A proportion of farmers in Botswana depend almost entirely upon the income generated by their livestock. The death of these livestock to carnivores is therefore particularly devastating and can result in retaliatory actions towards the carnivores. With this in mind, CCB has tested, demonstrated and rolled out a toolbox of non-lethal methods that farmers can use to minimize the threat of carnivores, and which therefore, helps in carnivore conservation.

One increasingly popular method of deterrent is the use of Livestock Guarding Dogs (LGDs) to protect smallstock from carnivores. LGDs are proven an effective front-line defense to disrupt a carnivore’s hunting pattern, and to warn the livestock and any nearby staff of an approaching carnivore. CCB places trained dogs with farmers that are experiencing carnivore conflict, provides free veterinary care for all the dogs placed and monitors the effectiveness of the dogs at protecting livestock, improving perceptions about carnivores and reducing retaliation killings of carnivores. Puppies are placed on farms at three months; a health check is completed at one month after placement. Additional extensive follow-up evaluations are conducted at three months and six months, with yearly evaluations conducted after the dog turns one year old.

Since 2014 CCB has placed around 50 LGDs in the Ghanzi region and our monitoring indicates that they are working well to alleviate farmer-carnivore conflict. Testimonials from farmers with LGDs say that they no longer experience conflicts with carnivores. Coexistence is not magic - it is achieved through working together to find effective and inexpensive solutions where all thrive, and we believe that our LGD is demonstrating exactly that. Coexistence is possible. 

​The Farmers’ Networks which CCB aided in establishing in Jwaneng and Ghanzi held annual planning meetings on the 15th and 21st February 2019 respectively. The meetings are a great way to begin and plan for the year, as well as, to evaluate the successes and shortcomings of the previous year. Both networks came up with new, brilliant, and innovative ideas, one of which included hosting a regional mini farmers’ market days to showcase their products, promote CCB’s Livestock Guarding Dog (LGD) program, create opportunities, attract new clients, meet stakeholders, and engage with their larger communities. Another idea suggested was to use social media to facilitate active discussions and to better keep in touch with other Network members. Whatsapp and other locally available agricultural apps were recommended to fast track and share farming information.
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The communities were very happy with last year’s LGD awards ceremony as it encouraged farmers to work in non-lethal ways to safe guard their stock. The farmers also aired their views on conservation and farming issues. It was reassuring to hear the farmers are thinking positively about coexistence measures. Change always starts local – small – and yet it is inspiring how quickly it can grow into a forward-thinking community of conservationist farmers, as we are seeing here with our Farmers’ Networks!

​On the 7th February 48 students and three teachers from Kalkfontein Primary School joined us for our first bush camp of the year, for three days of conservation fun at our Education Centre. The objectives of the bush camp were to motivate and inspire students and teachers to develop positive attitudes towards environmental issues, to share ideas and experiences about conservation issues that occurs in and around the areas where they live and to appreciate the importance of flora and fauna in the ecosystem. The students were exposed to different lessons about the ecosystem, carnivores, cheetahs and human wildlife conflict, wetlands and plastic pollution. The students also loved playing the many conservation games that help to reinforce the conservation messages. The students visited the Chris Woolcott Vulture Restaurant at Thakadu Bush Camp and benefited from a presentation by Kanabo Conservation Link about vulture species, including why they are threatened as well as their role in the ecosystem. The students were taken to an underground hide where they were able to watch the vultures at close range. They also visited Tautona lodge to see lions and African wild dogs and to learn about their behavioural ecology and conservation challenges. The Kalkfontein school head, Mr. Jimmy Motswasele was so excited about the opportunity afforded to his students that he made an unannounced visit to see the bush camp in action. He was very happy to see his students benefit for this influx of environmental education. He said, ‘I would like to thank the CCB team for hosting my school and doing such a wonderful job of teaching the young generation about their heritage.’ We are very thankful to Mr. Motswasele and the school for allowing us to share the conservation message with the students and teachers. They are the generation of tomorrow and they need to be equipped with the right tools to make sound decisions in the future. It was a wonderful time for all and yet another successful bush camp for CCB.

Dogs can be trained to locate the scat of specific species. Scat is a valuable research tool to study diet, genetics, and reproductive hormones and to estimate population. In August 2016, CCB initiated a program to assess the effectiveness of using locally bred Tswana dogs as scat detection dogs. The use of a scat dog is a viable alternative for calculating cheetah occupancy in unprotected lands that are largely remote and poorly accessible. Local mixed-breed dogs, commonly known as “Tswana dogs” are naturally well adapted to the local climate and terrain and they are known to be incredibly hardy. CCB is one of the first organizations in Southern Africa to promote the use of local dogs as scat detection dogs.
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“Loeto”, a male Tswana dog, joined CCB at the Ghanzi camp at approximately six weeks of age. Loeto’s initial training involved basic obedience skills, and he has undergone subsequent advance training to specifically detect cheetah scat. He has so far undertaken 17 trial transects on three different farms in the Ghanzi District in varying conditions. This has allowed us to measure in what circumstances he performs well in and what situations (like high wind for example) affect his ability to detect scat accurately. The team of handlers have also conducted 21 discrimination tests, where Loeto was tested in his ability to discriminate between cheetah scat and that of similar carnivores like leopard and lion. We are very excited about Loeto’s progress so far. His skills in detection and ability to withstand the harsh conditions of the Kalahari has the ability to show the world that our local dogs are not only capable but are highly effective when trained for this purpose. Scat detection dogs are widely used throughout Africa to detect the presence of rare species such as cheetah, and of animal parts in the fight against poaching. However, these dogs are often unobtainable and unaffordable for some organisations. Based upon Loeto’s success we hope that more NGOs take the initiative to train and employ local dogs for threatened species detection.