LION DEFENDERS

In central Tanzania, a tribal group known as the "Lion Defenders" has taken on the arduous task of tracking the lions that surround their community, ensuring that both lions and humans coexist peacefully. Young men in the Barabaig tribe have traditionally viewed lion killing as an important rite of passage, and the Lion Defenders are a remarkable worldview shift for the tribe.

According to Amy Dickman, director of the University of Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, lions are now classified as vulnerable, with a population of less than 40,000 and numbers that have nearly dropped by half in the past two decades. Some 50 percent of the sub-Saharan African lion population is in Tanzania, and just under 1,000 lions live around Ruaha National Park where the Barabaig people are. In fact, all tribal communities in the Ruaha region struggle to live peacefully alongside the lions, Dickman said.

"If there's been an attack on cattle, the Barabaig will go and start a lion hunt," she said. For some tribes, a lion killing is about personal and cultural identity, while other tribes link a lion killing to status and wealth. As conservationists have watched the lion population declining rapidly from afar, convincing the tribal communities to shift from a warrior mindset to a posture of protection has been a challenge.

Lion Defenders are specially trained young men who have a keen knowledge of the area and are trained in tracking skills. The Defenders survey the borders of their communities in the morning so they can inform tribal herders of the safest places to take their livestock for ample grazing during the day.

"The Lion Defenders program has been built around the idea of what it really means to be a warrior," Dickman said. "To be a warrior is to protect your community, to be someone they can rely on, to be someone with high status."

Through the conservation efforts of organizations such as Lion Landscapes, lion killings have decreased by more than 70 percent in the primary areas where the Lion Defenders work: "Our work is centered around trying to empower local communities so that they see a benefit from conversation," Dickman said.

Hear these words from Isaiah 56:1 -- This is what the Lord says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed."

Our faith is not a passive acceptance but an active eagerness to do what is right for those around us -- even if it means a massive cultural shift and exhaustive skills-building. What Lion Defenders are needed in your life and community this spring? How might you step into this painstaking, risky role, redefining what it means to be a "warrior" as you seek peace and justice for all?

God bless,

Jennie