spassvogel

..has it declined?

Have you yourself realised or got the impression that lion sightings have become less frequently/harder than in earlier days?

I would appreciate your impression/experience/opinion.

THX!

SV

cary999

Don't know. Been the same for me for my history of safaris since 2005.
Why should it have declined in safari circuits?

regards - tom

pixelpower

There's not much people who can answer this. At least not tourists. Most will go to a different place every year (if they even do multiple safaris). And you can't compare places.

There's only a few people on this board who visit certain places regularly. I guess they could answer your question. And people in the industry too, perhaps.

B.regs,

PS. I have heard the opposite a couple of times; ic lions may be disappearing fast in the non-protected areas, but in the protected areas they now thrive a bit too good, making species like cheetah to become rare.

wildlifepainter

I'll give my impressions on lion population from 1 visit in 2/08 and 1 visit in 2/09 in identical locations in Tanzania.

The Crater pop. of lions seems the same but there were far fewer hyenas.

In Ndutu the lion pop. was way less in 2009 and the cheetah pop. seemed higher. But... the wildebeests were farther away and were the lions with them?

I'd also say in the Central Serengeti than we saw many more cheetahs than lions in 2009. So again the lion pop. had declined or gone elsewhere.

spassvogel

cary999
There are rumours that the lion pop has declined. Also in Sabi sands due to rabies which they catch from stray dogs.

When I visited Sabi Sands in April I had the impression the sightings were less than in earlier days.

Pixelpower
Regarding the cheetah population: In the earlier days cheetah were quite common in SS. Nowadays one can consider oneself quite happy IF one sees a cheetah.
South Africa has also realised that cheetahs are not for granted. Camps/Lodges in SS now call a vet if they have a cheetah which seemingly is ill or injured.
In the Massai Mara they definitely call vets for cheetahs.

Wildlifepainter
It's sad regarding the decline you noticed. Hopefully they just moved with the herds and hang around somewhere.

Thank you all very much for sharing your thoughts!

SV

cary999

Sounds like it would make a good National Geographic program. Lion society is so complex with territory, prides, nomadic males and females. The answer is above my "pay grade".

regards - tom