IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Funston, P.; Hemson, G.; Mosser, A.; Bauer, H.; Packer, C.; Loveridge, A.; Frank, L. | |
| Flexible Sociality Ensures the Persistence of Lion Populations When Persecuted by Humans | |
| 2007 Conference Proceeding | |
Lions are unique amongst felids in that they live in complex and large social groups known as prides, which are defended by coalitions of males. Cooperative defence of cubs and territory by adult lionesses are thought to be the key drivers of this behaviour. This social pattern is thought to typify lions generally, and is observed at both extremes of low and high lion density. We, however, present data on circumstances where this social pattern is abandoned in favour of living in much smaller groups, or as solitary individuals, irrespective of density. This is predominantly observed in populations that are heavily impacted by human persecution as preventative or retaliatory responses to livestock depredation. We investigate what thresholds are necessary to modify lion social organisation to such an extent, and then show that lion populations can persist quite well with such a pattern once these thresholds have been surpassed. Other factors that might influence group and pride size, such as available prey size and biomass, are also investigated as possible drivers of this behaviour. The findings presented offer new and important insights into the conservation and management of lion populations that are nowadays being most widely affected by human persecution. |
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