Lions: From Riches to Rags
Introduction
Lions have served as a symbol of royalty and authority every since the beginning of civilization; the pharaohs of Egypt had lions protect them and their thrones. The lion serves as a religious symbol, as in the myth of the Nemean Lion, or as a symbol for Buddha himself. Further, lions for centuries have been considered the “king of the jungle”, or the “king of beasts”, and the title is well suited, as the lion is indeed one of the strongest land animals alive.
Lions are unique in a way that they are the only big cats who live in groups.Ever since the “cognitive revolution” in research on humans in 1960, researchers have argued about intelligence in animals. Do animals have a mind of their own? Are questions that have been raised, and recently various researchers have provided details pertaining to cognitive behaviour of animals, it is now apparent than animals are indeed cognitive beings. In the following text I shall focus on the cognitive abilities of a specific species, Panthera Leo, They were trained and used as circus clowns for more than a century, but no one ever thought that a lion could be a smart. Lions in circuses were beaten up to induce a fear of not following their tamer, and so, be it the fear or some other instinct, lions were smart enough to obey. A study by reputed lion researcher Natalia Borrego revealed that lions possessed the cognitive ability to solve puzzles and remember the solution for months to come. Following is a detailed record of three studies about lion behaviour and cognition which bring out the fact that lions are not so different from us humans, they also can coordinate, socialize, solve problems, and remember things.
Lions inter-pride interactions
In the early 1990’s reputed American Biologist and the world’s foremost expert on African Lions, Craig Packer, published a study called “Roaring and Numerical Assessment in Contests between Groups of Female Lions, Panthera Leo.” This study compares contests between groups of female lions, and is based on the combined work of Dr. Craig Packer, Dr. Anne Pusey, and Prof. Karen McComb. The researchers suggest that female lions are not very active in inter-pride or group contests. In fact, in the case of pride contests, fighting is rarely observed (380). Dr. Packer and his team recorded roars of females and then played them on loudspeaker inside the territory of another pride and recorded the reactions of females of the pride.
The females, along with their offspring are the heart of a pride, but the males on the other hand are replaceable, and hence when there is a conflict between prides, the males have to fight for their place while the females of the losing pride join the winning pride. This behaviour is logically correct from the aspect of females, as the stronger pride will provide more safety for them as well as their cubs. But the conditions are not always that simple; When the females have cubs, they are ferocious and active in these inter-pride fights, so as to protect their cubs. In fact when the females had cubs, they almost certainly participated in such conflicts (381). This study shows that lions care about their family and offspring; when a pride takes over another the males are thrown out and the females are taken in, but the fate of the cubs is not so good, as the alpha lion of the winning pride kills the cubs so that the females are ready to reproduce with it (383). Lionesses analyze the number of opponents by the number and frequency of roars. This study reveals that lions are preceptive and cognitive beings who can perceive the outcome of a conflict and participate in the conflict accordingly. This study also reveals that the behaviour of lionesses changes by the presence of cubs, which tells us that lions are able to care for their offspring, and possess human like feelings for their cubs.
Cooperation in Lions
Lions are the only big cats living in groups, no doubt they are perceived to be smarter than other solitary big cats, but the group sentiment in lions is not perfect. In the study titled “Group hunting behaviour of lions: a search for cooperation” by Dr. David Scheel and Dr. Craig Packer, it is revealed that lions often tend to cheat on hunts. The duo discovered that the success of a group does not always increase with the number of participants. Upon further research they revealed that some lions tend to scavenge or cheat on hunts, and hence the success of the hunt doesn’t necessarily increase with the number (Packer et.al. 697). This cheating behavior does not necessarily depend on sex or age -the two expected reasons- but rather depends on the proficiency of the hunters. Sex though is one of the factors in cooperation as ,according to the study, male lions hunt less cooperatively than females, and are generally regarded as less successful than their female counterparts. This research provides proof that lions are self aware and they know if they are good at hunting and participate in the activity accordingly.
The above study was conducted in the 1990’s and the results though correct are not up to the mark, and so another study from 2011 by Scott Loarie, Craig Tambling, and Gregory Asner provides evidence of the lions self awareness. The study was titled “Lion hunting behaviour and vegetation structure in an African savanna”. The study talks about the difference between hunting and resting patterns of male and female lions. Male lions are bigger in size, less agile, slower and find it difficult to hide in grass than their counterparts.Owing to the above factors, and the fact that females do most of the hunting, it was hypothesised that female lions are more successful at hunting as compared to males: The males were thought to be dependent on females for food (Scheel, 704). Male lions have certain disadvantages as compared to females but they are aware of these flaws and use their surroundings accordingly. The study uses LiDAR and GPS technologies to reveal that males use denser vegetation for hunts, and they also select their prey accordingly (901). The males also select their prey according to vegetation around them, and prefer to hunt impalas and zebras in extremely dense vegetation while they prefer hunting wildebeests in open vegetations (903). The statistics of the study reveal that the males are equally successful predators and are also smart enough to use the vegetation to their advantage.
