About The Saadani Lion Project

The Saadani Lion Project is a field-based conservation and research initiative established in 2024, in response to the lack of documented research on lions in the Saadani-Wamimbiki landscape of coastal Tanzania, despite growing concerns over their declining population. Saadani National Park, located along Tanzania’s central coastline, represents a unique ecosystem where marine and terrestrial habitats meet. The national park features many different and unique habitats including savannahs, coastal forests and riverine habitats. While the park is known for its diverse wildlife, little is known about its large carnivore populations—especially lions. To address this gap, the project was initiated in close collaboration with the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA), and local stakeholders. Monty has also worked with Professor Stotra Chakrabarti from Macalester College on the formation of the Saadani Lion Project and its first year of operation.​

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Monty Kalyahe is the founder and Principal Investigator of the Saadani Lion Project. With over 18 years of experience working with Africa’s large carnivores including lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, African wild dogs, and cheetahs he has led efforts to collect and analyse data that inform science-based conservation strategies. His work combines practical field skills such as camera trapping, spoor tracking, call-in surveys, GIS mapping, and radio collaring with community engagement and conflict mitigation strategies to foster coexistence between people and predators. He has undergone various degrees and diplomas at universities in Tanzania and the United Kingdom and has worked for a variety of different large conservation organisations. Trustees and members of the SLCF conservation and research committee are incredibly impressed with his experience and his application.

The work that we are supporting

We sent £1,000 to support Monty in the purchasing and deployment of camera traps and other in-the-field related expenses and materials which can be used to monitor the lion population within the Saadani landscape without too much intrusion. This is a population that is currently understudied and an increase of knowledge in the population would be beneficial to creating long term conservation strategies. The Saadani Lion Project is working with local communities as well to ensure that all stakeholders who have to live with lions in the area are engaged within their conservation planning and to engage the local perception of lions currently within the area. These camera traps and expenses were used in a study that took place between September 2025 - March 2026 and a map of the study area and location of the camera traps can be seen below. To see a full submission of this report please click on this link.

Monty's report continues to give us some interesting figures from his extended field survey. During the survey period, the team recorded 16 lion group sightings, resulting in 92 detection events. From these sightings, 43 photographs were of sufficient quality for individual identification looking at the whisker spot patterns. Using this approach the team has currently confirmed 12 individually identifiable lions that were detected repeatedly by the field team during the survey period. 

From further observational data, spoor records and pride sightings, the estimated lion population in Saadani National Park is approximately 38 individuals, distributed among 4 prides. This estimate however should be considered preliminary, as further monitoring and identification through more photographic sightings are required to confirm additional individuals and to gain a better understanding of pride structure and territory sizes.

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The relatively small population size highlights the importance of long-term monitoring and targeted conservation actions to ensure the viability of the Saadani lion population. During the lion monitoring surveys, the team also recorded sightings of six key herbivore species that are known to be a very large part of the natural diet of lions in the wild. These included African buffalo, giraffe, plains zebra, wildebeest, reedbuck with elephant also present. Preliminary analysis also suggests that the prey distribution may be uneven within the region which could affect lion hunting and territory use. Another observation has suggested that the lions within Saadani prey more frequently on larger prey species such as giraffe than the smaller prey items. Further investigation will be required to determine whether this pattern represents a true ecological adaptation or simply reflects opportunistic feeding behaviour within the local ecosystem.