Academic literature on the topic 'Lion – Zimbabwe'

AbstractAn emerging perspective on Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Zimbabwe is that increased authoritarianism in governance has enabled elite capture of wildlife resources and silenced local people's voices. This paper qualifies this perspective, showing how ordinary people continue to raise their concerns about local governance. In the Mbire district, people's interpretations of an upsurge in lion attacks on livestock and people in early 2010 took on a dimension of social commentary on the evolving governance arrangements in the district and beyond. Beneath an apparent human–wildlife conflict lie complex human–human conflicts about access to, and governance of, wildlife resources. Interpretations of the lion attacks built on two distinct epistemologies – a local religious discourse on spirit lions and an ecological one – but invariably construed outsiders as the ones accountable for local problems. This construction of outsiders is also a salient feature of Zimbabwean political discourse. Local voices thus constitute a widely understood discourse of protest.

AbstractThe African lion Panthera leo is an iconic species but it has faced dramatic range reductions and possibly as few as 30,000 individuals remain in the wild. In the absence of detailed ground-based surveys, lion populations may be estimated using regression models based on prey biomass availability but these often overestimate lion densities as a result of a variety of compounding factors. Anthropogenic factors can be key drivers of lion population dynamics and in areas with high human impact lion numbers may be significantly lower than those predicted by prey biomass models. This was investigated in two protected areas in Zimbabwe, where lion population densities were found to be significantly lower than would have been predicted by prey-availability models. High hunting quotas either within or around the protected areas are the most likely cause of the low lion numbers, with quotas in some areas being as high as seven lions per 1,000 km2 in some years. Other factors, including persecution, poisoning and problem animal control, as well as disease and competition with spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta, are also discussed.

We compiled all credible repeated lion surveys and present time series data for 47 lion (Panthera leo) populations. We used a Bayesian state space model to estimate growth rate-λ for each population and summed these into three regional sets to provide conservation-relevant estimates of trends since 1990. We found a striking geographical pattern: African lion populations are declining everywhere, except in four southern countries (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe). Population models indicate a 67% chance that lions in West and Central Africa decline by one-half, while estimating a 37% chance that lions in East Africa also decline by one-half over two decades. We recommend separate regional assessments of the lion in the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species: already recognized as critically endangered in West Africa, our analysis supports listing as regionally endangered in Central and East Africa and least concern in southern Africa. Almost all lion populations that historically exceeded ∼500 individuals are declining, but lion conservation is successful in southern Africa, in part because of the proliferation of reintroduced lions in small, fenced, intensively managed, and funded reserves. If management budgets for wild lands cannot keep pace with mounting levels of threat, the species may rely increasingly on these southern African areas and may no longer be a flagship species of the once vast natural ecosystems across the rest of the continent.

Abstract:So-called canned hunts take place within fenced private game ranches and typically target animals bred in captivity solely for that purpose. Thousands of semidomesticated lions form the focal point of South Africa’s canned-hunting industry. Notions of animal welfare, “fair chase,” and conservation have been deployed to varying degrees to sway public opinion surrounding canned hunts in South Africa and abroad. While state regulatory efforts have largely failed to date, the Campaign Against Canned Hunting (CACH) has successfully promoted stricter controls on the importation of lion trophies in Australia, Europe, and the United States, in part by highlighting the recent death of Cecil, a charismatic lion shot by an American bowhunter in Zimbabwe.

The Western media exploded in August 2015 because of a lion killed in Africa. Politicians, conservationists, civil society, musicians, sports stars, talk show hosts and ordinary people were outraged by the killing of a lion called Cecil in Zimbabwe. Interestingly there was not much focus on the reaction of Zimbabweans who were most injured by Cecil’s death. If anything, Zimbabweans were surprised by the blanket coverage of Cecil. In this essay, Zimbabweans’ reaction to the Western media coverage was analysed within the broader context of Edward Said’s concept of ‘Othering’. Viewing the concept of Othering through the Zimbabwean lenses deepened and widened the traditional definition of Othering to include self-Othering and what I termed reverse-Othering. The Zimbabwean gaze must be understood and contextualised. Without this understanding, the ultimate outrage over Cecil, which is about sustainable wildlife management, might not be won for local people must be partners in the sustainability endeavour.

