RCP launches subsidised veterinary medicine programme

In late February 2013, the Ruaha Carnivore Project (RCP) launched a subsidised veterinary medicine programme that provides high-quality medicines to Ruaha-area pastoralists at a subsidised cost. The programme is in response to a survey of local villagers conducted by RCP, asking what benefits they would most appreciate from carnivore presence.

The medicines are available to people who have worked with RCP to fence their bomas (livestock enclosures), to reward those who have invested in predator-proofing and to encourage others to follow suit. And, because the majority of livestock loss in this area is due to illness and injury, not wildlife depredation, the medicines will help villagers reduce losses to disease, thereby improving their economic security.

We are grateful to the American Zoos and Aquariums Conservation Endowment Fund for helping us purchase and distribute the medicine.

RCP Director Amy Dickman presents Mzee Hategeda, a Barabaig man from Kitisi, with his subsidised veterinary medicines. He is the first beneficiary of the programme.