Big Life protects vulnerable predators in the ecosystem in collaboration with partners and local communities. The core component of Big Life’s predator protection program is livestock compensation, which reduces the motivation for retaliatory killing in response to livestock depredation.

The Predator Compensation Fund (PCF) pays Maasai livestock owners a portion of the value of their livestock lost to predators, on the condition that no predators are killed in retaliation. Big Life Verification Officers are dispatched to the scene to confirm all depredations, and penalties are applied for poor animal husbandry practices. The community provides 30% of the total compensation paid, and payments are withheld if any predators are killed by members of participating communities.

Big Life currently manages the PCF on Mbirikani Group Ranch and Eselengei Group Ranch, and is actively expanding to the Kimana Conservancies. Given the success of this program, the goal is to expand the PCF across the ecosystem.

The lion population in Big Life’s area of operation is one of the few lion populations in all of Africa that is growing, not declining.

VIDEO: Big Life Predator Compensation Fund Film

A short film outlining Big Life's efforts to protect lions and other predators, and the remarkable success our compensation fund has created  Running Time : 3:10

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