Abstract
Lion populations have undergone a severe decline in West Africa. As baseline for conservation management, we assessed the group structure of lions in the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve in Benin. This reserve, composed of one National Park and two Hunting Zones, is part of the WAP transboundary complex of protected areas. Overall mean group size was 2.6±1.7 individuals (n = 296), it was significantly higher in the National Park (2.7±1.7, n = 168) than in the Hunting Zones (2.2±1.5, n = 128). Overall adult sex ratio was even, but significantly biased towards females (0.67) in the National Park and towards males (1.67) in the Hunting Zones. Our results suggest that the Pendjari lion population is affected by perturbations, such as trophy hunting.
Highlights
Lions Panthera leo are the most gregarious of all felids, forming ‘fission-fusion’ social units known as prides that typically comprise four to six related females, their dependent offspring and a temporary, unrelated coalition of typically two adult males [1,2,3,4]
The mean group size was significantly higher in the National Park (NP) (2.761.7 lions, range 1–8, n = 168) than the Hunting Zone (HZ) (2.261.5 lions, range 1–5, H = 6.5, df = 1; P,0.01, n = 128)
Most lion populations have a sex ratio skewed towards females and a higher proportion of immature lions [7,23,24,25]; at this stage we cannot satisfactorily explain why the values observed in our study area appear to be different
Summary
Lions Panthera leo are the most gregarious of all felids, forming ‘fission-fusion’ social units known as prides that typically comprise four to six (range 1–21) related females, their dependent offspring and a temporary, unrelated coalition of typically two (range 1–9) adult males [1,2,3,4]. Several factors influence lion grouping patterns, such as cub defence, group territoriality, defence of kills against scavengers, synchronised female breeding patterns and communal raising of offspring [1,4,5,6]. External factors such as anthropogenic pressures affect the lion grouping pattern and social behaviour [7,8]. In West and Central Africa, lion populations have severely declined [11,12], with densities below 5 lions/100 km2 [13] Lions in this region tend to form small groups [14]. Lions are Regionally Endangered [15] and genetically distinct [16] making ecological research in West Africa relevant and urgent [17]
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