Navigating Drought: Predators, People, and Coexistence

When faced with drought, how do Africa’s great predators adjust their behavior to survive? Join Leigh West, a wildlife researcher and Explorers Club grantee, as she shares how lions, leopards, cheetahs, and African wild dogs change their movements when water sources dwindle and prey becomes scarce. Discover how these predators interact with one another and share the landscape with people as they adapt to increasingly frequent and severe environmental challenges.

Through captivating stories from her fieldwork in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, Leigh will reveal how understanding predator behavior during extreme climate events can help foster coexistence between people and wildlife. Using 13 years of GPS data from these carnivores encompassing several droughts, Leigh’s research highlights how drought can reshape carnivore behavior, from shifting movement patterns to changing exposure to humans, and has direct implications for conservation in a changing climate.

In-person tickets are $20 for Members, and $35 for the General Public.
Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm

Click here to learn more.