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Long Term Monitoring Project
At any given time, our field assistants in the Serengeti are keeping track
of approximately 250 individual lions in 15-20 prides in order to maintain the
demographic records that were first begun in the 1960s. The records contain a
wide range of information including where the lions are on a given day, how
many lions are in the group, how healthy they are, and whether there are
any new cubs.
Why monitor the lions?
Although the Serengeti lion population is not immediately endangered, the human
population around the park's boundaries is increasing exponentially.
With more people come more threats to lions including poaching and disease,
both of which have significant impacts on the size of the lion population.
Demographic monitoring allows us to keep an up-to-the-minute count of the
lions in the population, and aids in the quick detection of disease. These data
also form the critical backbone for our studies of lion behavior such as the
investigations into the lack of female dominance and the lion mane project.
How do we keep track of the lions?
Monitoring consists of finding as many lions as possible as often as
possible which is both easier and harder than it sounds. Prides of lions
are territorial so we know approximately where to look for them, but
pride ranges can be as large as 400 kmē so locating lions within their
territories is often very difficult. We focus our efforts on known "hot-spots"
within each territory including water holes, river banks and kopjes, but with
these methods alone one can go for days without seeing a single lion. In order to maximize our data collection, a female from each pride is
fitted with a radio-collar. Our vehicles are outfitted with radio-tracking
equipment including headphones, a receiver and an antenna; a day in the
life of a lion researcher is accompanied by the sounds of hissing and static
punctuated by the ever-elusive beeps signaling a lion's proximity.
What do we do when we find them?
Once a radio-collared female is located, the first step is to identify all of the
other lions present. Each lion is born with a particular pattern of whisker spots
which never changes; these spots are a great gift to research because they naturally
"mark" each lion in the population. We provide all of the lions in our study area
with identification cards, so all we have to do is compare the spots of each individual
in the group to the cards for the pride in question.
After the animals are identified, we record information about their condition
such as how fat they are, whether they are injured or sick, and whether they are
pregnant or lactating. We also note whether animals make a kill, whether they are
feeding on a carcass and whether any animals are mating. Finally, we use a GPS
unit to record their exact location.
What happens to the data?
Back at the Lion House, we transcribe our field data onto "pride sheets".
Whenever possible (i.e. we get a visitor from the States) we copy the sheets and
send them back to the Lion Research Center in Saint Paul. There we rely on an
army of enthusiastic undergraduate volunteers who assist in entering and
checking the data. Finally, the information is added to the computer archives
and used in statistical analyses concerning population fluctuations, fitness
parameters and behavior.
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