Cognitive abilities of lions
Until recently it was thought that lions had brains but they were not intelligent enough to solve problems. A recent study titled ”Lions (Panthera leo) solve, learn, and remember a novel resource acquisition problem” by famed lion researcher Natalia Borrego and Brian Dowling has revealed that lions can solve, learn and remember solutions to puzzles.. It argued that “the additional challenges of social life bolster the evolution of intelligence. (1019)” The study reveals that lions can not only solve puzzles, but can help other lions who are unable to solve the problem on their own. Lions can also remember the solution of such puzzles for upto seven months (1024). The study proves that lions being social animals exhibit a sense of social complexity. Lions are indeed the smartest cats despite having a smaller brain size then tigers. The study talks about how lions can help each other solve a puzzle, this reveals that the lions indeed share a social bond with their fellows (1023). This study reveals that lions possess advanced cognitive abilities, enough to solve novel problems and puzzles. This study also reveals that lions have can actually learn to solve puzzles and remember that knowledge for about seven months, and that lions can actually help and teach each other to solve puzzles.
Threat Faced by lions
Lions have ruled the jungles for centuries, but in the last century the lion population has decreased from 200,000 to less than 30,000 and maybe even close to 20,000. More than a third of African lions are estimated to have disappeared within the last 20 years. The lion is now regionally extinct in more than 15 countries. The reasons behind this population decrease are three interlinked factors; namely loss of habitat, loss of prey, and interactions with humans. As the human population increases, more and more of the lion’s habitat is converted to farmland, real estate, and roads so as to keep up with the increasing demand.
Humans are pushing lions out of their habitat, and as the habitat decreases, the lions are forces with a choice: either enter human settlement, or fight with other prides for territory. The likely outcome of both scenarios is death, as humans recklessly kill the beast in the name of protecting itself, or other lions fight and kill it. To make the situation worse for lions, it is the only big cat on CITES Appendix II, making the international commercial trade of lions, and their body parts legal (Williams, Vivienne L., et al. 1). The trade of lion bones is hence legal, and a thriving industry, as over 6000 lion skeletons have been shipped to Asia from Africa since 2008 (Williams, Vivienne L., et al. 7). While the source of most of these skeletons is captive bred lions, it makes killing lions no less inhumane, and despite the major source being captive bred lions, wild lions are still under the threat of poaching as the trade of lions is profitable. Lions are specifically bred for slaughter as captive lions allowed to be hunted and sold (Lindsey, P., et al. 11). As lions are a CITES Appendix II animal, which makes trophy hunting of lions legal. This poses a threat to the population of the lions. A study by C. Packer and associates proved that lion population has continuously decreased in areas where trophy hunting is prevalent. In fact trophy hunting appears to be the primary driver of population decline in the hunting areas. The trophy hunting industry also fuels the bone trade of lions, as the hunted lions are traded. This combines to be a big threat to lion populations in several parts of the world.
Further threats to lions include the loss of prey and ritual hunting. Except for trading, lions are also killed in communal rituals of African tribes. In several African tribes, killing a lion is a test of strength and manhood. The person who hunts a lion is considered brave and manly, and hence many lions meet their fate to prove the bravery of humans (LionsAid). Further, as the habitat of lions is reduced, so is the habitat for the prey, and as the prey migrates to other open areas, many lions are starved to death from the loss of prey. Besides migration, lions are also suffer from illegal bushmeat trade. Bushmeat trade is trade of wild animal meat example antelopes. The bushmeat trade involves killing of over 160,000 animals in the Serengeti each year (Lion Recovery Fund). These animals are potential prey for lions, and their trade makes the lion lose its prey which forces it to hunt livestock and enter human settlements, which leads to them being hunted in the name of protecting cattle or humans.
As of now human encroachment into the savannas has diminished the wilderness by a whopping 75%, and with the overlapping of territories and farmland, the lion population has taken a nosedive in the last two decades (LionsAid). The example of Kenya show how a human population burst causes a decline in the lion population. Kenya has more humans, hence more cattle and wheat fields, resulting in less natural habitat and fewer lions. West Africa is not far behind, and the slash and burn technique used there leaves the flora and fauna dead and the lands barren (LionsAid). As a result the lions population of West Africa has plummeted below 500. The ignorance, lack of respect, and greed of humans has cost a great deal to the lion population of the world.
