Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project

Category: General | Date: Jun 29 2008 | By: Seamus

Some of the best lion research to date has come out of Tanzania, often in association with Dr Craig Packer. The most recent findings to be published are (I think) no exception. Scientists from the universities of Illinois, California (Davis) and Minnesota looked at the impact on lions of canine distemper virus outbreaks in Serengeti and Ngorogoro in 1994 and 2001. They found a fascinating relationship between climatic conditions, prey and blood parasites.

The story by the way is very engaging, and has a catchy title. Click here to see the press release.

An international research team, including University of Minnesota researcher Craig Packer, has found the first clear example of how climate extremes, such as the increased frequency of droughts and floods expected with global warming, can create conditions in which diseases that are tolerated individually may converge and cause mass die-offs of livestock or wildlife

Colleen’s comment on my previous post refers to this study. I think generally climate change is important to african wildlife conservation. Perhaps one of the reasons why it doesn’t receive much attention on these blogs is because 1)there are other threats to wildlife that could be more significant and 2)climate change is someting that we as field conservationists can’t do very much about. Like you Colleen, I will be interested to see what people have to say about these findings.

Technorati : lion research, lions, pathology

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