Living With Wildlife Conference!

In January, our founder Dr. Andrew Stein was asked to participate in two panels during the Living With Wildlife Conference in Lewiston, Montana. Dr. Stein presented the early results of our Lion Alert System and provided a global perspective on human-carnivore coexistence relaying a variety of stories from him experiences working in Kenya, Namibia and Botswana. Though the communities may seem different at the surface, the concerns are often the same whether speaking to tribal communities in Kenya, Afrikaaner livestock farmers in Namibia or the ranching community in the American West.

When livestock represent a significant portion of your income, any causes of additive losses can reduce profit margins and significantly impact the sustainability of the operation. Whether it’s lions sneaking out of protected areas or wolves reintroduced 20 years ago, livestock owners often incur the costs of living with these species even when compensation is minimal and predator management options may be costly.

Over the course of the conference, Dr. Stein and University of Montana student Jenna Brendler were able to have great conversations with state wolf biologists, ranchers, members of non-profit organizations and colleagues. Thank you National Geographic and American Prairie Reserve for putting on the conference and inviting us to take part! We hope to build meaningful collaborations from these conversations!

Dr. Andrew Stein, Dr. Diane Boyd and Jenna Brendler discuss the scent marking study at the Living With Wildlife Conference