Reports of livestock depredation by large predators were systematically collected at three study sites in northwestern Zimbabwe from 2008–2013. We recorded 1,527 incidents (2,039 animals killed and 306 injured). Lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) were mostly responsible, and cattle and donkeys most frequently attacked. Patterns of predation were variable among study sites. Nevertheless, some overall patterns were apparent. Predators selected livestock close to the size of their preferred wild prey, suggesting behaviours evolved to optimise foraging success may determine the domestic species primarily preyed upon. Most attacks occurred when livestock were roaming outside and away from their ‘home’ protective enclosures at night. Hyaena attacks were largely nocturnal; lions and leopards (Panthera pardus) were more flexible, with attacks occurring by day and at night. Livestock fitted with bells suffered a disproportionate number of attacks; the sound of bells appears to have conditioned predators to associate the sound with foraging opportunities. Lion and hyaena attacks on cattle were more frequent in the wet season suggesting that seasonal herding practices may result in cattle vulnerability. Only a small proportion of conflict incidents were reported to wildlife management officials with a bias towards lion predation events, potentially prejudicing conflict management policies. Predation on domestic stock involves an intricate interplay between predator behaviour and ecology on the one hand and human behaviour and husbandry practices on the other. Our data suggest that improved livestock husbandry (supervision of grazing animals, protection at night in strong enclosures) would greatly reduce livestock depredation.

Predators influence prey populations not only through predation itself, but also indirectly through prompting changes in prey behaviour. The behavioural adjustments of prey to predation risk may carry nutritional costs, but this has seldom been studied in the wild in large mammals. Here, we studied the effects of an ambush predator, the African lion ( Panthera leo ), on the diet quality of plains zebras ( Equus quagga ) in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. We combined information on movements of both prey and predators, using GPS data, and measurements of faecal crude protein, an index of diet quality in the prey. Zebras which had been in close proximity to lions had a lower quality diet, showing that adjustments in behaviour when lions are within short distance carry nutritional costs. The ultimate fitness cost will depend on the frequency of predator–prey encounters and on whether bottom-up or top-down forces are more important in the prey population. Our finding is the first attempt to our knowledge to assess nutritionally mediated risk effects in a large mammalian prey species under the threat of an ambush predator, and brings support to the hypothesis that the behavioural effects of predation induce important risk effects on prey populations.

Abstract Cecil the Lion lived in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe and was a part of an Oxford conservation study until his death by poaching, outside of Park boundaries, at the hands of an American hunter, in July 2015. Cecil’s death caused unique levels of international outrage, though wildlife poaching in general remains an all-too-ubiquitous phenomenon. This paper enquires as to why this particular death caused such outrage. I will examine this question through two Foucauldian lenses: first, through the Parks’ discursive production of subjects – human and nonhuman animal; and secondly, by investigating Parks’ practices of understanding biopower and pastoral power. I argue that though wildlife conservation in the National Parks is generally interested in conserving the species, not individuals, Cecil’s status as a named individual in a scientific study resulted in the outrage and speaks to the paradox at the heart of Foucault’s idea of pastoral power.

