Effectiveness of a LED flashlight technique in reducing livestock depredation by lions (Panthera leo) around Nairobi National Park, Kenya

Abstract

The global lion (Panthera leo) population decline is partly a result of retaliatory killing in response to livestock depredation. Nairobi National Park (NNP) is a small protected area in Kenya surrounded by a human-dominated landscape. Communities around the park use flashlights to deter lions from their livestock bomas. We investigated the response by lions to the installation of a LED flashlight technique during 2007–2016.We interviewed 80 owners of livestock bomas with flashlights (n = 43) and without (n = 37) flashlights in the surroundings of NNP and verified reported attacks on bomas against predation data over10 years. The frequency of attacks on bomas equipped with flashlights was significantly lower compared to bomas without flashlights. We also found that after flashlight installation at livestock bomas, lion attacks took place further away from the park edge, towards areas where bomas without flashlights were still present. With increased numbers of flashlight installations at bomas in recent years, we further noticed a shift from nocturnal to more diurnal predation incidences. Our study shows that the LED flashlight technique is effective in reducing nocturnal livestock predation at bomas by lions. Long term studies on the effects as well as expansion of this technique into other communities around NNP are recommended.

Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region

“…Improving condition of animal enclosures, use of livestock guardians (herders and trained dogs), visual, auditory deterrents and lethal control of predators have been identified as the major interventions which have effectively reduced livestock losses ( Van Eeden et al, 2018 ; Miller, Jhala & Schmitz, 2016 ; Eklund et al, 2017 ). Light based deterrents have been documented to effectively protect livestock against lions ( Panthera leo ) ( Lesilau et al, 2018 ) and pumas ( Ohrens, Bonacic & Treves, 2019 ) and our results also support such findings. However, not all visual deterrents are effective, e.g., scarecrows and lion lights have failed to prevent livestock losses to leopard attacks in east Africa ( Broekhuis, Cushman & Elliot, 2017 ).…”

“…Radio-telemetry studies in Nepal and India have documented leopards to be nocturnal (Odden & Wegge, 2005;Odden et al, 2014) but our results suggest diurnal activity peaks within human dominated mountainous landscapes. Cheetahs and lions in eastern Africa (Broekhuis et al, 2014;Lesilau et al, 2018) and tigers in Sundarban delta (Naha et al, 2016) have also been reported to exhibit diurnal activity peaks and are believed to be the major driver of human-carnivore conflicts. Leopards probably prefer to kill wild prey at night whereas livestock killing is diurnal due to the availability, poor or unsupervised grazing practices, and ease of catching domestic prey.…”

An ecological framework for contextualizing carnivore–livestock conflict

“…Deterrents that mimic human presence, such as noise or lighting (e.g., Foxlights [Foxlights International, Australia]), can produce a perception of greater risks for carnivores (Lesilau et al. 2018). By increasing the costs, real or perceived, of preying on livestock, a livestock manager can create suboptimal conditions for predation and prompt a carnivore to switch to other, less costly alternatives.…”

A framework of most effective practices in protecting human assets from predators

“…This was a result of different effects of interventions on different predators. Visual deterrents varied from very effective flashlights against lions (Lesilau et al, 2018) to ineffective scarecrows against leopards (Woodroffe et al, 2007). Herding was very effective by adult men (Ciucci & Boitani, 1998) and highly ineffective by children (Tumenta et al, 2013;Woodroffe et al, 2007).…”