Poison and indifference are killing thetreelions of Africa
Conservationists face uphill struggle to save the arboreal cat from extinction
THE poison is so fast-working that the locals call it Two Step – because you take two steps and drop dead. But the lions died slowly.
Disorientated and vomiting, three lionesses and their eight cubs staggered from a poisoned carcass, panting for breath until suffocation overtook them.
In this single incident in April, more than a third of the famous tree-climbing lions of Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National park were eliminated, leaving just 19 in one of only two places in the world where lions display such arboreal behaviour.
Killing lions in Africa is not new. Certain tribes, like the Maasai, hunt them in coming-of-age rituals or to protect their livestock.
But as human populations soar and the means of killing grow sophisticated, conservationists fear Africa’s lions may be driven to extinction.
In just three decades the African lion population has fallen by 80 per cent to 20,000. Earlier this month, nine died in a mass poisoning on the fringes of the Serengeti in Tanzania, while conservationists said eight more died on the protected borders of Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve.
Such actions are repeated throughout East Africa, with lions attacking cattle and goats as rural villages expand and prey becomes scarce because of poaching.
Conservationists say they suspect the tree-climbing lions were poisoned with a highly toxic carbamate pesticide made by Western chemical companies which is widely available in Africa.
A cow carcass laced with carbamate is lethal – a small dose will wipe out a pride of lions, but also the hyenas and vultures that subsequently feed on the carcasses of cows or even on the dead lions. Jackals that eat dead vultures will often die, too. Vultures have themselves become endangered, with numbers falling 60 per cent in 10 years, according to Simon Thomsett, a raptor conservationist.
Banning carbamates is not an option – it would affect farming and the market is swamped anyway, thanks to the internet. Ten years ago Maasai warriors sat in cyber cafes to find out how Scottish gamekeepers poisoned golden eagles. They copied their methods. Today, the warriors have smart phones.
Conservationists believe there are many and complex reasons behind the lion killings. Some tribes kill lions to protest against government interference in their heartlands or against corrupt local politicians who pocket tourism revenues that are meant to be shared; others demand cash to stop killing wildlife. And in some areas, witchcraft and local medicines also feature, with lion claws and teeth used in potions thought to transfer animal strength to humans.
But there is hope. The Big Life Foundation, a conservation scheme co-founded by Richard Bonham, a former safari guide, has instituted a compensation programme. In 2003, just 15 lions remained in the Amboseli ecosystem that surrounds Kilimanjaro. Today, that has grown to 200.
For each head of cattle killed, Big Life pays $250 (£188). It is paid every two months but is withheld for an entire tribe if a lion is killed in the interim.
Big Life has been a proven success, but conservationists say that replicating it is difficult as governments tolerate corruption and fail to enforce the law. “The issue is not poisoning,” says Mr Thomsett. “The issue is lack of government commitment to conservation.” Stephen Doig