected area safe for both elephants and humans. There is no guarantee the massive individuals will stay there for the whole night.
In two-thirds of reported incidents of elephant crop raiding, the elephants dispersed in less than 30 minutes. The vast majority of conflict events occurred at night, with elephants only dispersing when they were scared or chased away.
The officers' conflict monitoring protocols ask them to rate the incident's severity on a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 representing "not severe at all" and 5 representing "extremely severe." Across all incidents during this reporting period, including those with species other than elephant, the officers rated conflicts at an average severity of 1.8/5.0—an increase of about 13% from the last reporting period. Unsurprisingly, the most significant factor driving conflict severity appears to be the length of time the raiding animals spent on the farm before dispersing.
The average severity rating for incidents where the elephants spent between 30 minutes and 1 hour on the farm was 2.6. Interestingly, the rating for incidents where the elephants spent more than an hour on the farm was less severe, at 2.0/5.0. This could suggest that after the harvest season, elephants may spend significant time passing through farms looking for food, causing the farmowner to report the incident, despite minimal crop damage.
From the ten months of crop raiding data collected, seasonal trends in conflict are beginning to emerge. It is abundantly clear that overall crop raiding decreases drastically during the dry season, when there are fewer crops in the fields. However, the raiding incidents that do occur at the end of the harvest season, primarily in July and August, tend to be more severe and include more property damage. This is likely due to decreased availability of natural forage and increased desperation of elephants to find food. These trends will inform APW’s conflict mitigation interventions at different times of the year. For instance, at the end of the harvest season, the team will focus additional protection around fences and food stores.
Consistent and long-term conflict monitoring is necessary to understand how conflict trends may continue to change throughout the agricultural calendar.
Whether buffalo or elephants, wildlife may be scarred off using simple tactics like the two waving flashlights displayed here. Although different methods for scaring off wildlife have now been developed and are being taught to all locals who are willing to listen and participate. This usually results in large turnouts for each area visited by the APW team.
Mitigation Methods
Noise-making techniques, farm guards, and fire were the most commonly reported mitigation methods used by farm owners during this reporting period. Flashlights were also commonly mentioned as deterrents.
Less than 20% of farm owners reported using methods that require training and/or material support, such as tobacco lines and chili bombs.
Besides providing resources for making chili bricks and chili bombs, "Roman Candle" fireworks that shoot small fireballs into the air can be used sparingly to scare off wildlife that raid farmlands. The crowd is excited as a member of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority fires one of the fireworks into the air.
In 63% of incidents with elephants, the officers reported that the elephants dispersed because people chased them away, either with noise, fire, or light deterrents. In 23% of incidents, the farm owners reported that the elephants seemed to only be passing through and dispersed quickly.
For decades, this man has guarded his crops and the crops of other villagers by lighting small fires to scare elephants and cape buffalo away with smoke. Villages near the Ngorongoro Crater rely on border fires to keep the invaders out.
You never quite know what's just around the next bush. It's wise to keep a respectful distance around wildlife, and especially around wild elephants.
Human Injury
During this reporting period, HEC officers responded to two human injury incidents. An elephant was responsible for one of these incidents that resulted in an injured child. The other incident involved minor injuries caused by a buffalo.
Although not often, coming into encounters with dangerous wildlife can happen without warning in the dense jungle areas of Tanzania, where both vision and hearing are drowned out by thick foliage.
KopeLion
Strategic Framework
In a world of diminishing space, lions’ future is increasingly tied to shared landscapes. Ngorongoro, a unique protected area in the Greater Serengeti ecosystem, serves as a significant site for studying and developing a sustainable coexistence model, which ultimately ensures metapopulation connectivity. Working together with long-standing culture and traditions in challenging landscapes, KopeLion bases its efforts on three areas of action: to cut costs, realize the value, and apply the knowledge.
Global Conservation provides support across all strategic themes by funding the essential core costs of the project.
Ilchokuti, who are part of the local pastoralist communities, speak with other community members.
Reducing Human-Lion Conflict
The Ilchokuti Program, central to KopeLion, helps people in Ngorongoro live with lions. Their 30 Ilchokuti on the ground play a big role in reducing human-lion conflict by warning herders and the community about collared lions in pastures and near settlements. By tracking collared lions daily, Ilchokuti helps keep people, livestock, and lions safe.
Besides early warnings about collared lions, Ilchokuti have treated many injured livestock, most of which recovered. The community appreciates this support, which boosts their tolerance for lions that attack their livestock. Ilchokuti also help find and return lost livestock and reinforce weak bomas that are vulnerable to lion attacks at night.
