Thandiwe Mweetwa Lion biologist

Thandiwe Mweetwa measures a sedated lion in Zambia. She’s pushing for full monitoring of lion trophy hunting, which is likely to resume this year. 

Conservationist Thandiwe Mweetwa knows that while driving on patrol in the Zambian grasslands she is “just another car” to the young lioness with an abnormally shaped ear. But she still feels a bond with the animal. Five years ago the 28-year-old biologist and her team at the Zambian Carnivore Programme rescued the big cat from a poacher’s snare. Mweetwa has since watched her recover and raise three cubs.

Growing up in the wildlife-rich Luangwa Valley, Mweetwa was awed by the animals roaming near her village. When her school’s conservation club preached the importance of protecting them, her path was set. Now Mweetwa collars and tracks lions, leopards, hyenas, and wild dogs. The work is dangerous, but not only because she handles wildlife: “There are a lot of precautions you can take to make sure things go OK,” she says. “It’s the poachers I’m worried about.” In parts of Zambia, armed poachers shoot at both wild animals and their guardians.

Mweetwa’s biggest impact may be felt in the relative safety of a classroom. To combat poaching before it begins, Mweetwa plans to go into more schools and ask students to join her in promoting conservation over extermination.