Namibia's Lion Rangers Pair Smartphones With Traditional Tracking Skills to Protect Desert Lions
Local rangers across 11 conservancies have eliminated illegal lion killings in six of them, though drought-driven prey loss keeps conflict a challenge.
In north-west Namibia's Kunene region, a community-based programme called Lion Rangers is helping people and desert-adapted lions share the land, Positive News reported on 29 October 2026. The programme, created in 2018, now operates across 11 conservancies.
How it works
Field coordinator Benjamin Kordom oversees more than 40 rangers, patrol leaders and rapid-response team members. They combine traditional tracking knowledge with modern tools:
- SMART software, used free on smartphones since 2021, to log patrols and sightings.
- GPS collars on 44 lions, plus camera traps.
- 16 early-warning towers at conflict hotspots, alerting farmers when lions are near livestock.
- In 18 months, rangers covered almost 280,000 kilometres, including 88,000 on foot.
Results
Illegal lion killings have been eliminated in six conservancies. The region's desert lions rose from about 20 adults in 1997 to about 180 by 2015, and the Lion Rangers' research team described the population as stable in an October 2025 update. Raw data is shared with Namibia's environment ministry.
The challenges
The picture is not simple. Human-lion conflict fell by a third by 2023, then rose again, which the article links to shifting prey distribution tied to weather. The lions' wild prey base has fallen by about 72.5% since the mid-2010s, leaving the animals more likely to turn to livestock. The programme shows how local knowledge and affordable technology can help, while the pressures on desert wildlife continue.
