Snapshot Ruaha

Ruaha Carnivore Project

When asked about incentives for peacefully living alongside carnivores and other wildlife, local villagers prioritized improving educational programs and opportunities. To help improve education, the Ruaha Carnivore Project has the Kids 4 Cats school twinning program, focused on primary schools.

The lack of educational opportunities beyond primary school is a major constraint on the ability for local children to get decent jobs. Primary school is free, so most children attend. Since families have to pay for secondary school, very few children are able to attend. This is particularly challenging for pastoral families, who often value having their older children help them look after livestock over going to school. Furthermore, many families don't invest in sending their daughters to secondary school, as they feel it is a wasted investment if the girl then goes on to marry and have children.

However, there is compelling evidence to show that enabling students - particularly girls - to complete secondary school has extremely beneficial impacts on both their outlook and the outlook of their families and wider communities. Therefore, the Ruaha Carnivore Project established the Simba Scholarships program in 2013 to provide an opportunity for promising students to gain full scholarships to attend secondary school.

Due to cost restrictions, the Ruaha Carnivore Project currently awards six scholarships per year. We pick the top three boys and girls, as long as they receive passing marks. Each four-year scholarship costs US $2500; so far, we have awarded over 30 scholarships. These scholarships can transform students' lives, providing them with opportunities to grow as individuals as well as uplift their communities. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a Simba Scholarship or helping develop college scholarships, please contact us at: admin@ruahacarnvioreproject.com.

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Interested in learning more about wildlife ecology and behavior?

Check out our Snapshot Safari educational materials, perfect for day camps, informal classroom settings, and students who wish to extend their knowledge of the African savannah.

Want to learn more about Snapshot Safari parks and conservation history?

Explore our timeline at https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/979721/Snapshot-Safari/

Would you like to use our data for research?

One of the primary goals of Snapshot Safari is to generate spatial and temporal data on the dynamics of numerous African wildlife species living under varying ecological conditions that will be useful to scientists across the globe. If you are a student or researcher interested in using the camera trapping data from our project to test new and exciting hypotheses, email Sarah Huebner at huebn090@umn.edu to tell us more about your project. Please include the names of all researchers, a brief abstract, and a list of the Snapshot sites from which you'd like data.