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Speculative lion distribution map. Protected areas are shown in colour; the circles present possible Lion Conservation Units, connectivity within and between circles unconfirmed (1 = Alatash-
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Ethiopia is renowned for its cultural and biological diversity and covers an important share of lion habitat in Africa, providing connectivity between East and Central Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of lions and human–lion conflict in several protected areas of Ethiopia and to present an overview on lion distribution na...
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Context 1
... findings, combined with personal comments from various sources that visited other areas, give the revised distribution map and population guesstimates for Ethiopia shown in Fig. 2 and Table 3. Figure 2 shows known range; it is possible that the areas between polygons 1-5 are either permanent, occasional or connecting (dispersal) range, or a combination, because there are persistent but rare and unverified reports of lion sightings in those areas; it is unlikely that there is unknown lion range in the rest of the ...
Context 2
... findings, combined with personal comments from various sources that visited other areas, give the revised distribution map and population guesstimates for Ethiopia shown in Fig. 2 and Table 3. Figure 2 shows known range; it is possible that the areas between polygons 1-5 are either permanent, occasional or connecting (dispersal) range, or a combination, because there are persistent but rare and unverified reports of lion sightings in those areas; it is unlikely that there is unknown lion range in the rest of the country (EWCA 2012). ...
Context 3
... knowledge of lion distribution in Ethiopia is still incomplete, but taking our new findings into account we provide a more coherent inventory of current guesstimates, pointing to a less favourable conservation status (Table 5). Figure 2 shows protected areas with lions; note that many protected areas in Ethiopia are still in the process of being gazetted, degazetted or redemarcated. Besides, their boundaries do not necessarily describe the limits of lion distribution; in some areas lions range far into community land, whereas in other areas communities have encroached the protected area. ...
Context 4
... their boundaries do not necessarily describe the limits of lion distribution; in some areas lions range far into community land, whereas in other areas communities have encroached the protected area. Figure 2 shows clusters of lion populations that were definitely historically connected, but we do not have information on current connectivity within or even between those clusters. ...
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... The difference in responding between call-ups station might be attributed the variation in sound transmission because of the visibility and habitat cover. Compared to Yirga et al. (2021), the Panthera leo responded more during the present survey, and conversely none of call-up has been responded by Panthera leo in some of Ethiopian protected areas, such as Awash National Park, Nechisar National Park, Chebera-Churchura National Park, Mago National Park, and Kaffa Biosphere Reserve ). However, no responses were received for Panthera pardus or Acinonyx jubatus throughout our survey time. ...
Carnivores help to maintain ecological balance by preying on herbivores and ensuring the survival of plants. However, large carnivores are experiencing continuous decline around the globe. This study was performed in the Maze National Park (MzNP), Ethiopia, for which no previous empirical data are available. We investigated the diversity, population density and habitat association from October 2020 to September 2022. Direct and indirect sampling methods were held using transect lines, call-up surveys and spoor tracking. The habitat differences for species abundance and seasonal effect were tested using the Chi-square. We hypothesized that the habitat quality and seasons affect the ecology of species. The lion ( Panthera leo) , leopard ( Panthera pardus) , cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus) and spotted hyena ( Crocuta crocuta) were recorded. The savannah grassland comprised a high abundance (Wet: 46.43%, Dry: 49.58%). The grassland with scattered tree habitat showed high species diversity and evenness (Wet: H’=1.33, J = 0.96; Dry: H’=1.38, J = 0.995), while the riverine forest showed the least (Wet: H’=0.943, J = 0.859; Dry: H’=0.803, J = 0.731). The estimated population density was 0.3–0.33 Panthera leo /km ² , 0.14-021 Panthera pardus /km ² , 0.09–0.098 Acinonyx jubatus/ km ² , and 0.2–0.23 Crocuta crocuta /km ² . One-way ANOVA was used to compare species abundance among habitats, and the difference was significant (Dry: F = 5.848, df = 3, p = 0.011; Wet: F = 3.903; df = 3, p = 0.037). Our findings suggest that the MzNP has the potential to comprise large carnivores in a good population stand. We recommend that high emphasis be given to habitats for their substantial contribution to supporting the species.
... Call up surveys, sometimes referred to as call-in or playback surveys, differ from audio counts because they use calls of conspecifics, prey in distress, or competitors to draw individuals to a specific site so they can be visually counted. They have also been used to estimate abundance of spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta, (northern Botswana (Cozzi et al., 2013), Etosha National Park in Namibia (Trinkel, 2009) and in Ethiopia's National Parks (Yirga et al., 2021(Yirga et al., , 2014, and lions in the Masai Mara in Kenya (Ogutu and Dublin, 1998), Kafue National Park in Zambia (Midlane et al., 2015) and northern Botswana (Cozzi et al., 2013). Direct observation-based studies typically require some form of individual identification and have been used and adapted widely (Beukes et al., 2017;Bouley et al., 2018;Brink et al., 2012). ...
... Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License (Gebretensae et al., 2007;Gebresenbet et al., 2009;Yirga et al., 2017). As a result, significant lion populations and their suitable habitats in many of their former ranges in Ethiopia have declined over time Kebede and Gebretensae, 2018;Yirga et al., 2021). ...
... The lion is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species, with their range reduced by 8% of historical range (Bauer et al., 2015). The leading causes of their continent-wide decline are indiscriminate killing (often related to conflict), habitat ~915-1190 --*Population extrapolated from the density 1-2 lions per 100 km 2 (current estimates made using the extrapolation adopted by Bauer and Van Der Merwe (2004), estimates made by Riggio et al. (2013), Bauer and Rskay (2016) and Yirga et al. (2021)). **Population extrapolated from medium density of 4-5 lions per 100 km 2 (Maokomo) and low density 1-2 lions per 100 km 2 (Bejemis and Dedessa) (based on reports of Yadeta and Hailu (2013), Wendim et al. (2015) and Wendim (2018)). ...
African lion (Panthera leo), is an important species in the Ethiopian ecosystems. However, significant lion populations and their suitable habitats in many of their former ranges in Ethiopia have declined over time due to socio -economic uncertainty and the resulting ecological imbalances. Despite this general trend, it is equally noted that there is a lack of verifiable data which depicts the past and current status of African lions. Thus, very little is known about the species in question in most of its ranges. We reviewed available published and unpublished reports and manuscripts on the target species in order to examine and document the status of the African lion in Ethiopia. From our review, we concluded that the lion numbers are still low and declining whilst considerable ranges have been identified through the field assessments conducted in the last two decades. African lions in Ethiopia have been under serious threat from various anthropogenic activities and it is therefore recommended to effectively implement the national conservation action plan for lion and undertake further field assessment on its habitats. We also suggest the establishment of a national Red list category for the threatened species based on the final reports of our assessments.
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