| Globally, many large carnivore populations are in decline. In most cases, the persistence of these species is linked to their relationships with humans. Traditional conservation approaches tend to focus on the ecological causes of human---carnivore conflicts without fully appreciating the diverse interplay of social and ecological forces driving the outcomes. Even in the case of the African lion, arguably the most well studied large carnivore in the world, little research addresses human attitudes toward lions or the social factors influencing their actions. I focus on a multidisciplinary study of human---lion relationships in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania. Specifically, I illustrate the diverse range of ecological and social factors affecting both lions and the key stakeholders encountering them using structured surveys, interviews, and spoor counts as the principal methodologies. Within a single landscape, I demonstrate that a wide variety of attitudes toward lions exist among the local Maasai, professional sport hunting, and photographic tourism communities based on unique assemblies of psychological, political, socio-cultural, economic, and ecological factors. In addition, I evaluate the impact of these groups on the distribution and abundance of lions. From these studies, I determine the relative positive and negative influences of each stakeholder on lions indicating the key variables affecting the long-term conservation of the African lion. Finally, I propose a new, theoretical model of human---lion relationships that emphasizes the abilities of each "culture," feline and human alike, to affect one another via their respective tolerances of each other. This type of study has wide applications to the global community of humans and large carnivores. |
