Territoriality in a pride of semi-wild lions, Panthera leo

Abstract

The African lion, Panthera leo, is a powerful symbol in Africa but the lion numbers are declining rapidly. Once, the African lion lived across the entire continent, except for the Sahara Desert and rainforests. Nowadays they occur in less than a quarter of their historic range (Nowell et al., 2012). Conservation programs are necessary to keep the African lion from further declining. One of the ways of conservation is releasing captive bred animals into the wild. Before releasing captive bred lions it is necessary to assess their capability to survive in the wild. One of the skills for survival is the ability to successfully defend a pride’s territory against intruders and competitors for food. This study in Antelope Park, Zimbabwe, assesses whether captive bred lions released in a semi-wild environment react similar as wild lions do to intruders in their territory. The reactions of the pride members are tested by means of playbacks (McComb et al., 1994). The lions of the semi-wild pride show similar behavior as wild lions and are more willing to approach intruders when they outnumber them.