John, it's a complicated story.
Lions are the only cats living in groups (prides) which they do to defend
permanent water sources. The waterholes attract herds of prey, also allowing
the Lions to drink & wash after eating. The mini troughs only supply small
quantities of (emergency?) water, thus cannot sustain large herds. The old
wind-pumps were used to fill reservoirs which in turn fed large drinking
troughs. The Road antelope which are confined to the more arid northern
parts of Kruger were almost wiped out (down to 18) by encroaching lions but
have now increased to a couple of hundred. A herd of 30 was recently spotted
at Tzendze Rustic Camp. Some herds have also been bred in protected areas.
However, the battle is not yet won because the captive herds don't adapt
easily to the wild & the genetic diversity is low. There is a plan to
introduce some Roan from Zambia in an attempt to improve the gene pool.
Research is ongoing.
Alan C
-----Original Message-----
From: John
Sent: 14 November, 2017 3:43 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: PESO: Thirsty
So, what keeps the solar powered water troughs from attracting unwanted
lions?
On 11/12/2017 22:54, Alan C wrote:
A young Bull Elephant & a Warthog sharing a mini solar powered water
trough. Virtually all the old high yield wind-pump fed water troughs have
been closed down because they were skewing the natural game distribution.
In particular, Lions were being attracted into previously arid areas &
seriously impacting the survival of the rare Roan antelope (amongst
others).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wisselstroom/38334958622/
K5 with the HD 55-300 at about 100m (cropped).
Alan C
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