Photo ©shutterstock/Sam D. Cruz
Update on Lion Collaring
As part of our efforts to promote human-lion coexistence, we recently collared four lions in areas where they spend time near people and may cause conflicts.
Lengeju: Part of a group of four male lions believed to come from the Serengeti, first seen in Orkuranga and later moved to Ndutu, where we collared him. His collar helps us track his movements between the Serengeti plains and Ngorongoro during the dry season.
Lengiook: The male is believed to come from the Mwiba area out side of NCA; he was first sighted by our research assistant, Emmanuel Lufilisha, in the Kakesio area. Later in 2024, after first sight, we collared Lengiook but after a couple of weeks, he navigated to the Mwiba area, where he is currently spending most of his time.
Loosikiria: After an extensive search for a male lion to collar, our team on the ground discovered his tracks in May. That same night, we conducted a call, and Loosikiria responded, arriving with two females. We successfully deployed a collar on him. His collar has proven valuable for conflict mitigation, as it has helped monitor his movements around areas with livestock and human activity.
Nesumbat, originally from the Lake pride in the Crater floor and daughter of Noongoile, a formerly collared lioness, who spent time on the Crater rim from 2018 to 2022. Nesumbat, along with her sister, now stays in the Alawandet area, navigating as far as the Malanja Depression—an area heavily populated with livestock and human settlements. Her collar keeps Maanda and Kayanda busy as they track her movements and reroute livestock away from the areas where Nesumbat resides.
Tracking collared lions by using a set of radio telemetry devices, which include the antenna and receiver, is part of the Ilchokuti's work.
Ilchokuti Support 2024
No. of bomas reinforced - 79
No. of animals treated for predator wounds - 529
No. of livestock found when lost - 1165 (99% found)
Value of livestock found - $113,695
No of lion observations by Ilchokuti in 2024 - 692
Realizing the Value
Conservation Incentive Payment Program
In 2023, KopeLion finalized their Conservation Incentive Payment trial program by conducting a household survey, and in 2024, they took a final step by holding a large stakeholder workshop to present the survey's findings. The workshop involved a wide range of important stakeholders in conservation, including community members from Ngorongoro, NCAA Tour operators, and representatives from government organizations.
In general, the findings from the household survey indicate that people are more tolerant of lions when they receive tangible benefits from them. It was also a chance to insist on a call of action for the government and other stakeholders to take lessons from the trial and use this model in NCA and other areas with potential human and wildlife conflicts.
Education Project
KL successfully launched their education project in 2024 by establishing clubs in eight primary schools throughout NCA, training the teachers who will oversee these clubs, and creating a year's worth of lesson plans to instruct students in clubs about conservation and coexistence-related issues.
One of the Ilchokuti work to reinforce a pair of kraal (bomas), while a widowed woman named Nataana and some children, a few of them hers, look on.
Boma Construction Scheme
As part of KopeLion’s initiative to reduce attacks at the homestead level, KP’s team have managed to construct five fortified bomas in areas with high levels of conflict. They’ve established a monitoring plan to visit and collect information about attacks on a monthly basis as a way to measure the impact of constructing predator-proof bomas.
The Story of Nataana
In the heart of the Ngorongoro on the foot of Mt. Makarot lives Nataana, a resilient Maasai woman whose story is a testament to strength, perseverance, and the power of community. Widowed 20 years ago, Nataana faced the daunting task of raising her children alone. The challenges were immense, but her spirit remained unbroken.
Following her husband's untimely passing, Nataana made the difficult decision to move closer to her cousins. This relocation was not just about seeking emotional support but also about finding practical help to sustain her family. The Maasai way of life is deeply intertwined with livestock, and for Nataana, her cattle are more than just animals; they are a source of livelihood, pride, and cultural heritage.
However, life in Ngorongoro is fraught with danger from predators, especially for cattle. Nataana's cattle kraal, constructed from the materials she had on hand, was vulnerable to attacks from predators. Night after night, she lived in fear of losing her precious livestock to lions, hyenas, and other predators. The flimsy structure offered little protection, and the losses were mounting.
It was at this critical juncture that KopeLion stepped in. Recognizing the dire need for a robust solution, they provided Nataana with the financial support to obtain materials and expertise to build a much stronger fence using stable and durable cedar wood. This intervention has been transformative.
"Kopelion has given us more than a fence; they have given us a future. My cows [and goats] are now safe, and we can sleep peacefully at night," Nataana says, her gratitude evident in every word.
