Abstract
Lion populations in West and Central Africa are small and
fragmented. In areas where park management is weak,
threats will likely facilitate the extinction of the lion.
Wildlife management requires knowledge of the population
estimate. The population of lions in Waza National
Park (Waza NP) was assessed by individual identification
of members in the population. The population was assessed
to comprise of 14–21 adult individual lions. The age
structure was skewed towards adults; cubs comprised 22%
of all lions identified while the sex ratio was 1 : 3. Two out
of four collared lions were lost to illegal, retaliatory killings
within 1 year; and probably two more males and one more
female were also killed during this period. The lion population
appears to have declined during the last 5 years
with six lions dying per year, which is at a much higher
rate than observed in the previous decades. Human-livestock
pressure has increased tremendously in this period,
resulting to frequent human-lion conflicts. To ensure the
survival of the lion in Waza NP and in the entire region,
management needs to intensify efforts to mitigate the
pressure from humans and their livestock.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1001447 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Tumenta, PN, Kok, JS, van Rijssel, JC, Buij, R, Croes, BM, Funston, PJ, de Longh, HH, Udo de Haes, HA |
| Publisher | Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Rights | c 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, |
| Relation | African Journal of Ecology |
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