Climate Change a threat to Lions

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"Lions have lost 80 percent of their historic range in the last century and we don't want the next century to be a repeat," said Kristin Nowell, a member of the cat specialist group of the World Conservation Union, the world's largest network of conservation groups." This was two years ago at Johannesburg at a workshop addressing the conflict between humans and the majestic cats.

However a recent study conducted proposes a new concern for the cats. It suggests that droughts and downpours provoked by rapidly changing climate conditions allowed the convergence of two diseases resulting a dramatic drop in numbers of African Lions in 1994 and 2001.

Lions usually survive the outbreak of any one of the two viruses- Canine Distemper Virus(CDV) or the second virus- caused by infestation by a tick-borne blood parasite called Babesia.

While the two viruses usually occur in isolation, according to a National Geographic news report, in 1994 and 2001, climate change led to severe drought and then heavy rainfall setting the perfect atmosphere for the two disease to converge and thrive.

The combined diseases wiped out one third of the Serengeti lion population in 1994. A similar loss was reported in the nearby Ngorongoro Crater lion population.

Craig Packer, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul said, "It was already well known that die offs can be triggered by droughts and floods.We were able to identify the interacting components of a lethal co-infection that had not previously been considered.”

Sifting through more than 30 years of data on the lion populations, Packer and his colleagues attempted to determine the complex synchronizing factors that resulted in the lethal disease.

Further research concluded that droughts weakened lion prey including the Cape Buffalo. As the rains followed,many Buffalos died infested with Babesia infected ticks that multiplied with the vulnerable weather condition.

The lions that feasted on these infected buffalos were found to have high concentrations of Babesia, and the outbreak proved lethal.

"CDV is immunosuppressive-like a short, sharp bout of AIDS-thus greatly intensifying the effects of the Babesia," said Packer.

Growing evidence indicates that climate change plays a key role in the spread of infectious diseases. As for lions, Packer suggests that wildlife managers keep the tick load under control after droughts rather than attempt to contain CDV.

The African lion is currently not endangered but there is no room for comfort as the ongoing dramatic climate change poses a constant threat to all wildlife.