Meet the Team Behind Tanzania Lion Illumination Project

My name is Patti Vaughn. They call me Shangazi (auntie) in Tanzania. I am an American with a deep, almost obsessive love for Tanzania, its people, and its wildlife. I have a double degree in art and anthropology, but my profession is real estate rentals. I love cats and have a pile of them at home, mostly from rescues.

My first trip to Tanzania was in 1990, and my heart was captured by the country. I have been going back as often as I can ever since. I have a passion for wildlife and wildlife photography but wanted to do more than taking pictures.

In 2014, I was contacted about a leopard problem in a village in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Using lights, i found a way to help the people, the livestock, and the predators and Tanzania Lion Illumination Project was born.

Human-wildlife conflict is a huge problem in rural Tanzania. With the lights, we can stop much of this. We can keep the livestock safe, which keeps the predators safe from retaliatory killing. This is the most important job I will ever have, and I am totally dedicated to TLIP and what we are doing.