Strong, reinforced cattle kraals play a crucial role in maintaining the delicate balance between humans and wildlife in Ngorongoro. They are a critical component in ensuring the safety and sustainability of Maasai livelihoods. Nataana's story is a powerful reminder of the difference that thoughtful intervention and community support can make in the lives of individuals. It is a celebration of resilience and the enduring spirit of the Maasai people, fortified by the bonds of kinship and the generosity of organizations committed to making a tangible difference.
Apply the Knowledge
KopeLion has continued funding the Ngorongoro TAWIRI Lion Research Project, which maintained the regular and long-term demography monitoring of NCA’s lion source populations, the Ngorongoro Crater, and the Ndutu/Masek area. It's here that each lion is individually recognized and regularly monitored throughout their lifespan, with many re-sightings of individuals each year. Lion population estimations of the resident lions in the Crater and Ndutu are based on a total count. Since the monitoring began in the 1960s, the annual counts of the Crater lion population have remained steady at 67 individuals.
Based on our observations and reports from other NCA areas, excluding temporary visitors, we estimate a total population estimate of 160–180 lions.
Even at a young age, the Maasai and Tatoga inhabitants are expected to brave the wild lands and protect their flocks. Large predators like as lions, hyenas, and leopards often consider livestock and goats as prey rather than humans.
The Long-Term Results of KopeLion's Work
KopeLion’s efforts to mitigate conflicts between humans and lions have shown promising results over recent years. Conservation activities aimed at reducing these conflicts have coincided with an increase in lion movement through human-inhabited areas. This movement has helped lions establish themselves in these environments, promoting connectivity.
Between 2016 and 2021, there was a noticeable decline in direct conflicts between humans and lions. However, 2022 saw a significant uptick in livestock attacks and retaliatory lion killings due to a number of influencing factors. A decrease in conflicts in 2023 followed this spike, highlighting ongoing challenges in maintaining sustainable coexistence in shared habitats and the need for a flexible, long-term approach.
Two lionesses roll around in the sunshine inside the Ngorongoro crater.
Key strategies, such as collaring lions for early warning systems, have proven effective. These collars track lion movements, alerting pastoralists to potential threats and reducing retaliatory killings. Local engagement initiatives, including those involving Ilchokuti, have expanded at the community's request.
Despite setbacks, such as the 2022 drought-driven conflict surge, collaborative conservation efforts continue to show progress. The partnership between conservation organizations and local communities with their traditional knowledge remains crucial in ensuring the long-term coexistence of humans and lions in the dynamic landscapes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Zebra don't mind mingling with the local cattle, and the locals don't mind it either. Although dealing with large predators is a trickier situation than dealing with herbivores, coexistence is shown in full effect here.
Ensuring Success
The Lion Recovery Fund, among others, largely supports KopeLion's second year of work on the theme of "creating conversations." Participatory conversation involves bringing together different stakeholders, including pastoralists, local leaders, researchers, and policymakers, to foster dialogue, build trust, and co-create solutions. It will underpin all of our work, with a particular focus on youth. This approach recognizes the importance of local knowledge, values, and practices in addressing complex problems and seeks to empower community members to take ownership of the process that can lead to a positive shift in attitudes, beliefs, and values that lead to sustainable change.
Children were on their way to a coming-of-age ceremony for an older tribe member.
KopeLion’s youth festival happened in June this year and was a big success, according to the feedback from the young people who attended. We had 100 youths from the Barbaig and Maasai communities come together for two days to learn and discuss different topics that affect their lives in Ngorongoro. Several successful young people in honey production, information technology, tourism, and veterinary services shared their stories to inspire others. We also had experts in invasive species and family planning who taught the youths through breakout sessions and showed them posters and equipment used for family planning.
KopeLion conducted two meetings for elders and warriors, which is part of their initiative to begin conversation within the NCA. These meetings aimed to discuss and reaffirm the ban on killing lions (both ritual and retaliatory), its celebrations, and its meaning to the next generation. The intent of these meetings is to promote positive attitudes toward lions and understanding of the ecosystem services provided by the ‘lionscape’.
The established working group consists of 17 members from the 15 villages in which KopeLion operates. These members have undergone several training sessions to build their capacity for initiating conversations within their communities using various platforms. A WhatsApp group was created to provide opportunities for these members to discuss issues related to coexistence and other aspects that impact the daily lives of the Ngorongoro people. The primary goal of this group of influencers is for KopeLion to gather community insights on strengthening our coexistence efforts by involving them in the decision-making process for key projects and activities that are both culturally and environmentally relevant to them.
