Other male lion coalitions from Masai Mara

[Duco Ndona]

The goal of a reserve should always be to maintain balance. And for that balance to be maintained, its important that lions die a lot. Afteral, they themselves kill a lot of other animals, cheetah being one of them. So if you start helping lions, preventing them from dying purely out of compassion. This increases the lion population in the area posing a direct threat to hyenas, cheetahs, wild dogs and leopards. Some of them being a lot more threatened with extinction than the lion. 

So you end up in a position where you have to start helping cheetahs by doing stunts like these. Or if the balance goes further out of whack, start culling lions to retain natural balance. 
All of this intervening takes a lot of energy and time, money and resources, which is better spend on combatting the true problems these animals face. Habitat destruction and resolving human wildlife conflicts. 

And I get it. Its nice to tell stories that your vet treated this lion that just sprained a leg. But all of that PR goes down the drain once the first hunters are invited in to kill all those lions you just saved. Or when you have to announce that Wild dogs are now threatened with local extinction in your park. Which is why I believe Sabi Sands is doing a much better job than the Masai Mara. Ensure that the cheetah, lion etc and prey population stay in balance and the park will be much better off. Reply