I don't think my budget will allow for a lot of plains game to use for lion bait. Is it possible and poetntially cheaper to buy donkeys or goats from the Masai and pre-bait?

This is going to sound kinda nuts but I'm serious. On my way out of Arusha, we passed some camels in a field on the side of the road. Ridge said they were brought in to do camel-back safaris but the venture didn't work out. Ridge said the guy who owned them had been trying to get rid of them for years. Maybe you could shoot one for a modest fee and haul it to camp. It would make for some large baits.

Isn't using their natural prey as bait a better idea? or lions don't really care too much?

Who'd of thunk it, thanks Forrest. Good idea.

Not wanting to hijack the thread but it is related.

Is it legal to use "live-bait" as in donkeys and/or goats?

I always believed using a live donkey or live goat is more effective except everyone seems to use dead antelope (etc).

Lions don't just eat anything you hang in a tree...I have seen prides refuse to eat one animal or another...That is one reason some PHs don't have good luck with cats....just like fishing you gotta have the right bait at the right time....There are times in the Masai that a tub of water is better than animal bait...or Masai cattle are the very best of Lion bait...so to answer your question, you probably need to shoot the animal the Lions prefer as opposed to just bait...Same with Leopards but not so much so as lions is my impression.