Ecological drivers of female lion () reproduction in the Kruger National Park.

The role of social cues in the reproduction of social mammals, particularly carnivores, has been thoroughly studied and documented in literature. However, environmental cues such as resources of water, food, and shelter have been identified to a lesser extent. Pregnant lions () are notoriously secretive during the final stages of pregnancy and postpartum.

More than $1 billion needed annually to secure Africa's protected areas with lions.

Protected areas (PAs) play an important role in conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services, yet their effectiveness is undermined by funding shortfalls. Using lions () as a proxy for PA health, we assessed available funding relative to budget requirements for PAs in Africa's savannahs. We compiled a dataset of 2015 funding for 282 state-owned PAs with lions.

Simplified large African carnivore density estimators from track indices.

Background: The range, population size and trend of large carnivores are important parameters to assess their status globally and to plan conservation strategies. One can use linear models to assess population size and trends of large carnivores from track-based surveys on suitable substrates. The conventional approach of a linear model with intercept may not intercept at zero, but may fit the data better than linear model through the origin.

Estimating wildlife disease dynamics in complex systems using an Approximate Bayesian Computation framework.

Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife are of increasing concern to managers and conservation policy makers, but are often difficult to study and predict due to the complexity of host-disease systems and a paucity of empirical data. We demonstrate the use of an Approximate Bayesian Computation statistical framework to reconstruct the disease dynamics of bovine tuberculosis in Kruger National Park's lion population, despite limited empirical data on the disease's effects in lions. The modeling results suggest that, while a large proportion of the lion population will become infected with bovine tuberculosis, lions are a spillover host and long disease latency is common.