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Comment
. 2015 Dec 1;112(48):14753-4.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1520709112. Epub 2015 Nov 13.

Land sparing, land sharing, and the fate of Africa's lions

Affiliations
Comment

Land sparing, land sharing, and the fate of Africa's lions

Philip A Stephens. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Apart from a brief hiatus in the early 2000s, lion monitoring in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa, has been conducted annually using rigorous and multiply repeated aerial surveys. Since their reintroduction in the mid-1990s, lions have increased and now fluctuate in number between 40 and 60 animals (A). The Park is surrounded by fencing (B), which confers greater protection but, obviously, limits achievable population sizes. Burning (C) is conducted to stimulate new growth, increasing the carrying capacity of the area for lion prey. The thriving lion population (D) is a significant draw for tourists but, as with all fenced populations, requires active management of numbers. Images courtesy of (A and B) T. D. S. Docherty, (C) S. Willis, and (D) P. A. Stephens.

Comment on

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