Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species

Ferrell Loki V Osborn

Ferrell Loki V Osborn
Director
Elephant Pepper Development Trust (EPDT), South Africa

Biography

Loki Osborn has been examining the conflict between wildlife and people for over 20 years in both Africa and Asia.Osborn’s PhD focused on the ecology of crop-raiding elephants in Zimbabwe and his subsequent research has focused on the use of community-based conflict mitigation techniques to deter elephants from agricultural areas.

For ten years Osborn ran the non-profit Elephant Pepper Development Trust, which worked with rural farmers across southern Africa to develop protocols to enable them to protect themselves and their crops against elephants, and provide a market for chillies from which these farmers could derive an income. Parallel to this initiative, he started Elephant Pepper, a commercial chilli pepper sauce business that used the chillies grown and harvested by rural African farmers in a range of food products.

Between 2005 and 2007 he assisted the Government of Botswana develop the Okavango Delta Management Plan, and over the past three years he has worked on a World Bank funded project to mitigate human/wildlife conflict countrywide in Botswana. Osborn worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society until 2009 and has since consulted for Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund and the African Wildlife foundation on conflict issues in the region.Osborn currently runs Connected Conservation, a consultancy companythat assists communities, NGOs and governments to develop practical mitigation solutions.

Research Interest

Wildlife Conservation