Book Review - The Lion: Behavior, Ecology and Conservation of an Iconic Species - Princeton University Press

      The lion is universally known as the king of beasts with some justification, but it is not a benevolent king, and greed, aggression, and infanticide are just part of the makeup of this magnificent iconic species. What other animal commands awe, respect, admiration and fear at the same time? Its very qualities have been anthropomorphised in every way, from introducing movies to bestowing the heart of a lion on a human king. Perhaps only another big cat, the tiger, a solitary inhabitant of deep jungle and tropical wetland, can rival the combination of awe and dread in which it is held.

     In stark contrast to other felines lions are sociable animals living in groups (prides); in fact social living is a cornerstone of lion lifestyle, essential to survival. A solitary lion is sooner or later a dead lion, the victim of attack by other lions. Male lions are known for their proclivity to kill the young fathered by another male to bring the female back into estrus, but they will also opportunistically kill estranged lions, competitive feline predators and hyenas - and not for food. When natural prey is in short supply and human encroachment expands, they can become man-eaters too.

     Craig Packer has packed (no pun intended) an enormous amount of information into this book, drawing on forty years of research into the lions of the Serengeti Plain and the Ngorogoro Crater, highlighting the different lifestyles of the two populations, one dependent on migratory ungulates for survival, the other with a reliable, fairly stable, resident prey base.

     Aided by an army of graduate students over the years there is not a single aspect of lion behaviour that has not been researched, often in exquisite detail. Packer has written a book whose narrative flows easily and freely, presenting fact after fact, and revealing a scientist's passion for the subject of his study, verging on obsession one might even conclude.

     But all is not well, and the future of the wild lion is at best bleak and at worst catastrophic. Packer says-

     "Across the entire continent, savanna habitat shrank by about 75 percent between 1960 and 2010 and by 2015 lions had likely vanished from as many as sixteen African countries. Add the impacts of infectious disease, human-lion conflict, poorly managed sport hunting, and illegal bushmeat consumption, as well as an emerging demand for lion parts in traditional Chinese medicine, and there seems little hope for the African lion."

     Most lions today are restricted by fences designed to keep people and lions apart, but far from being an ideal solution, confining lions behind physical barriers creates its own set of problems.

     Human population growth in Africa is already at the highest rate in the world, and the number of humans is forecast to triple between 2020 and 2100, a disaster in the making for human and lion alike.

     Lions breed well in captivity, but it is a sad prospect to contemplate the King of Beasts restricted to the status of a domestic breeding stock, with fewer and fewer opportunities to reintroduce them to the wild.

     For anyone concerned with the fate of the lion, indeed with the future of African wildlife in all its richness and diversity, this is an important book. It contains moments of great joy, yet one cannot help experiencing a sense of despair for what is to come.

     The future looks grim.

The Lion: Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation of an Iconic Species - Princeton University Press

Craig Packer

Hardcover - US$39.95 - ISBN: 9780691215297

376 pages - 7 x 10 inches (17.5 x 25 cm) - 173 colour illustrations, 5 tables

Publication Date: 28 March, 2023