Abstract
Large carnivore populations are in global decline, and conflicts between large carnivores and humans or their livestock contribute to low tolerance of large carnivores outside of protected areas. African lions (Panthera leo) are a conflict-prone species, and their continental range has declined by 75% in the face of human pressures. Nonetheless, large carnivore populations persist (or even grow) in some areas that are occupied by humans. Lions attain locally high density in the Olkiramatian and Shompole Group Ranches of Kenya's South Rift region, despite residence by pastoralist Maasai people and their sheep, goats, and cattle. We have previously found that these lions respond to seasonal movements of people by moving away from occupied settlements, shifting into denser habitats when people are nearby, and moving into a protected conservation area when people move into the adjacent buffer zone. Here, we examined lion stress responses to anthropogenic activities, using enzyme-linked immunoassay to measure the concentration of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in 136 samples collected from five lion groups over 2 years. Faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations were significantly lower for lions in the conservation area than for lions in the human-settled buffer zone, and decreased significantly with increasing distance to the nearest occupied human settlement. Faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations were not detectably related to fine-scaled variation in prey or livestock density, and surprisingly, faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations were higher in the wet season, when regional prey abundance was high. Lions coexist with people and livestock on this landscape by adjusting their movements, but they nonetheless mount an appreciable stress response when conditions do not allow them to maintain adequate separation. Thus, physiological data confirm inferences from prior data on lion movements and habitat use, showing that access to undisturbed and protected areas facilitates human-lion coexistence in a broader landscape that is used by people and livestock.
Highlights
Large carnivores are in global decline, with strong and pervasive effects on the communities and ecosystems that they have historically occupied (Dill et al, 2003; Estes et al, 2011)
A large proportion of the observed variation in lion glucocorticoid concentrations can be explained by the variables we examined
Faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations were higher in males, in larger groups, and when cubs were absent
Summary
Large carnivores are in global decline, with strong and pervasive effects on the communities and ecosystems that they have historically occupied (Dill et al, 2003; Estes et al, 2011). As with many other large carnivores, African lions (Panthera leo) have lost 75% of their historical range in sub-Saharan Africa (Riggio et al, 2013) as a consequence of human population growth and concomitant pressures, such as habitat loss, prey depletion, trophy hunting, and wire-snare poaching (Creel and Creel, 1997; Woodroffe and Frank, 2005; Packer et al, 2009; Becker et al, 2013a, b; Lindsey et al, 2013). Given that lions sometimes kill humans, they are generally considered ‘conflict prone’ and can be viewed negatively by people living near protected areas (Saberwal et al, 1994; Packer et al, 2005; Woodroffe and Frank, 2005). All remaining large lion populations are restricted to large, ecologically intact, protected areas
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