Awareness and Insights
The illegal bushmeat trade is probably the single greatest threat to wildlife in Zambia. Bushmeat poaching has reduced prey populations significantly, even in protected areas.
In Zambia, as with several other countries, there is growing evidence of targeted poaching of lions for skins and other body parts—in addition to an increasingly severe threat to leopards associated with poaching for their skins. This project aims to improve the conservation of big cats by gaining a better understanding of the spatial patterns, scale and drivers of the illegal trade of lion, leopard and cheetah skins in Zambia.
WCP is undertaking an investigation to identify the trade route of big cat skins, the methods of killing and trafficking and where the products end up. In addition, WCP will also develop a DNA database which will allow law enforcement authorities use confiscated big cat parts, to determine both what species of cat it is and which protected area system it came from. This information will then be used to inform law enforcement strategy to better tackle this rapidly growing threat. This project will be conducted in partnership with Zambia Carnivore Programme.
This study is funded by the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Lion Recovery Fund.
Please click the picture below to visit the This Is Not A Game website:
Woman for Conservation
- To enable those women currently working in conservation in Zambia to meet each other, share experiences both conservation related and otherwise, share news and information about opportunities and current projects, potentially to build mentor/mentee relationships and in general support each other with regards to any issues or challenges faced in the workplace.
- To enable other women in Zambia who might be interested in working in conservation in Zambia to find out more about the wildlife conservation sector, those who work in it and potential employment and internship opportunities.
