Amy Dickman and her team at the Ruaha Carnivore Project are working to find ways to make wildlife beneficial to the local communities living around Ruaha National Park in Tanzania. Often these communities have no health care and struggle to make a living. When lions attack their livestock it’s no wonder they retaliate.
Amy and her team have come up with an ingenious approach which provides payment to villages for encouraging more wildlife. Local villages are given camera-traps to capture images of all the different animals they share their land with. Each species is worth different points. And the village with the most points every three months wins $2,000 of benefits. Lions are worth 15,000 each! All villages taking part will win some benefits so the incentive works for everyone, but they’re all competing for the highest prize.
Amy and her colleague Fiona sent us these great shots of some of the amazing wildlife their local communities have been ‘trapping’ in Ruaha.
A leopard heads off on a hunt 
This African wild cat hunts at night
Late night snack! 
A family of warthog enjoying a quick dip
Inquisitive lionesses spot the camera 
Has this male impala seen a rival?
A caracal moves silently through the trees
Read more about Amy’s work with the Ruaha carnivore project by clicking here: