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February 2008 |
Man versus Lion: Protecting the Infamous Wild Cats of KenyaA century ago, railway crews in Kenya’s Tsavo region lost dozens of workers to the jaws of two male lions. The killings ended only when railway engineer J.H. Patterson shot the offenders. The events became the basis for the film “The Ghost and the Darkness,” with Michael Douglas. 
A young male lion in Kenya's Tsavo region.
Patterson's team spotlights a new group of lions at Matopene water hole.
Most of the lion sightings are at night, when the lions are most active. View from the team's vehicle.
Today, it’s the lions’ appetite for livestock that may lead to their demise. Bruce Patterson (no relation to J.H.) is a zoologist at Chicago’s Field Museum. He studies the interactions between Kenyan ranchers and Tsavo’s legendary lions, looking for ways to promote a peaceful coexistence between the two. Patterson estimates that the past quarter-century has seen a 75 percent reduction in the world’s lion populations. What happens when lions wander off protected areas? What types of prey are they attacking? How can human cohabitants manage their livestock in a way that discourages lion activity? These are questions Patterson and his team of researchers are attempting to answer, as they observe the animals in ranches adjoining Tsavo’s national parks. In Tsavo East National Park, lion densities are high. “There is a steady rain of colonists leaving the park to find new homes outside,” says Patterson. “Those that find their way to the Taita/Rukinga Conservancy find a land with protection from ranchers and poachers, with abundant prey species, and ecological vacancies.” But lions that choose to travel in other directions are not so lucky. “Those that find their way to other ranches, where poultry and livestock are the only prey, shortly after arrival they come quickly into conflict with people, and death or deportation are inevitable results.” But the methods ranchers use to dispatch these lions are often more devastating to the ecosystem than the simplicity of a gunshot. Patterson and a team of Earthwatch volunteers track lions at night, when they are most active. During a recent expedition, Patterson’s team passed a stockade of 200 cows, manned by several herders. Patterson says, “the herders flagged us down and informed us that a lion had been harassing the cows just moments before.” The team returned to the camp the next morning, and found a cow dead in the grass. “But unlike a lion kill, this animal had been sliced open rather than ripped open. And this raised a central concern to us, because it's quite common in rural Africa when lions kill a cow, the herdsmen will allow the lion to feed on it until the lion feels very comfortable with it, is into eating mode. They will then drive the lion off and lace the carcass with poison. A carcass so laced becomes toxic to any animal that samples the flesh and many other animals often share the agonizing fate of death by poison.” Patterson continues to study these conflicts and attempts to educate ranchers on more suitable ways to share space with the lions. Learn more about Bruce Patterson’s Earthwatch teams Links to related stories: Science Diary: Lions of Tsavo - Poisoned Cattle Science Diary: Lions of Tsavo - Tracking Science Diary: Lions of Tsavo - Encroachment |
