Tourism can play an important role in the protection and conservation of wildlife and the natural environment. The simultaneous growth of wildlife populations, tourism, and community-based conservation during the past five years in the Kunene Region (northwest) of Namibia is testimony to this. Under the current climate where local people benefit from wildlife, primarily through tourism, and communal conservancies enter into agreements with tour operators, the tourism industry's potential role in wildlife conservation is ever increasing. Along with black rhinos and elephants, lions are one of the most popular species among tourists. The value of lions and the benefits through tourism in the Kunene Region, must arguably out-way the losses incurred when lions kill livestock. Notwithstanding, people still pose the biggest threat to lions. Local communities suffer financial losses when lions prey on their livestock, upon which they often retaliate (legally) by killing lions. The tourism industry and related entities (including communal conservancies) enjoy the benefits, but the local people that live close to lions (i.e. individual farmers) suffer all the losses. This discrepancy has previously been identified and there is a need for preferential benefits to those local people.