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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 originate in small mammals. The video of Kevin Richardson 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.
Simba: The Life of the Lion - Charles Albert Walter Guggisberg
 *This image is copyright of its original author This book is among the seminal works on the natural history of lions. Published in 1961, this book has been cited hundreds of times in literature related to lions. For the 1st time, this book is now available online to read. Fabulous lion pictures from the book:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Why is this book crucial: The book is incredibly detailed cover a vast array of topics regarding lions. Historical distribution, biology, morphology and conservation of the lion is discussed in great detail. Much more is in the book so I shall not spoil it :). All these together make the book crucial for anyone interested in lions (researcher or layman). Simba - Internet Archive @BA0701 @Ngonya @peter @Ahmed Ali @NLAL11 @sunless and all other lion enthusiasts pls read!  *This image is copyright of its original author
 (12-20-2024, 08:49 PM)TheHyenid76 Wrote: Simba: The Life of the Lion - Charles Albert Walter Guggisberg Thank you, my friend, for this recommendation! I am ordering a hard copy of the book now. (12-21-2024, 01:01 AM)BA0701 Wrote:(12-20-2024, 08:49 PM)TheHyenid76 Wrote: Simba: The Life of the Lion - Charles Albert Walter Guggisberg Didn't read it, but I do know Guggisberg is a reliable observer. One of the best. Agreed with BAO: excellent post, Hyena! (12-21-2024, 08:35 AM)peter Wrote:(12-21-2024, 01:01 AM)BA0701 Wrote:(12-20-2024, 08:49 PM)TheHyenid76 Wrote: Simba: The Life of the Lion - Charles Albert Walter Guggisberg I purchased the book, it is expected to ship out on Monday, looking forward to receiving it. Based solely on @TheHyenid76 and your recommendations!  Extremely large Kruger lion skull
Recently, in my spare time, I collected and measured some digital scanning models of lion skulls  *This image is copyright of its original author While using the specimen from University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (catalog number MVZ 117849), I opened the file of the digital scanning model and unexpectedly discovered that the size of this skull specimen was unusually large  *This image is copyright of its original author "This file is a 3D surface model that has been created using the original scan data for this specimen." So, I think it as the size of the original skull and measure it to obtain data.In addition, according to the data in MVZ's database and references from other related research, the origin of this individual is Skukuza (Kruger Park, Tranvaal, South Africa), which should be a wild South African lion The following are the main measurement data of MVZ 117849
1.Greatest skull length(Prosthion–inion): 407.1mm 2.condylobasal length (Prosthion–Occipital condyles): 354.5mm 3.basal length (Prosthion–Basion): 337.3mm 4.alveolus of C1 to alveolus of P4: 120.2mm 5.alveolus of C1: 21.6mm (LM)×29.6mm(AP) (right side) 6.Rostral breadth: 103.8mm 7.Interorbital breadth: 76.4mm 8.zygomatic breadth: 259.0mm 9.Postorbital breadth :65.8mm 10.Mastoidal breadth: 146.0mm 11.mandible length (infradentale -middle of condyle) :265.4mm 12.mandible height before p3: 51.2mm 13.mandible height after m1:58.4mm 14. maximum crown length of P4: 39.6mm 15. maximum crown length of m1: 28.2mm In terms of overall size, this is the largest wild lion skull I have ever seen. Here is a comparison of its size with the typical size of male Sub-Saharan African lions  *This image is copyright of its original author
Today, I took the time to measure the size of this skull scanning model again and compared it with the skull of a giant wild South African lion in the literature
 *This image is copyright of its original author I found that it is indeed larger than many huge South African lion skulls, including the Type specimen of Panthera leo kruger.Although some South African lion skulls are slightly larger in some measurements (such as zygomatic width, mandibular length, etc.),But their overall size is clearly smaller than the MVZ specimen. The best comparison I have found is the skull of an elderly male Cape lion( NHMUK ZD.1918.5.23.2)at the Natural History Museum, London. Although it is not complete, there are still many measurement data available for comparison.The following is a comparison of measurement data I conducted based on V.mazák's measurement methods.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author It can be seen that their sizes are very similar, or the MVZ specimen is slightly larger.It is a true giant individual among wild lions in southern Africa  *This image is copyright of its original author
