Desert Lions

[peter]

It's human-animal conflicts nearly everywhere, especially when big cats are involved. Animals, as always, pay. Today, lions suffer in particular, perhaps more than tigers. One reason is quite many tigers are monitored, whereas lions and jaguars (yes, they too) are not. The time to include them in programs definitely has arrived.  

These desert lions, by the way, test everyone with outspoken ideas on the relation between habitat and size in big cats. I mean, if they are not on the run to avoid twolegs, they try to find and contact prey animals. This in a very large area and circumstances that would test the very best. For large-sized social hunters like lions, this way of life should result in more or less permanent energy deficits. In spite of that, desert lions definitely compare to Kruger lions. Remarkable.

I saw a few documentaries on Etosha lions. Many of those interested in size focus on Ngorogoro lions, but Etosha lions could be as large, if not larger. Sizewise, southwest Africa seems to be a lion hotspot. The circumstances, however, are far from excellent. Reply