Daring food robbers target lions

Humans are stealing meat from lions, and the practice may be common and widespread in Africa, scientists reported in a study published last month.

(Photo and graphic courtesy of National Geographic)

A team of researchers in Cameroon discovered a lion-kill in the wild that was later butchered with knives and stripped of flesh, which prompted them to survey field reports on human kleptoparasitism, or food theft.

In the incident that triggered the suvey, observers first watched a pair of big cats gorging on the carcass of a native antelope in the Benoue national park, according to the study published in the African Journal of Ecology.

(yellow patch shows lion range)

The lions fled when the scientists approached in their vehicles to make an initial inspection of the scene. When the observers returned several hours later, instead of lions, people scattered from the scene and disappeared into the surrounding bushland.

The researchers found that the carcass had ben stripped, with cut marks making clear that knives were used.

"The only remains left were the head, the feet and a few remains from the skin," the report says, leaving the authors to speculate that the lions may have been chased off the meat by local villagers.

"Freshly cut leaves were found at the remains, suggesting they wrapped the meat in leaves for transport," it says.

Occurrences of kleptoparasitism amongst animals are well documented, including lions and hyaenas commonly filtching from each other, as well as both species stealing from cheatahs and African wild dogs.

However there is little on record about incidents of humans scavenging off top predators. But one Ugandan study in 1999 uncovered nine cases of human kleptoparasitism, from which the authors of the latest paper conclude that the phenomenon may be common in Africa.

They also cite anecdotal reports that suggest the practice may be wide-spread among several groups of people, from the nomadic Mbororo in North Cameroon to park staff on the Maswa game reserve in Tanzania.

Illegal diamond miners in the remote northern regions of the Central African Republic were reportedly scavenging from big cats, and elsewhere in the same country there is a village known to allow lions to live nearby, specifically for easy access to their prey.

While the literature on modern incidents is thin, studies of prehistoric human kleptoparasitism are more common, suggesting that our ancestors were frequent opportunistic robbers of carnivores, for vital additional protein.

The authors say that the subject merits more attention and that important lessons in conservation may be gained from it.

"It may be that humans receive benefits from their co-existence with lions and other large carnivores, possibly influencing their attitude and behaviour," it says.