RETURN 80
Very interesting posts! Much appreciated. After reading your posts, I decided to post a few essentials of a lion skull in the collection of the former Zoological Museum of the University of Amsterdam (ZMA). I said 'former', because the ZMA merged with the Naturalis Museum for Natural History in Leiden some years ago. This post, to be more accurate, is a repost. I first posted about the skull quite some years ago. When I measured the skull, in 2004, Dr. van Bree, in spite of his advanced age, still worked a few days a week. When I visited him, he always had a list in front of him. It was an overview of the things he wanted to discuss. He often handed me a copy of an interesting article or a book I had to read. Dr. P. van Bree was the one who encouraged me to measure big cat skulls. He told me how to do it and opened a lot of doors in other natural history museums. Dr. P. van Bree was born in Sumatra in the days it Indonesia was a Dutch colony. He showed me a lot of photographs of his early days and told me his interest in the natural world largely was a result of what he had seen when he was a boy. Back then, most of Sumatra was covered by dense forest. Tigers were everywhere. After Indonesia had become independent, Dr. van Bree met with V. Mazak in Amsterdam. V. Mazak more than once visited the ZMA to measure skulls. I found some of his notes when I measured the same skulls almost half a century later. V. Mazak and P. van Bree were good friends. I heard a lot of stories. What I remember most is V. Mazak was a motivated and dedicated man. When I asked dr. P. van Bree if he had measured big cats, he showed me a lot of records of (captive) big cats he had measured himself. Nearly all of them had been weighed in Utrecht. Dr. van Bree, to be complete, measured all big cats 'between pegs'. One of the first skulls I measured was the skull V. Mazak had measured as well (skull 1336). He refers to the skull in the third edition of his book 'Der Tiger' (1983, pp. 196). There's no information about the owner of the skull, a male from Abessynia (Ethiopia today), but Mazak wrote the skull was the largest he had seen (out of a series of 280 skulls). The skull had a greatest length of 402 mm, a condylobasal length of 377 mm, a zygomatic width of 258,5 mm and a rostral width of 106,2 mm. Here's two scans of the photograph I posted:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author When I measured the skull, I got to slightly different results. A result of a lack of experience, I concluded. In order to be sure, I asked the curator of the ZMA to measure the skull as well. He, in his turn, asked another member of the staff to repeat the procedure. They didn't disclose the results of their measurements to each other. When I went over them with the curator, we were surprised to find the results were almost identical. The skull had a greatest total length of 408,0 mm and a zygomatic width of 257,5 mm. It was relatively low (163,0 mm at the orbit) and weighed 2,090 kg. As far as we could tell, the skull had no been degreased. The former owner of the skull had been captured in Abessynia (now Ethiopia) and died in Artis Zoo in 1937. We do not know why the results of our measurements were different from those of V. Mazak, but assumed it most probably was a result of time. The largest big cat Dr. P. van Bree measured was a captive male lion. He died during a transport in 1974. This lion was 300,7 cm in total length measured 'between pegs' (HB 216,7 cm; tail 84,0 cm). His weight was 280 kg (...). I measured his skull (16.470) in 2004. Compared to the skull from Ethiopia, it was more elevated at the orbit (172,0 mm), narrower (zygomatic width 248,2 mm) and not as long (378,0 mm). It was significantly heavier (2,450 kg), but had not been degreased. A skull of another captive male lion that died in Artis Zoo (11.753), for comparison, was similar in length (GTL 378,5 mm) and quite a bit wider (zygomatic width 261,9 mm). This skull had been completely cleaned and weighed 1,740 kg. This male lion was about 8 years of age when it died in 1982. Here's two photographs of skull 16.470:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
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