Lesilau Francis, Fonck Myrthe, Gatta Maria, Musyoki Charles, van 't Zelfde Maarten, Persoon Gerard A, Musters Kees C J M, de Snoo Geert R, de Iongh Hans H
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, Kenya.
PLoS One. 2018 Jan 31;13(1):e0190898. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190898. eCollection 2018.
The global lion (Panthera leo) population decline is partly a result of retaliatory killing in response to livestock depredation. Nairobi National Park (NNP) is a small protected area in Kenya surrounded by a human-dominated landscape. Communities around the park use flashlights to deter lions from their livestock bomas. We investigated the response by lions to the installation of a LED flashlight technique during 2007-2016.We interviewed 80 owners of livestock bomas with flashlights (n = 43) and without (n = 37) flashlights in the surroundings of NNP and verified reported attacks on bomas against predation data over10 years. The frequency of attacks on bomas equipped with flashlights was significantly lower compared to bomas without flashlights. We also found that after flashlight installation at livestock bomas, lion attacks took place further away from the park edge, towards areas where bomas without flashlights were still present. With increased numbers of flashlight installations at bomas in recent years, we further noticed a shift from nocturnal to more diurnal predation incidences. Our study shows that the LED flashlight technique is effective in reducing nocturnal livestock predation at bomas by lions. Long term studies on the effects as well as expansion of this technique into other communities around NNP are recommended.
全球狮子（ Panthera leo ）数量的下降部分是由于对牲畜被捕食进行报复性捕杀的结果。内罗毕国家公园（NNP）是肯尼亚的一个小型保护区，周边是人类主导的景观。公园周边的社区使用手电筒来驱赶狮子远离他们的牲畜围栏。我们调查了2007年至2016年期间狮子对安装LED手电筒技术的反应。我们采访了NNP周边80位有（n = 43）和没有（n = 37）手电筒的牲畜围栏所有者，并核实了过去10年报告的针对围栏的捕食攻击数据。与没有手电筒的围栏相比，配备手电筒的围栏受到攻击的频率明显更低。我们还发现，在牲畜围栏安装手电筒后，狮子攻击发生在离公园边缘更远的地方，朝着仍然存在没有手电筒的围栏的区域。随着近年来围栏安装手电筒数量的增加，我们进一步注意到捕食事件从夜间向更多白天发生的转变。我们的研究表明，LED手电筒技术在减少狮子对牲畜围栏的夜间捕食方面是有效的。建议对该技术的效果以及将其扩展到NNP周边其他社区进行长期研究。
