The Weekly Anthropocene, March 15 2023
Lions in Senegal, bison on tribal lands, clean energy surges and setbacks, and more!
Senegal
The West African subpopulation of lions is critically imperiled, with only an estimated 120 to 374 remaining in the wild, far from the thousands of lions living in protected strongholds in eastern and southern Africa. However, Senegal’s Niokolo Koba National Park has been a bright spot, with conservation efforts from renowned NGO Panthera helping bring the lion population up from 10-15 individuals in 2011 to 30 today.
Now, new camera trap footage reveals that a lioness known as “Florence” has given birth to three cubs (her third litter!) in the park, boosting the population still further. Florence is now the mother of about one-third of the entire park’s lion population: three of her older cubs have formed the park’s first “coalition,” a “team” of friendly male lions that live together. Great news!
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