Jun 13 2008
Lion Man comes to the rescue of the african lions
Today is a slow day. I’ve just finished dissecting a hyaena, but will probably be stuck in the office for a while attending to project admin, funding proposals etc. If this post seems a little boring then, well, its because my day is boring.
For a brief diversion, please have a look this ABC story I found this morning. I find myself puzzling over why its in the Science and Technology section.
Technorati : conservation, lions, science
6 responses so far
What happened to the hyena and why did you dissect it?
So, I read the story about the Lion Man and I kept thinking of Timothy Treadwell and his “work” with grizzlies. What do you think of the Lion Man’s interactions with lions?
s.
Sheryl,
The hyaena died as an indirect result of a conflict of interests between livestock owners and carnivores.
I routinely dissect all carnivores that I find, and sometimes large herbivores. Seeing the state of various organs and tissues can tell one a great deal, not only about how the animal died, but also how it lived. In cases where the cause of death is known, a dissection helps me to become more familiar with a what a “normal” carnivore physiology looks like, and consequently might make me better at assessing future cases.
Throw into this mix, the fact that people’s livestock losses to wildlife-borne diseases outweigh losses to depredation by a factor of of maybe 3 times. Its critical that we try to reduce the impact of wildlife on people’s livelihoods, and identifying pathologies quickly can help. Have a look at Asuka’s work (Maravet blog) for an elaboration of this.
Keep up the good work Seamus.
David Njuguna
Thanks, Seamus.
s.
On the contrary David, thank you. I think you’ve fixed the comment-emailing problem… and, best of all: the site is up and running!
Seamus,
Great that you are doing necropsies on carcasses. As you imply, they are a mine of information.
Unless he is incredibly lucky, the “lion man” of Johannesburg, Mr. Richardson, will come to a sticky end. Even George Adamson, of “Born Free” fame was bitten by a lion, something I have written about, but which most people choose to ignore. At least one man died after being attacked by George’s “tame” lion, and other near misses occurred. Large predators are not to be messed with, not even by the most well-meaning of people.