Challenges
facing researchers and wildlife managers
in their efforts to conserve the African
lion
The
remark “It must be wonderful to
study lions in the wild African bush”
is often heard from nature lovers.
There
is a great deal of truth in such statement,
provided you don’t stay in the
bush for extended periods facing heat,
wind, dust, rain, cold, insects, wet
roads, sandy roads, vehicle failure,
or have hyaenas and other scavengers
(including lions) raiding your camp
and many other aspects which make up
the day-to-day life of the researcher
or wildlife manager.
People
tend to fantasize. It must be wonderful
to sit in your vehicle in the dark hours
of the night, waiting for a lion to
come up to the bait, so that you can
begin with whatever your study demands.
Well, actually it is - until you have
sat through hours of listening to the
squealing of wild pigs, or the death
throes of a young prey animal, played
over and over again to lure the lions
close enough for you to do your job.
Furthermore,
if you have the task of studying lions
in the vicinity of livestock, which
most of the time is the case all over
Africa, a large part of the pleasure
vanishes when the harsh realities of
conflict between livestock farmer and
lions dawn upon you.
Managing
lion populations is not fun all the
time. Actually, the fun part makes up
a very small portion of your daily routine.
You have to deal with livestock owners,
wildlife authorities, poachers, diseases,
work permits and numerous other things
preventing you from enjoying life in
the African bush.
But
it is also rewarding. It is a huge accomplishment
if you succeed in convincing the authorities
or reserve management that some amendments
should be made to management policies
to improve the conservation of lion
populations.
Unfortunately
it is also true that your best efforts
are not always rewarded. If you have
to advise on the management of a small
population and you know that the gene
pool’s diversity is becoming insubstantial,
it is extremely difficult to advise
in a way that is rational and sustainable.
How
does one revive insubstantial gene pools
where inbreeding has become a real threat?
Easy, one would say.
Get some fresh bloodlines from
elsewhere and introduce them to your
wavering gene pool.
Not
so easy, it would seem.
One
thing to remember is that the resident
lions will not tolerate new individuals
in their vicinity and might persecute
them to such an extent that they fall
into the hands of adjoining livestock
owners, or get chased or killed by adjoining
prides.
And
the decision to determine from where
your “new blood” should come
is also not an easy one. It would seem
obvious that getting lions from as close
to your conservation area as possible
is the right thing to do.
Unfortunately
in some cases such lion prides may be
situated in an adjoining and hostile
country, precluding any chance of obtaining
fresh genes from there. You will thus
be forced to obtain lions from elsewhere,
raising questions such as whether it
is acceptable to import lions from far
away, which might lead to the fresh
genes being so foreign to your conservation
area’s genes that you might experience
trouble when reproduction proves fatal,
or less successful.
Artificial
insemination, it would seem, is also
not the answer. Firstly, the success
rate with AI in lions is zero, and secondly,
where do you get your semen? Captive-bred,
one would suggest, but even in the safe
ex situ environment you have
no guarantee that you will get the genes
that will benefit your own lion population.
And you must be able to determine exactly
when the female(s) is ready to be impregnated,
without allowing a resident male to
copulate successfully with her.
I
think it is sufficient to say that the
revival of wavering lion populations
is not an easy task. Careful planning
will have to go into such a venture,
and even then you will still find some
people somewhere who will criticize
you.
Finally,
it is up to the local scientists to
decide which way to go, and hopefully
the authorities will support them in
their efforts.
For
some lion populations, such as some
in Central to West Africa, there is
little time left and it is now more
than ever necessary to support the efforts
of local scientists to manage small
and isolated lion populations. Hopefully
such scientists will also enjoy the
support of their wildlife authorities
and reserve managers.
Otherwise
– soon - the voice of the African
lion, in some African countries at least,
will become mute forever.
To
those of you reading this message I
have the following to say: the single
most important tool for successful conservation
in most African countries is funding.
Researchers, dedicating their lives
to the conservation of the African lion,
are mostly in such a critical financial
situation that it has become close to
impossible to prevent whole populations
from becoming extinct. Someone out there
will hopefully come to such lion populations’
rescue.
The
Chair |
