Re: Lions On The Loose

[Alf]

Poor lions

[Richprins]

One cannot really keep them in if they want to get out, unless it is a small enclosure...

[Peter Betts]

Funny how Lions are always getting out of THAT Park. Remember 'Sylvester' They were about to put him down but Public Opinion stopped it and he now lives in Addo Park ..where lions DONT escape from Now they shot them before the Public got wind of it ..Fix your fences Boet like the farmers around the Park fix theirs ..No excuse

[PJL]

I agree with Peter on this one - one has to question the park management based on the number of escapes over the years. It sounds to me more like a convenient incident in order to reduce the parks lion population rather than active management of the numbers/carrying capacity

[Alf]

I have to agree as well

[Lisbeth]

The fact that they have escaped twice in two days seems to incriminate the management

[Richprins]

They seem to have become "habitual criminals" so no hope of changing their ways?

[Richprins]

Media Release: Decision on lions in Karoo National Park not taken in haste

02 October 2020

South African National Parks (SANParks) said in a statement this afternoon (Friday, 2 October 2020) that its decision to put down seven lions deemed to be damage causing animals in the Karoo National Park was not taken in haste nor lightly.

SANParks said responses to transgressing lions that pose threats to livestock and people have a high level of urgency and are executed after a thorough assessment and observation of the circumstances over time. In this case, SANParks was well placed to weigh-up its options in responding to a difficult set of situations that had presented itself in Karoo National Park with regard to its lion population.

The crucial aspects which were considered in making the decision to put down these specific animals are, firstly, this female lion group had left the Park before killing a number of sheep from a neighbouring farm and presenting a threat to human beings. Secondly, the pride had familiarised themselves with a specific area from which they escaped and one of the members of the pride had developed a habit of digging underneath fences.

Further exacerbating the situation, is the terrain of the Karoo National Park which is mountainous with many small streams and gullies. When a fence crosses many small streams and gullies it presents opportunities for it to become porous regardless of diligence in fence maintenance and rainstorms in particular often lead to small, localised floods strong enough to create a hole in a fence for a lion to go through.

It had become increasingly evident that with all factors considered, these lions had a high chance of leaving the Park again and continue posing a risk to livestock and people; SANParks is obligated and has a legal duty to respond and mitigate such risks. The challenge of management of lions in small reserves such as Karoo National Park requires the constant trade-off of risks with benefits and the pro-active management of challenges.

Lions as a species are generally opportunistic, they prefer easy prey, are extremely fast learners and could easily become habitual live-stock raiders when circumstances allow. In most instances when lions start catching livestock, they also tend to lose their fear for humans; such lions present a danger to human life.

The option of moving the lions to other state or privately owned reserves that form part of South Africa's lion meta-population was not viable due to their own space constraints and the pride's history of catching livestock. To further illustrate the constraints that reserves face in accommodating larger lion populations, As part of its lion management strategy, SANParks annually offers lions for donations to South African reserves, however, there has been a demonstrable decline in reserves that can comfortably accommodate further numbers; the donation drive in the past year resulted in nought takers.

According to SANParks Large Mammal Ecologists, various drivers contribute to the behaviour of damage-causing and problem lions. These include the fact that most male lions disperse when they reach adult age and that prides move and disperse when competing with others for food or mating. In circumstances where there is no fencing and no other land-uses in between reserves, this phenomenon presents fewer risks to communities, however, in small reserves such as Karoo National Park immediately bordered by communities, the challenges are more arduous.

Management of lions in smaller reserves is particularly challenging as in such an environment, lion densities increase rapidly given the fewer threats to their survival. It is estimated that unchecked, populations within these reserves can increase by 22% per annum resulting in an insufficient prey-base to support the increasing population which in turn compounds the risk of the lions transgressing the bounds of the reserve.

That said, South Africa is amongst the top five African range states that conserve lions and small reserves play a critical role in contributing to South Africa's 3500 wild lion population; combined, the lion population in 59 state and private small reserves comprise over 700.

Karoo National Park has 14 lions remaining, consisting of three to four groups, with two active satellite collars and VHF monitored collars.

Issued by:
South African National Parks (SANParks) Corporate Communications:

Media enquiries:
Reynold "Rey" Thakhuli
SANParks Acting Head of Communications
Tel: 012 426 5203 cell: 073 373 4999
Email: rey.thakhuli@sanparks.org

Fayroush Ludick
SANParks Frontiers Region Communications Manager
Tel: (012) 426 5371, Cell: 082 888 0201
Email: fayroush.ludick@sanparks.org

[Klipspringer]

Good communication strategy by SANParks

No SANParks please come up with a plan for the future!

[Alf]

Another let’s please everyone with this crap we sell them. They will just believe it and leave us alone

Stop making excuses and go fix your fences properly