From a newsgroup:

KENYA: Poison takes toll on Africa's lions
26.mar.09
CBS News
Michael Gavshon and Drew Magratten
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories...es/main4894945.shtml

The African lion, already down as much as 85 percent in numbers from just 20 years ago, is now in danger of becoming extinct, says an American wildlife biologist from the University of California, Berkeley. The main reason, says Dr. Laurence Frank, is that in parts of Africa the big cats are being poisoned at an alarming rate, mostly with a cheap American pesticide.
African lions numbered some 200,000 in the late 1980s but now are estimated to be in the 30,000 range. Simon accompanied Frank on a trip into the Kenyan bush to assess the lion population.

Cattle herders trying to protect their livelihoods from predators are carrying out the poisonings, which aside from lions also kill other animals, like hyenas and vultures. Simon talked to some who spoke freely about how they protected their cows. Mengistu Seketet explained. "[We kill lions] in a very silent way. Actually, we use the poison…it's very effective," says the herder. "We call it the 'blue stuff.'" Shown a bottle of the American-made pesticide Furadan that sells for two dollars a bottle in Kenya, Seketet smiled. "Oh, wow, that's the one," he tells Simon.

The agricultural pesticide Furadan, even when used as directed, is estimated to have killed millions of birds in the U.S., prompting the EPA to restrict its use.

I'm no expert on Lion, but know some about the use of poisons to control predators in the ranch lands of Texas, and New Mexico of the USA!

This was done by folks who didn't know better, to control coyotes, and wolves in cattle, and sheep country, by government paid predator agents. It worked to kill the coyotes, and wolves, but also killed out other beneficial animals as well. In Cattle country there is no need to control coyotes, because they do very little damage to cattle, but do feed heavily on Jack Rabbits, to keep them in check. The jackrabbit was far more detrimental to the cattle ranch than a coyote, because jackrabbits eat tons of grass, and without the coyote, they have a population explosion.

Poisoning the coyote hurt the rancher more than it helped. The poisons used were put out in two different ways; Cyanide pellets were dropped from airplanes, or 4X4 vehicles across a wide area. The other way was the cyanide bomb, this was a meatball attached to s string that set off a small charge when the coyote, or wolf pulled the bait off the ground, exploding a cloud of cyanide powder in his face. The sound startled the coyote, so he took a deep breath.

Both methods not only killed coyotes, and wolves but badgers, foxes, birds, raccoons, and the vultures that fed on the dead animals.

I'm sure the poisoning of lion is much the same in Africa, causing an unwanted domino effect that is not only detrimental to the lion, but to a lot of valuable animals as well.

Do I think hunting is more or less detrimental to the African lion, than the poisoning? My belief is hunting is far less a problem than poisoning. In fact, I think proper hunting is far more beneficial to the long-term existence of the African lion, than prohibition of hunting him, because that generates the poisoning. This is a problem in most of the villages that are near to preserves, and ntl parks where hunting is not allowed, causing the herdsmen to poison. Or places like Kenya, where hunting is not allowed at all, and the human population is exploding into the wilder areas.

I actuality think hunting is a great benefit to all wildlife, if quotas are set properly, and outfitters use some discretion in not allowing clients to take juveniles lions, or go over quota when one is lost, and taking another, without reporting the lost animal. The money generated by the hunting client, is a real plus for not only the lion population, but also the locals as well through subsidies from things like campfire systems, like Zimbabwe has (or at least "HAD").

Just head rumbling with nothing to back it but a real good guess!

MAC: Very well stated! we had tried (years ago) to compensate the local Masai with cash payments for their lost cows. the result was: too many Masai were submitting inflated or bogus claims on lion killed cattle.

A "reward" system may work somewhat better. I. E: The masai who can sucessfully put PH & client unto a big lion, could receive a big cash reward (If it pays...it stays; more or less). however this seems to work much better in theory, than reality.

Poisoning remains #1 threat to lions in certain parts of East Africa; as I do not believe that actual lion poaching is a tremendous problem in TZ.... althought the rendered lion fat is in big demand as Dawa and sells for as high as US $100 per litre.

If hunting is done right, should have little negative impact on lion populations.

MacD37 - This goes back to what we talked about before!! The very reason the NATIVES in Kenya are poisoning the LION is simply because to them, the LION has no value!! Give the lion value, and allow the dollars raised by sport hunting to protect the LION, and things COULD change! Until then, lions in Kenya will suffer, big time!

Aaron