Endangered Wildlife Trust on a mission to count all lions in Kruger Park

John Perlman speaks with Marnus Roodbol, Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) Lion coordinator.

Listen to the interview in the audio below.

There has been a massive decline in lion numbers across the entire continent over the last 20 to 25 years.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) is collecting crucial data about lions in the Kruger Park to protect this vulnerable species.

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To do this, they are using the lions’ unique whisker patterns to distinguish between and count lions in the park.

Researchers spend up to eight hours a day searching for lions for their spatial capture-recapture survey.

Roodbol says they are trying to get a picture of the left and right side of the lion to see the spot pattern on their whiskers and try and capture their pictures again.

The spots on their whiskers are as unique as our fingerprints.

“We look at how many lions were captured the first time, how many were recaptured, and the distance we covered in a 90-day period.”

- Marnus Roodbol, Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) Lion coordinator

They will then put this data through a programme that gives them accurate data on the lion population.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.