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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Lion attacks on rise in Tanzania, Mozambique. |
| 2006-01-11 |
| JOHANNESBURG, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Attacks on humans by man-eating lions are on the rise in Tanzania and Mozambique, raising the stakes in the conservation game as environmentalists strive to save the big cats from extinction. Lions in the area have developed a taste for human flesh because people have been sleeping outdoors to protect their crops from raiding bushpigs, which the cats follow onto croplands, a leading expert said. "In Tanzania in the early 1990s there were about 40 recorded lion attacks a year. In the past couple of years they have risen to over 100 and about 70 percent are fatal," said Craig Packer, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota. "The problems are down in southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique, a region which is very remote and very poor," Packer told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Packer, who has headed the Serengeti Lion Project since 1978, was in Johannesburg for a conference on conservation strategies to save the African lion which also aims to find ways to reduce human-feline conflict. Estimates for the continent's lion population range from 23,000 to 40,000. Sealink for balance. Lacking indoor plumbing, people could also be encouraged to build toilet facilities closer to their homes to limit the distance taken on nocturnal forays when the lions were on the prowl. Nasty image indeed. |
| Posted by:Creck Ulagum6581 |
| #2 As an I(slam fan, I refuse to believe anything called a "lion" is capable of aggressive action. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-01-11 10:00 |
| #1 As an NFL fan, I refuse to believe anything called a "lion" is capable of aggressive action. |
| Posted by: Javimble Gleck2213 2006-01-11 09:55 |