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6.1 Livestock Management Approx. 50% of Namibia is comprised of livestock farms. Commercial or free-hold farmers own their land and run livestock commercially; communal farmers tend to carry out subsistence farming. A number of commercial farmers do not practice effective livestock management: most practice two calving seasons per year and offer inadequate protection to young calves, sheep and goats. Having also farmed livestock on Okonjima, the AfriCat team is able to offer correct and effective advice for improved livestock protection from predators. Our approach is to provide valuable information and offer practical advice to livestock farmers, in the hope that they accept responsibility for the protection of their livestock and see the economic advantages of improved livestock management. This advice may take the form of the introduction of calving seasons,
so that there is some control over calves born (where some farmers
leave the bulls with the herds all year round, producing calves
throughout the year) and, in high density predator areas, introducing
predator-proof enclosures. Unfortunately calves sometimes lose
body mass through separation from their mothers for extended periods
of time, and if this is severe, one has to compromise and allow
the calves to graze with their mothers. Other options include keeping long horned bulls with the cow/calf herds and if the predator problem is extreme, introducing more aggressive breeds such as the Brahman. Effective management techniques have to be cost effective; expenditure should not exceed loss of livestock and only be introduced when farmers suffer losses over a sustainable limit.
6.2 Management of leopard populations in Namibia Due to their shy, solitary nature, a leopard population estimate is almost an impossible task. One cannot extrapolate their numbers from density estimates already known from study areas because rainfall and available resources will affect their density. Management of carnivores in Namibia is particularly difficult because carnivores do not always respond as one would expect. For instance, attempts at contraception in lionesses in the Etosha National Park, to control the population and halt the need for lion to leave the park, had no effect on the number of vagrant lion shot on the farms bordering the park. As already proved through the culling and hunting of leopards at Okonjima, this practice does not reduce numbers, but merely makes space for migrants from other areas. Farmers regularly report that they continuously kill leopard to control livestock problems, but to no avail. The only way that one can truly manage a carnivore population is by understanding the dynamics that drive these populations and by adapting farming methods accordingly. Culling actually stimulates populations by allowing more sub-adults to survive, replacing older animals that would be killed off which causes the population to have a higher turnover, but not necessarily be reduced. Culling can actually benefit these populations instead of decreasing them, which is what many people have tried to achieve and failed. In order to improve management of carnivores in Namibia, we need to initiate more research projects, to give us a better understanding of these animals and guide conservation strategies in the right direction.
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