Human activities have caused the global decline of large carnivore populations, as habitat loss and land conversion reduce the space available for these species. The situation is especially acute at the edges of protected areas (PAs), where animals like the African lion (Panthera leo) range outside PAs and into human-dominated landscapes. There, they frequently prey on free-ranging livestock—often triggering retaliatory or even preemptive killings by people trying to safeguard their livelihoods. Over the last ~50 years, lion populations have declined by about 90%, driven largely by habitat loss and conflict with humans. To better understand how lions navigate these high-conflict zones, Assistant Professor of Biology and Africana Eric G. LeFlore and his team tracked and monitored lions in Botswana’s eastern Panhandle of the Okavango Delta, a human-lion conflict hotspot but also a critical lion conservation area.

The findings presented in his recent paper published in the Journal of Mammalogy highlight how the movements and space use of this social carnivore can vary based on system-specific ecological and anthropogenic pressures. Studying systems beyond park boundaries with high levels of human–lion conflict and establishing conservation programs that account for both ecological and sociocultural dimensions will better aid lion conservation efforts moving forward (Decker et al. 2012; LeFlore et al. 2019; Weise et al. 2019; LeFlore et al. 2020; LeFlore 2021). 

Eric joined the faculty at Bates in 2023 and leads the LeFlore Lab for Human-Wildlife Coexistence, an interdisciplinary research unit. He and his students study the movements and distributions of carnivores in response to anthropogenic pressures, as well as the accompanying human dimensions. Current projects include a camera-trapping assessment of bobcat (Lynx rufus) distributions in central Maine and a sociocultural analysis of stakeholder perceptions of wildlife conservation efforts in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.

LeFlore, E.G., T.K. Fuller, and A.B. Stein. Lion (Panthera leo) movements in a multiuse area of the eastern Panhandle of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Journal of Mammalogy 104: 1317-1328. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyad090

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All photos courtesy of Eric LeFlore

Faculty Featured

Eric G. LeFlore

Assistant Professor of Biology