L’augmentation depuis une trentaine d’années des maladies infectieuses dites émergentes ou ré-émergentes chez l’homme, causées à plus de 70% par des pathogènes issus d’espèces hôtes animales (i.e. Ebola, SIDA), stimule l’étude de systèmes éco-épidémiologiques à l’interface entres populations humaines et animales (i.e. sauvages et/ou domestiques).Le contact entre hôtes est un phénomène important dans l’étude de ces systèmes car il permet la transmission des pathogènes entre individus et la diffusion de maladie au sein et entre populations. Nous avons choisi la maladie de la fièvre aphteuse comme modèle d’étude de la transmission de pathogènes des populations sauvages vers les populations domestiques. Le buffle africain (Syncerus caffer) étant le réservoir présumé de cette maladie fortement contagieuse, nous nous sommes interrogés sur les conditions de transfert au bétail (Bos taurus et Bos indicus) du virus aphteux aux frontières de trois parcs nationaux africains qui constituent des interfaces entre espaces anthropiques et protégés perméables aux mouvements d’animaux. Dans le cadre de ce doctorat 4 protocoles ont été mis en place entre 2010 et 2011 au Zimbabwe. Premièrement, des colliers GPS (Global Positionning System) ont été déployés sur des bovins sauvages/domestiques pour décrire leurs déplacements dans le paysage et quantifier les contacts interspécifiques. Des colliers furent également posés sur l’une des espèces prédatrices de ces ongulés: le lion (Panthera leo). L’intégration de la guilde des prédateurs nous a permis d’estimer les modifications de l’utilisation de l’espace par les herbivores en réponse à la présence de carnivores et les conséquences en termes de contacts et de transmission interspécifique de pathogènes. Deuxièmement, un suivi longitudinal sérologique sur le bétail a complété le protocole télémétrique avec des prélèvements répétés sur des individus marqués selon le cycle saisonnier. Troisièmement, les contacts au sein des populations de bovins domestiques ont été caractérisés par des enquêtes auprès des éleveurs. Quatrièmement, le rôle potentiel de la diversité des hôtes sur le risque infectieux d’un écosystème a été exploré par l’estimation de densité de macro-parasites dans le paysage selon une variation de la gamme d’hôtes potentiels (i.e. (i) sauvages, (ii) sauvages et domestiques et (iii) uniquement domestiques).Nos résultats montrent que (1) les taux d’interaction interspécifiques, estimés par télémétrie, varient entre sites et présentent une saisonnalité prononcée (i.e. pic saison sèche chaude). (2) La distribution des ressources conditionne la périodicité et la distribution de ces contacts dans les différents compartiments du paysage. (3) La fréquence des incursions du bétail dans un espace protégé ainsi que les taux de contacts avec les buffles influencent positivement la probabilité d’acquisition d’anticorps anti-aphteux chez le bétail. La probabilité de perte d’anticorps est également fonction du niveau d’interaction avec les buffles mais selon une relation négative. (4) La densité du réseau d’interaction intra-spécifique domestique influence positivement l’incidence sérologique de la fièvre aphteuse. (5) La présence de prédateurs supérieurs dans le paysage permettrait de limiter les incursions du bétail dans les espaces protégés et diminuerait la probabilité d’infection par les populations d’hôtes sauvages. (6) Enfin les densités de macro-parasites dans la végétation sont supérieures dans des espaces communaux sans interaction avec les populations sauvages et où la richesse spécifique des hôtes est plus faible. Les résultats de cette étude sur la transmission interspécifique de pathogènes entre populations sauvages et domestiques dans les écosystèmes tropicaux ouvrent des champs de réflexion encore largement inexplorés, notamment sur l’évolution de la virulence et des modes de transmission des pathogènes ayant comme hôtes des populations sympatriques sauvages et domestiques
Emerging or re-emerging diseases in human populations have increased over the last thirty years. Since 70% of such diseases are caused by pathogens originating from animal hosts (i.e. Ebola, AIDS, and avian influenza), this increase has prompted the study of eco-epidemiological systems that occur at the interface between human and animal populations (i.e. wild and/or domestic). Contacts between hosts are particularly important factors in these systems since they result in pathogen transmission among individuals and, therefore, disease diffusion within and among populations. We used foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) as a model to study pathogen transmission from wild to domestic populations. As the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is the presumed reservoir of this highly contagious disease, we examined the conditions in which the virus was transmitted to cattle sensitive to the disease (Bos taurus and Bos indicus) at the borders of African national parks; these areas are interfaces between anthropogenic and protected areas in which animals can move freely.In the context, 4 protocols were implemented between 2010 and 2011 in Zimbabwe. First, GPS (Global Positioning System) collars were placed on cattle and buffalo in order to describe and analyze their movements across the landscape as well as to quantify interspecific contacts. In one of the study sites, collars were attached to one of the predators of these ungulates: the lion (Panthera leo). By integrating the predator guild into our telemetry protocols, we could examine the potential changes in spatial use by cattle and buffalo in response to predator presence and their consequences for contact dynamics and interspecific pathogen transmission. Second, a longitudinal serological survey was conducted in which tagged individuals were sampled repeatedly over the course of different seasons. Third, to characterize contacts within the domestic host population, interviews were conducted with cattle owners regarding their husbandry practices across seasons. Fourth, to describe the potential role of host diversity in ecosystem infection risks, macroparasite density (i.e. ticks) was estimated for landscape compartments that contrasted in terms of potential hosts present (i.e. (i) wild, (ii) domestic and wild, and (iii) domestic only).Our study primarily shows the following results. (1) Interspecific interaction rates, as estimated by telemetry, vary between sites and have a pronounced seasonality (peak occurs during the hot dry season). (2) Resource distribution (i.e. water and grazing areas) seems to condition the frequency and distribution of these contacts in the different landscape compartments. (3) Cattle incursion frequencies into protected areas and the frequency and intensity of contact with buffalo significantly positively affect the probability of foot-and-mouth antibody acquisition in cattle. The probability of antibody loss in cattle is also a function of diminished rates of interaction with buffalo. (4) Intraspecific interaction densities positively influence FMD serological incidence in cattle. (5) Top predator presence in the landscape could limit cattle incursion into protected areas and reduce the likelihood of their being infected by wild host populations. (6) Finally, the estimated densities of macroparasites in the vegetation were higher in communal spaces where there was no interaction with wild hosts and where host species richness was weak.The results of this study on the interspecific transmission of pathogens between wild and domestic populations in tropical ecosystems encourage the exploration of research topics that are still largely unexplored, including the evolution of virulence transmission modes of pathogens hosted by sympatric wild and domestic populations

