Choosing The Right Lion

AFRICAN INDABA

Contributor
AH enthusiast
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
402
Reaction score
162
Website
www.africanindaba.co.za
Media
70
Articles
182
Member of
CIC, Rowland Ward, B&C, DSC, German Hunting Association, KZN Hunting Association, Wild Sheep Foundation
Hunted
Western US, Western Canada, Alaska, Colombia, Tajikistan, Russian Federation, China, Iran, Austria, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, UK, Indonesia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Namibia
Choosing the Right Lion
by Petri Viljoen

watermark.php


The lion is one of the principal trophy species sought by safari hunters and therefore the continued presence of lions in hunting areas is critically important to the safari industry. Lions have a complex social behaviour that places them at relatively high risk for being over-exploited in the absence of sound population management strategies.

Lions have a unique social organization and behaviour is unique, particularly co-operative behavior. It differs from that of other members of the cat family, which are not distinctly social. A lion pride is the basic unit consisting of resident females accompanied by their off-spring, and adult males, the pride males, which share an area, the territory and interact with minimum aggression. Females may be recruited into the pride. A lion pride is not a cohesive social unit as not all members are together all the time. Lion groups could therefore either be a sub-group of a pride or all the members of a pride together. Sub-adult females may remain in the pride for their entire existence but some leave the pride. However young male lions leave the pride at about three years of age and on reaching maturity may become pride males of another pride by expelling the pride males.

Following a pride-takeover, pairs of males will remain with the pride for an average period of 18 months while male coalitions will maintain pride tenure for periods of over 40 months. Cubs may be killed by the new pride males, thereby reducing the time before the offspring of the new males are born, thus increasing the reproductive success of the new males. During this period the pride males have exclusive mating opportunities with the pride females. Males defend their ranges from male intruders and females from females. Females in a pride tend to come into estrus simultaneously and give birth synchronously. Litters are therefore borne at approximately the same time and are thereafter raised communally. Infanticide could therefore potentially affect a range of cubs of various ages from several females. A male lion is sexually mature from about two years of age, but not fully adult until about four. Males may continue to grow until about seven or eight years and their manes are usually not fully developed until about five or six years. Because lions are non seasonal breeders and also highly infanticidal they complicate management strategies. The effect of selective removal of specific individuals presents a real challenge to the effective management of lion populations. The annual removal of some adult male lion may in some situations be advantageous, but in others detrimental to specific lion populations. For example, the removal of non-resident aged males may reduce male-male competition and therefore result in increased territorial male tenure and cub survival. However, removal of resident (or territorial) male lions may potentially disrupt the social system, leading to increased rates of infanticide, and occupation of territories by immature males with resultant reduced reproduction.

To minimize the potential effect of selective removal of males during safari hunts, TGTS/WWS have for several years implemented a strategy as far as the hunting of lion is concerned. The positive results of this strategy are now seen.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Forum statistics

Threads
57,571
Messages
1,234,370
Members
101,370
Latest member
WilsonStri
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

dlmac wrote on Buckums's profile.
ok, will do.
Grz63 wrote on Doug Hamilton's profile.
Hello Doug,
I am Philippe from France and plan to go hunting Caprivi in 2026, Oct.
I have read on AH you had some time in Vic Falls after hunting. May I ask you with whom you have planned / organized the Chobe NP tour and the different visits. (with my GF we will have 4 days and 3 nights there)
Thank in advance, I will appreciate your response.
Merci
Philippe
Grz63 wrote on Moe324's profile.
Hello Moe324
I am Philippe from France and plan to go hunting Caprivi in 2026, Oct.
I have read on AH you had some time in Vic Falls after hunting. May I ask you with whom you have planned / organized the Chobe NP tour and the different visits. (with my GF we will have 4 days and 3 nights there)
Thank in advance, I will appreciate your response.
Merci
Philippe
rafter3 wrote on Manny R's profile.
Hey there could I have that jewelers email you mentioned in the thread?
 
Top