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ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - B - THE LION (Panthera leo)
ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - B - THE LION (Panthera leo)
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ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - B - THE LION (Panthera leo)
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The Fascinating Dispersal Patterns of Male Lions
October 12, 2020 Lion dispersal is a fascinating behavior that scientists don’t yet completely understand. In this blog, I’m sharing some recent observations we’ve made in southern Africa that support my hypothesis that subadult and even non-territorial adult males gravitate to areas with a high presence of buffalo at key nomadic times in their lives.  *This image is copyright of its original author © DAN STEPHENS The Mudumu Males temporarily leaving the sanctuary of the park behind as they wander outside into areas settled by farmers who share the Kwando Wildlife Dispersal Area. The primary role of adult males in a lion pride is to defend the home space in which lionesses raise the cubs from intrusion by other male lions. These intruders want to take over the pride and would likely kill the cubs after doing so. Typically, a normal-sized pride of lions has two adult males who defend it. Sometimes the coalitions are larger than two and may contain three to several males. When male lions reach subadult age, around three years, they have to leave their birth prides and strike out on their own. Brothers will stay together and lone males will typically search for another lone male to bond into a coalition with before seeking a territory to rule. These male coalitions will roam the landscape for about two years until they are strong enough to challenge other males and take over a pride of their own.  *This image is copyright of its original author © PAUL FUNSTON/PANTHERA Once old enough, the male cubs of River Pride will disperse to make their own way. September 1 was a significant day in our research into lion dispersal as we witnessed the movements of the Mudumu Males (represented on Map 1 by pink dots). These lions were collared two months ago by Lise Hanssen of the Kwando Carnivore Project and finally crossed the Kwando River west into the Kwando Concession. The brothers were born and raised in the River Pride (represented on the map by red dots) in Mudumu National Park. Now they have struck out on their own with their first official dispersal movements!  *This image is copyright of its original author © PANTHERA The relatively few pink dots on Map 1 indicate the most recent movements of the Mudumu Males crossing into Botswana on September 1. The relatively few pink dots on Map 1 indicate the most recent movements of the Mudumu Males crossing into Botswana on September 1. You can see them moving away from their mother’s pride, The River Pride, represented by red dots. Crossing the river, the Mudumu Males entered an already congested area of the Kwando Concession. This area belongs to the two four-year-old lions known as the Malombe Males (represented by blue dots) and their fathers, the Angola Males (represented by gray dots). Both the Angola and Malombe coalitions moved south into the Kwando Concession in Botswana out of Namibia in the last two years. The Angola Males, fathers of the Malombe males, came to take over a new pride while the Malombe Males continue wandering in the dispersal phase of their lives. Why they are so close to their fathers is a mystery. The most likely explanation is the presence of large herds of African buffalo in the area, a magnet for dispersing lions that hunt them preferentially.  *This image is copyright of its original author © PAUL FUNSTON/PANTHERA Mass herds of buffalo move along the Kwando River crossing back and forth between Mudumu National Park, Namibia and the Kwando Concession, Botswana. Other recent dispersal activities support my hypothesis that subadult and even non-territorial adult males gravitate to areas with a high presence of buffalo at key times in their lives when not resident with a pride. Interestingly this is seemingly not only a factor in the dispersal phase of subadult lions; we have also recorded adult males moving to new areas ripe with both buffalo and possibly new lionesses to mate with. Seems like a very male plan, fatten up on buffalo and impress the ladies with your build! Lions from our study area along the Kwando River in Namibia typically disperse either south along the Kwando and Selinda River systems into Botswana, or north into Angola roughly following the Kwando and the Luiana river systems, which are rich and prosperous areas for buffalo but unfortunately not for lionesses.  *This image is copyright of its original author © PANTHERA Map 2 shows similar dispersal patterns for nomadic males in the region. Map 2 shows similar dispersal patterns for nomadic males in the region. The grey dots represent recent movements of an eight-year-old, Steve le Male, who has been hunting buffalo and searching for mates along the Kwando River. The red dots represent the subadult coalition known as the Horseshoe Males- two young lions that have dispersed into the prey-dense area of Angola along the Luiana River. The yellow dots represent a group of lionesses including the mother and sister of the Malombe Males that we tracked earlier (see Map 1). On September 9, the dispersing Horseshoe Males, born in Namibia, reached the Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) that Panthera is responsible for patrolling and securing alongside our Community Game Guard program in the Mbambamgando area of Angola. At one point, they were a mere 9km away from our base camp! This is exciting news because it shows us that by creating safe zones, wildlife can return. We know that lion prides hold varying sized territories across their range generally determined primarily by the amount of prey available in the area. While prides can hunt and kill extra-large herbivores like giraffes and elephants, more commonly, they feed on species like buffalo and zebra.  *This image is copyright of its original author © PAUL FUNSTON The Malombe Males feeding on a buffalo carcass. In our area we have been observing lions searching far and wide for buffalo prey and lionesses. An area rich in both would no doubt provide the best chance for them to breed successfully, which is ultimately part of the definition of dispersal. We can only hope that this will help drive the recovery of lion populations in these areas that have been depleted over the years due to over-hunting and poaching. We look forward to continuing to study these lions and watch their populations grow.