While a decrease of wild felid population has led to disruption of conservation programme, recent studies have shown the importance of immune regulation for determining health outcomes and co-infection. Immunoglobulin G is important for detecting and evaluating responses to infectious diseases and vaccination. But, there is limited information on felid immunoglobulins and their role for functional immunity. This study aimed at isolating and characterizing lion’s immunoglobulin G. Lions’ sera (n = 68) were processed using the MagReSyn® magnetic beads and the final protein concentration was determined using the Xpose™ Trinean Spectrophotometer. The cross-reactivity of goat anti-cat immunoglobulin with sera of lions and other species was analysed using ELISA. High cross-reactivity was observed in lions ranging from 87.7 to 100%, and low reactivity with rhino (22.4%) followed by chicken (0.01%). The protein concentration from purified sera yielded 39.09 mg/ml. Molecular weight of lion IgG 150-160 kDa was detected with both chains at 54-56 kDa and 24-26 kDa on SDS PAGE. These results indicate a potential aid in developing serological tools to monitor exposure to micro-organisms of lions.
Agriculture and  Animal Health

This qualitative study focuses on two questions: a) Do present-day Shona still subscribe to the world-view of their ancestors? b) How does this world-view relate to that of the modern (Western) world? Interviews were conducted with government representatives, chiefs in Masvingo Province and people in all walks of life. Virtually all interviewees, even when participating in the "modern" sector (including Christianity), still subscribe to the traditional system. Government, however, has adopted the model of the pre-Independence government, with some concessions to tradition. The traditional world-view (emphasising its key symbols, blood and soil) and the history of the two dominant tribes in Masvingo Province are outlined. A case study of a current chieftaincy dispute illustrates the dilemma. Conclusion: searching dialogue between the two belief systems is needed to resolve the potentially creative ambivalence. Some key issues are suggested as starting points for such dialogue.
M.A. (Religious Studies)