Author Bob Frump: Human-Animal Conflict (Man-eating Lions) Endangers Wildlife in Africa
An increase in man-eating behavior among lions could endanger wildlife as African villagers suffer increased losses, says author Robert R. Frump, just back from a darting expedition in Tanzania.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PRWEB) November 20, 2006 -- Author Robert R. Frump says that human-animal conflict - essentially man-eating behavior - may be reaching all time highs in Africa with only a few conservation groups addressing the matter.
Mr. Frump, who recently completed a month-long expedition with Tanzanian researchers in an attempt to humanely trap suspected man-eating lions and fit them with GPS collars, said environmentalists need to embrace a new paradigm that protects both villagers and animals.
"Each year, more than 200 Tanzanians are killed by lions, elephants, crocodiles and hippos," Mr. Frump said. "Until conservationists and environmentalists understand the consequences of this terrible toll, wildlife will be seen more as a negative than a positive by African villagers and so will be endangered in the long run."
"Each year, more than 200 Tanzanians are killed by lions, elephants, crocodiles and hippos," Mr. Frump said. "Until conservationists and environmentalists understand the consequences of this terrible toll, wildlife will be seen more as a negative than a positive by African villagers and so will be endangered in the long run."
By far, he added, the government of Tanzania is a leader in acknowledging this problem and taking steps to solve it. Tanzania is taking positive steps to measure, understand and address the problem in a way that may permit the co-existence of both species.
The worst man-eating behavior, he said, appears to be in Southern Tanzania, Northern Mozambique and in Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Mr. Frump is the author of "The Man-eaters of Eden: Life and Death in Kruger National Park" about the rise of man-eating behavior among lions in South Africa. Information about his book and more details about the Tanzanian situation can be found at www.man-eater.info .
"Kruger is horrible, but Tanzania makes Kruger look like a shopping mall," Mr. Frump said. "In Kruger, refugees passing through the park are attacked and eaten and that is awful. In Tanzania, in some of the southern villages, the lions literally go door to door and seize peaceful farmers and their children from mud huts and front porches.
"That is a horror beyond imagination until you meet the villagers," Mr. Frump said. "Often, all they have to face 400 pound lions is a machete and fish nets."
The positive difference between Kruger and Tanzania is that the government of Tanzania acknowledges the problem and is pro-actively addressing the situation.
Mr. Frump, a conservationist who supports wildlife preservation, accompanied an expedition organized by famed lion research Dr. Craig Packer of the University of Minnesota. Dennis Ikanda, a Tanzanian scientist, lead the expedition, which included American trapper Dairen Simpson, and Harunnah Lyimo, a scientific guide and interpreter.
Packer and Ikanda have authored a scientific articlel published in Nature that shows the rate of attacks by lions have tripled since 1990. Both men are ardent conservationists, but feel this human loss must be addressed so that Tanzania's wildlife does not suffer from a political backlash.
Mr. Frump is writing about the Tanzanian expedition in a work in progress entitled, "Belling the Cats: The Quest to Study and Stop Africa's Worst Man-eaters." Excerpts can be viewed at www.man-eater.info
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