Published 18:04 IST, January 19th 2020
Tanzania to relocate 36 Serengeti lions following attacks on people, cattle
Tanzanian authorities have decided to relocate 36 Serengeti lions after they attacked humans and livestock. The lions will be moved from Serengeti to Burigi.
- World News
- 2 min read
Tanzanian authorities have reportedly decided to relocate 36 Serengeti lions after they attacked humans and livestock. The lions will be moved from the edge of Serengeti National Park to Burigi National Park, located in the country's north-west. According to Simon Mduma, 11 out of 36 lions have been caught and will be moved to the Burgi shortly. Nine more lions will be rehoused at the national park and a venue will be decided for the remaining 16.
Lion attack
International Union for Conservation of Nature has said that there are only 20,000 lions left in the wild after it had been categorised under the endangered animals. Tanzanian government had quashed the special status of seven wildlife and forest reserves. According to the government of Tanzania, it had allocated approximately 700,000 hectares of land for farming and livestock. Earlier, people used to kill lions if it attacked any person, but since it was a huge group the same action cannot be taken, said Simon Mduma, director-general of Tanzania's Wildlife Research Institute.
Lions and humans have long been under contact in Serengeti and the attacks by the wilder beast are not something new that had happened in the region recently. According to a study published in Nature, lion attacks over the past 15 years on humans in Tanzania have killed more than 560 people and injured at least 308.
Recently, a rare video was circulating online where a group of five lions was spotted together in California's Amador County. The footage was captured in a security camera of a home that was later acquired by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). According to Peter Tira of CDFW, the sighting is being dubbed as rare because mountain lions are solitary animals and the only time more than one lion can be seen together is during mating season or when the mother is raising her cubs.
Updated 18:04 IST, January 19th 2020