https://timesofsandiego.com/li...ion-traps-in-zambia/


UCLA Study Reveals Dangerous Use of Lion Traps in Zambia


by Debbie L. Sklar
17 hours ago



UCLA researchers have discovered that wild lions are being trapped in snares, illegal in conservation areas in Zambia and other parts of Africa, and are being injured in far larger numbers than experts have estimated.

The discovery was published in a journal article in Frontiers in Conservation Science.

UCLA biologist Paula White, while studying trophy skulls and hides of lions in a hunting camp in Zambia, evaluated how hunting was affecting conservation efforts. In her studies, she noticed a pronounced horizontal V-shaped notch on one of the canine teeth — an unusual marking White had not seen from natural wear.

Through her research, it revealed the tooth notches in wild lions resulted from the animals chewing their way out of wire snares, noose traps used by poachers. They are illegal in conservation areas of Zambia.


“It was an odd mix of thrilling to figure out the cause of the notches and horrifying to realize that so many animals had been entangled in a snare at some point in their lives,” said White, director of the Zambia Lion Project and a senior research fellow with the Center for Tropical Research at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.


Of 112 lions and 45 leopards studied in two Zambian conservation areas, 37% of the lions and 22% of the leopards had snare scars and tooth notches, the UCLA study revealed. Experts previously estimated snares only affected between 5% and 10% of wild lions and leopards.

“Identifying the snare damage to the teeth is a real innovation. I’d never seen anything like those horizontal notches before,” said UCLA paleobiologist Blaire Van Valkenburgh, a professor emerita of ecology and evolutionary biology. “Usually I’m looking at decades-old skulls in museums, but these are the animals we’re trying to conserve right now. This is real-time information, and that’s what you need for conservation decisions.”

From 2007 to 2012, White examined and photographed the skulls, teeth, and hides of lions and leopards across Zambia for her research.

The study recommends that countries expand their existing inspections by requiring hunters to provide their specimens for systematic photographic archiving to document tooth damage, snare scars, or embedded shotgun pellets before they export their trophies.

— City News Service, Inc.

Africans will snare the life out of whole of Africa one day

NO SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/rele...n-conservation-areas

The link has photos of some skulls with the teeth
notches.

I was hunting in Matetsi 3 with Brent Hein. We came across a beautiful mature male lion, lying near the road, with a snare on his neck. Even through his mane, you could see there was a lot of blood and raw flesh.

We went and reported it to Parks. The lady in charge had only two comments: "There is no mercy killing in the Matetsi." and "It is the Botswana people doing the poaching."

I asked Brent, how the hell did he break the snare wire to get where he is now? Brent said: He bit the wire until it broke, and I guarantee you his teeth are all broken."

Terrible!

I have some doubts about the numbers they are reporting.

Seems to be very high??

Ah, but don't forget Saeed.

These people come with Degrees and have University addresses backing them up, so what "THEY" say goes.... At least according to them and the powers that be....
Regardless of what the boots on the ground have been saying these past fifty years or more.

I shot two Lions that had previous wounds from snares. Every other Buffalo had bits of metal in them. Often predators are attracted to the snares lines that have caught other animals.

It’s a no s__t, Sherlock point to those who spend time there.

The information gathered points out the extent of the problem to some extent.

An N of 3 is statistically meaningless, but of my 3 lions, 2 had evidence of interaction with people in the past. Buckshot, snare scars, etc. strangely, it was the one from masailand that didn’t have any.

I think our biggest issue is going to convince the uninvolved that 1. This isn’t hunters, and 2. The hunters being on the ground reduces this problem.

It would also help the fence sitter to hear more of these ARA types saying they would rather the animals go extinct than allow hunting.

Kind of answers what they really are about. They don’t care about animal populations, but rather at controlling other people.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
It’s a no s__t, Sherlock point to those who spend time there.

The information gathered points out the extent of the problem to some extent.

An N of 3 is statistically meaningless, but of my 3 lions, 2 had evidence of interaction with people in the past. Buckshot, snare scars, etc. strangely, it was the one from masailand that didn’t have any.

I think our biggest issue is going to convince the uninvolved that 1. This isn’t hunters, and 2. The hunters being on the ground reduces this problem.

It would also help the fence sitter to hear more of these ARA types saying they would rather the animals go extinct than allow hunting.

Kind of answers what they really are about. They don’t care about animal populations, but rather at controlling other people.

The antis need to understand that the game populations were decimated outside of the hunting concessions. We are not responsible for the demise of 100,000 Lions in the last decade.

My local animal vet many years ago had a medium size dog chew his way through a chain link fenced-in enclosure. Now that took some doing.

May be a dumb question, BUT why is UCLA spending time and $$$ in Africa when there are so many problems in California?

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
It’s a no s__t, Sherlock point to those who spend time there.

The information gathered points out the extent of the problem to some extent.

An N of 3 is statistically meaningless, but of my 3 lions, 2 had evidence of interaction with people in the past. Buckshot, snare scars, etc. strangely, it was the one from masailand that didn’t have any.

I think our biggest issue is going to convince the uninvolved that 1. This isn’t hunters, and 2. The hunters being on the ground reduces this problem.

It would also help the fence sitter to hear more of these ARA types saying they would rather the animals go extinct than allow hunting.

Kind of answers what they really are about. They don’t care about animal populations, but rather at controlling other people.

The antis need to understand that the game populations were decimated outside of the hunting concessions. We are not responsible for the demise of 100,000 Lions in the last decade.

The anti’s can’t even look at Kenya pre- and post- hunting ban and the respective animal populations and reconcile that the ban had an overall disastrous effect on animals.

The fact is, they don’t want to.