Summary

Around Hwange National Park, direct persecution of wild carnivores, especially lions by people is one of the most significant threats to the long-term survival of the species throughout their ranges.

Wild carnivores kill livestock and this creates a conflict with the local livestock owners from an economic perspective, with people asking to be compensated for their losses. Yet, this human wildlife conflict often serves as a proxy for deeper, underlying social and psychological claims which have an effect on local livelihoods and perceptions and often fail to be understood and recognized on the part of policy and governance systems. In the context of worsening poverty, societal changes, loss of traditional morals and scale mismatches in the management of natural resources, the burden of living with wildlife is thus becoming increasingly heavy to carry for local people. The future of the socio-ecological system around Hwange National Park might be one on increased conflict and marginalization of its inhabitants without a clear understanding of interdependencies between the protected area and the people living on the edge.

Moving away from the conflict paradigm through the implementation of a framework based on the local cultural and moral values improving the coexistence between people and wildlife should be further investigated. In that perspective, targeting key social gatherings to promote conservation might be a way to move forward.