Word: lions
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...future of this spectacular species may depend on such experiments. Last fall animal conservationists were caught catnapping when a new survey revealed a sharp and unexpected drop in Africa's lion population. While the cat-conservation world was worried about the fate of Asia's endangered tigers, lions--considered vulnerable but not endangered--were quietly slipping toward oblivion. Ten years ago, the species was thought to number as many as 100,000. But the new appraisal, made public last September and published in the journal Oryx in January by Hans Bauer of Leiden University and Sarel van der Merwe...
Conservationists like Frank and Ginsberg and many others have become convinced that the only way to forestall this disaster is to use new strategies that go beyond setting up sanctuaries. Perilous though it may sound, these strategies involve allowing lions, tigers and other big cats to live--or at least pass--among us. Scientists are moving toward a new model of mixed landscapes in which big cats would move from core protected areas through land shared with humans--tea plantations in India, ranchland in Laikipia or, in the case of the cougar (a.k.a. mountain lion), suburban parks in California--giving...
...people is low compared with other natural perils. In India, tigers kill 30 to 40 people annually, while 20,000 Indians die each year from snakebites. Jaguars, cheetahs, snow leopards and clouded leopards have never been known to attack humans. In the U.S., 17 people have died from mountain lion attacks over the past 100 years; many more are killed by lightning in a single year. This year, however, California has had three attacks by mountain lions on humans--one fatal. All involved hikers or bikers in cougar country; their rapid movements were probably triggers for attack. Says Boyce...
...selous game reserve in Southeast Tanzania is the largest in Africa. Established in 1905 and stretching over 21,000 sq. mi., it is bigger than Switzerland and chock-full of wildlife: 4,000 lions, 110,000 buffalo, 50,000 elephants. But because it is hard to access, covered with dense scrub and lacking in the spectacular vistas found in the Serengeti to the north, it draws fewer than 5,000 visitors annually--less than 1% of tourists who visit Tanzania. To pay for the upkeep of the Selous and for antipoaching patrols over its vast area, the reserve's managers...
...Lion hunting also provides revenue in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, though Kenya banned the practice in 1975. Most countries operate on a quota system. They estimate the lion population and set a sustainable quota for hunting. A study published this year by wildlife experts at the University of Minnesota has raised new interest in trophy hunting. Based on 40 years of data from northern Tanzania, the study showed that if hunters confined themselves to shooting male lions at least 5 years old, after they have bred and their cubs have matured, there's no noticeable long-term effect...