Exploring Pathways for Sustainable Human-Lion Coexistence in Kenya

Faculty Research Spotlight: Andrew Davies 

Andrew Davies, Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (FAS), was a 2023 recipient of the Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa. The Motsepe Fund is made possible by a generous gift from the Motsepe Foundation. The primary purpose of the Fund is to support faculty-led and student-driven research projects that focus on advancing key challenges and opportunities facing Africa. Recipients submit a final report on their research findings at the end of their award period. The below report was submitted in July 2025 for Professor Davies' research project: Lions and Livelihoods: Exploring Pathways for Sustainable Human-Lion Coexistence in Kenya.

Project Background & Aims
People and wildlife increasingly come into conflict over limited space and resources. Humanwildlife conflict (HWC) is especially severe across sub-Saharan Africa, where the fastest growing human populations and last intact megafaunal communities co-occur in some of the least  developed countries. The economic, sociocultural, and ecological costs of conflicts such as 
livestock depredation, human casualties, and wildlife killings are high. In many African socioecological systems, the lion functions as a biological and cultural keystone species, and a flagship for conservation, yet lions can also cause enormous damage through livestock and human  casualties. Lions have declined ~90% over the past century, in large part due to retaliatory killings 
when seen as a threat to livestock and people. Despite the urgent need for conflict solutions, two  major knowledge gaps inhibit sustainable human-lion coexistence. First, we have almost no insight  into the effects of individual-scale variation on HWC. Populations are typically treated as  homogeneous, despite substantial diversity in internal traits and external experiences among interacting individuals. Second, we lack socio-ecological frameworks that identify predictors of landscape-scale HWC to then direct limited resources more effectively.

With collaborators from multiple Harvard Schools and Kenyan institutions, we are conducting an interdisciplinary project examining pathways for human-lion coexistence that support the wellbeing of diverse human and wildlife communities. Our objectives include 1) assessing how individual-scale variation among lions impacts interactions with people and livestock; 2) exploring how gender affects relations with lions and conservation among agropastoralists; and 3) developing socio-ecological models that identify key drivers of human-lion conflict and predict conflict hotspots.

Progress & Achievements
Given the complex and multifaceted nature of the project, work remains ongoing. However, significant progress has been made across all project components. Support from the Motsepe Fund has been instrumental in advancing critical elements of the research, including data collection, community and governmental engagement, and preliminary analyses. A summary of progress and achievements to date is presented below.

Permitting & Community Engagement
Permitting and community engagement presented initial challenges and took longer than  anticipated. Despite these, we successfully obtained all 15 required permits from both Kenyan and U.S. authorities. This regulatory groundwork has enabled fieldwork to proceed at scale.

Data Collection
Data collection is now nearing completion, with most components either finalized or actively  ongoing. To monitor lion movement and behavior, we equipped adult lions—prioritizing multiple  individuals per pride where feasible—with SMART (Species Movement, Acceleration, and Radio  Tracking) collars. These devices integrate GPS and tri-axial accelerometer technologies to yield  high-resolution spatial and behavioral data. During capture events, biological samples (blood and feces) were collected, alongside morphological measurements, to support physiological and  genetic analyses. In collaboration with Mount Kenya University (MKU), lion movement data were  used to identify areas of frequent use, which were subsequently surveyed for scat samples to support dietary analysis. To date, 19 lions (14 females and 5 males) across approximately 13 social 
groups (prides or coalitions) have been collared. Students on the project (Alfred Kibungei and Lucrecia Aguilar) have collected 226 scat samples, and a subset of these are currently being prepared for DNA sequencing at MKU.

To assess potential conflict and overlap between wildlife and human activity, livestock herds were similarly tracked using GPS-enabled ear tags, with one tag deployed per herd. These tags were placed on herds in both conservancy (commercial) ranches and community-managed (pastoralist) areas. Metadata on herd structure and individual animals (e.g., sex and age) were 
recorded during deployment. Thus far, 178 herds have been tagged across more than 10 pastoralist communities and five conservancy ranches.

Human dimensions of wildlife interactions have been investigated using social surveys, which were translated into Swahili, Samburu, and Pokot to ensure accessibility. Surveys are administered verbally to one man and one woman in each of 100 pastoralist households. Survey completion is expected by July 2025. Concurrently, smartphones with GPS tracking capabilities 
are being distributed to survey participants, enabling fine-scale analysis of human mobility patterns. To date, 35 smartphones have been deployed, 16 to women and 19 to men.

In addition to ground-based data collection, we conducted remote sensing surveys using aircraft equipped with a LiDAR scanner and RGB camera. These surveys covered approximately 1,600 km² of the study area. LiDAR data are currently being processed and will serve as the basis for landscape models aimed at quantifying key environmental features.

Collaborations & Stakeholder Engagement
Collaborative efforts have been essential to project success. Partners include Lion Landscapes (a local NGO), Mpala Research Centre, Mount Kenya University, the Kenya Wildlife Service, Harvard Kennedy School, nine Laikipia conservancy ranches, and 12 pastoralist communities in Laikipia. Lion collar data and cattle tag data are actively being used for conservation management; 
cattle tags have even been used to find lost or stolen livestock herds. Furthermore, we have actively engaged with local communities through four regional workshops.

Future Outlook & Completion Timeline
The breadth of the project necessitates a longer timeframe. Field data collection is expected to conclude by December 2025, while preliminary data analyses are ongoing. The first manuscripts are anticipated for submission by the end of 2025. Analytical work will continue through 2026 and into early 2027, aligned with the doctoral timeline of Lucrecia Aguilar, who has been 
independently funded through an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Project activities are scheduled to conclude in the first quarter of 2027