Post-Cecil, Zimbabwe Park May Kill 200 ‘Surplus’ Lions Due to Hunting Decline

Ben Graham | February 24, 2016
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Multiple reports claim the same country that fueled a huge international bout of outrage over the death of a single lion in 2015 is now threatening to kill hundreds of them due to overpopulation.

Bubye Valley Conservancy now has over 500 lions roaming its lands, the most in any of Zimbabwe’s wildlife areas.

Following the death of Cecil the Lion last year -- and the subsequent outcry directed against his hunter, Walter Palmer -- big-game hunters are keeping their distance from Zimbabwe to avoid being targets of public ire.

But the African lion is an apex predator, the top of the food chain. It has no natural predator to keep their numbers in line. So when contained in a reserve, they tend to overpopulate and dominate the space.

Bubye has warned that these numbers are unsustainable, the lions are decimating populations of the other wildlife within the park’s borders. They’re trying to get other institutions and parks to take some lions off their hands but, in the end, Bubye needs to get rid of nearly 200 lions as a result of what they call “the Cecil effect.”

Peter Kay, director of UK-based Lion Aid, has said Bubye should have implemented contraceptive implants years ago.

“It’s too late now,” said Kay. “There is nowhere in Africa which could take so many lions.”

Wildlife scientist Paul Bartels of South Africa’s Tshwane University of Technology has said that using contraceptive implants at this point would be far too costly to have any effect.

“There are a lot of lions on that (Bubye) conservancy. It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for contraception to make any real difference,” he said.

But Blondie Leathem, general manager of Bubye Valley Conservancy, denies these reports. He says the park had considered culling the lion population, but ultimately rejected the tactic.

“We do have more lions than the ecosystem can handle in the long-term -- that is, more than the natural carrying capacity,” Leathem told Quartz. “Therefore, we are looking to translocate or re-home about 200, as we would rather not cull them.”

“If anyone knows of a suitable habitat for them where they will not land up in human conflict, or in wildlife areas where they will not be beaten up because of existing prides, please let us know and help us raise the money to move them.”

Leathem also denies that the decline of hunting is related to the conservancy’s over-population issue.

“The fact remains that habitat destruction is their biggest enemy, and there is basically no more space in Africa for a new viable population of lions,” Leathem says.

If Bubye ends up being forced to kill the 200 lions, how do you think people will react? Will they have the same level of outrage? Or will they ignore it because there isn’t a rich white guy to blame and vilify?

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