In recent years humans have encroached the natural habitat of lions for mining, settlement, or trade. Even safe havens like Tsavo National Parks or the Masai Mara have become unsafe for lions, as humans continuously compromise the lions natural habitat. Over 800,000 cattle invaded the Tsavo National Parks, and thousands daily invade the Masai Mara and the Serengheti as cattle herders bribe forest officials to allow passage (Lion Recovery Fund). The lion is an apex predator, and can not be expected to ignore such amounts of easy prey, especially when its natural prey is scarce. But as a lion kills a cattle, it is labeled a threat, and killed, leading to a decline in lion population.
Among all the threats faced by the lions, the biggest threat is increasing number of human-lion conflicts due to the lions hunting livestock. This threat is the biggest, as it results from the lions being devoid of their home as well as the loss of prey. The human expansion forces lions to enter human settle human settlements or prey on livestock as a result, lions are hunted. This is the cause of death of more than 80 lions in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park itself. The constant rise in lions hunting livestock has resulted in a massive decline in the lion population of Africa.
Solving the problem
The previous section explains the problems lions face, and the threats to their existence. The biggest threat as discussed above is that lions hunt livestock, and as retaliation humans kill the lion. This problem has arisen due to the human encroachment of lion habitat, and it is our duty as humans to solve this problem for us and our fellow lions. The simplest solution to this problem comes from the indegenous people of Tanzania’s Maasai Steppe. The natives of the area used thorny bushes and trees to form a perimeter around the village so as to stop predators from attacking their cattle (Lichtenfeld, Laly L., et al. 483). This perimeter though effective, requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep so as to keep it intact. The perimeter called a boma is degradable as the thorns dry out and need to be replaced (Lichtenfeld, Laly L., et al. 486).
Despite the shortcomings of the traditional boma, the concept is extremely useful and effective, if certain flaws are removed. As retaliatory killings are one of the biggest causes of lion population decline in Africa, a simple grassroot solution like building bomas is our best bet to control the situation. The incorporation of modern equipment and materials in construction of bomas is therefore a probable solution to keep predators like lions safely out of human settlements. A study by Lichtenfeld, Laly L., et al. about effectiveness of bomas concluded that fortified bomas are more effective than traditional bomas, in fact the fortified bomas repelled 99.9% of predator attacks over 1790 boma months studied (483). It is therefore safe to say that at the grassroot levels, building bomas or predator proof livestock shelters is the best method to protect lions from humans.
Although bomas are effective, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is in favor of constructing them. It is a lot easier and cheaper for people to just poison and kill lions, rather than spend money on constructing bomas. But, people need to realize the importance of lions in the world, and make an effort to save them.
The bomas are an effective solution, but they alone are not enough to save the lions. An initiative of the Mara Predator Conservation Programme named “Collars for Conservation” suggests that GPS collars be placed on all the lions, which will make it easier to monitor the real time location (“Collars for Conservation” ). How this helps save lions is by alarming the authorities if a lion gets close to any human settlement, so that forest rangers can obstruct or divert the lion before someone tries to harm the lion. This method has another advantage, as it can help stop the illegal hunting of lions, because authorities will be able to track down traffickers as soon as any lion is killed. The collars are a large scale project, in which the complete lion population of the world needs to be mounted with collar, and then the program needs to be manned by enough rangers and forest officials so that all the lions can be simultaneously monitored and protected in case of an emergency. The collars also need to be replaced as a lion grows, and when the batteries die. But despite these flaws, if completed this program is humanity’s best bet to protect the lion population from declining further.
The sheer expense of the Collars for Conservation project might deter authorities from going ahead with it, and it is true that the cost of maintaining tens of thousands of collars as well as the manpower required to handle the system is extravagant. It is a lot easier and cheaper to let people kill lions, than to build protective bomas, or mount collars on all the lions of the world. The program may face criticism as millions of dollars shall be spent on protecting an animal species in countries where the living situation of millions of humans is questionable, but we need to realize the fact that nothing comes free of cost, and to protect the lions of the world, providing a monetary sum is the least we can do.
The protection of lions would be a lot easier if UNESCO recognizes them as a World Heritage Species. A World Heritage Species is one which has a clear and significant importance and relevance to human culture, and lions already meet all the requirements (“LionAid's Project: UNESCO…”). By becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Species, lions will gain the support of political leaders and scientists all over the world, who can then help the lions get what they truly deserve: recognition and protection from killing. This initiative by LionsAid is called the “LionAid.org. “LionAid's Project: UNESCO - Recognise Lions as a World Heritage Species - Started 2010.” and focuses on making the world recognize lions for what they really are: an icon of human culture.
The lion population faces a large threat in the form of a severe population decline, and to save these magnificent beasts we need to start before it's too late. The methods discussed above are not easy to implement or cheap in cost, but we need to keep taking small steps to save our lions from extinction. We humans need to let go of our inbuilt superiority complex, and realize that there are other animals in the world that deserve to live as much as we do, and it is our duty to ensure the protection and survival of other animals who share our planet.