From April this year
Pending danger: Recent Copper Age lion (Panthera leo L., 1758) finds from Hungary Abstract Lions reached their northernmost distribution in the Carpathian Basin at a time when the climate turned cooler and drier and the complex Late Neolithic settlement network, marked by human populations concentrated on and around tells, disintegrated. A perforated distal phalanx and a calcaneus of lion (Panthera leo L., 1758) from two different Copper Age (5th–4th millennium cal BC) settlements in Hungary contribute to mapping the distribution of Holocene lions in southeast Europe. Previous discoveries of lion bones (representing all parts of the body) have offered evidence of local lion hunting and probable consumption. The new finds also illustrate the cognitive significance of lions and help reconstruct their phenotypic size. The perforated phalanx discussed in this paper represents the large dewclaw of a powerful male, the first ever worked lion bone available in Hungary. The calcaneus offers additional metric information interpreted in light of measurements taken on extant individuals from both Asia and Africa. Inseparable environmental and cultural factors leading to the occurrence and extinction of prehistoric lions in the Carpathian Basin are reviewed in light of these new data. 
A pair of male African lion canines exceeding 13 cm in total, which could be correlating with a very large skull.
And the canine teeth of this magnitude are also rare among the male African lions.  *This image is copyright of its original author
I leave here some good reading indications.
The Last lions of Africa: Stories from the frontline in the battle to save a species - Anthony Ham Humans and Lions Conflict, Conservation and Coexistence - Keith Somerville Lions in the Balance: Man-Eaters, Manes, and Men with Guns - Craig Packer Vanishing Kings: Lions of the Namib Desert - Phillip Stander The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations - George. B. Schaller The Book of The Lion - Alfred E. Pease - Published 1913. A moment in time.  
Diseases in Lions and the role of diseases in the life of lions
Diseases play a pivotal role in the lives of all living organisms. Lions are no exception. In this post, we shall discuss scientific literature on how diseases affect lion populations and the implications for lion conservation. Lions suffer from a variety of diseases and such diseases are a major cause of mortality among wild lions. If a wild male lion lives to old age, especially over 12+ years, it is an exception and a rare one for that. Information from 'The Serengeti Lion A Study of Predator-Prey Relations' of Dr George B. Schaller.  *This image is copyright of its original author Diseases are among the major killers of wild lions and they can happen due to various causes. "Most lions died from disease, starvation, abandonment, old age, or as a result of violent contacts with their own or other species. These categories were not mutually exclusive; a sick animal sometimes died of starvation because it could not hunt." From page 184 to 187 he discusses diseases in lions in a much more greater detail.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Treatment of a sick lion by wildlife veterinarians of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. LINK Date of clinical intervention: 21/11/2018 History: An adult lion in Solio Wildlife Conservancy was sighted emaciated, weak and could not hunt and feed itself. It was heavily infested with ticks on the abdomen, shoulder and neck regions. The general observation revealed the lion was in poor body condition and had no visible traumatic injury or wound on its body being weak and emaciated. It preferred lying down most of the time. Immobilization, examination & treatment: The lion was anaesthetized using a combination of 300mgs of Ketamine Hcl and 4mgs of Medetomidine Hcl in a 3ml dart. Darting was done from a vehicle using a Dan inject® dart rifle. Anaesthesia took effect after about 10 minutes and the lion became recumbent. The lion had lots of ticks all over the body which was sprayed adequately using Frontline® to eradicate any ectoparasites, engorged ticks were physically removed by hands. It was treated using Procaine penicillin administered intramuscularly followed by multivitamins intramuscularly.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Kevin Richardson in this video, gives insight into diseases that affect both wild and captive lions. From these information, it can be derived that diseases are a major cause of lion mortality and entire populations can be annihilated due to diseases like Canine distemper if genetic diversity is low. Diseases can destroy the lion's ability to hunt which ultimately leads to its death. 
HYENA
Very interesting post and video! Many thanks on behalf of all interested in lions. I read a number of books written by explorers, Forest Officers, hunters and big cat biologists. All of them noticed quite many diseases seem to have a very local (endemic) character. The animals affected often developed antibodies over time. Every now and then, a new disease entered. Not seldom, the effects, as in humans, were devastating. Still happens today. I'm, for example, referring to the disease thatr affected wild Amur tigers about a decade age. It seems many diseases are transmitted by smaller carnivores hunted by tigers. Baikov, well over a century ago, wrote small carnivores in their turn often were affected by the animals they hunted. In northeastern Asia, diseases often seem to start in small mammals. The video of kevin Ruchardson is a good one. It offers a bit of insight in the origin of diseases, the way they develop and the way (the immune system of) predators respond. The immune system of mammals in general and terrestrial predators in particular is as fascinating as the diseases affecting predators. If I was to say it's close to an enigma, I would be close. |
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