Central African lion

Central African lion
Congo lions in Virunga National Park
Cameroon lions in Mefou National Park
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. leo
Binomial name
Panthera leo
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies

The term Central African lion (Panthera leo) refers to lion populations in Central Africa.[1][2]

Populations in the northern parts of Central Africa are thought to belong to the subspecies Panthera leo leo. Those in the southern part are subsumed under Panthera leo melanochaita.[3][4]

Taxonomic history

Initially, a number of lion subspecies were described for Africa, particularly the central region. Lions in northern Cameroon and the regions south of Lake Chad were given the name P. l. kamptzi by Matschie (1900). Those in the northeastern part of Belgian Congo were given the name P. l. azandica by Allen (1924), which he admitted to be closely related to P. l. massaicus.[5] Those in Katanga Province were given the name P. l. bleyenberghi by Lönnberg (1914).[6] Eventually, P. l. kamptzi was subsumed to P. l. senegalensis.[2]

In 2017, taxonomists of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group subsumed lion populations to two subspecies, P. l. leo and P. l. melanochaita.[4] Results of phylogeographic studies indicate that lion populations in the northern part of Central Africa are genetically close to populations in North Africa and Asia, and populations in the southern range countries to those in Southern and East Africa.[7][8]

Distribution of populations

Range map of the commonly accepted subspecies of the lion (Panthera leo) in the second half of the 20th century.

In Central Africa, a population of 100-400 lions lives in Bénoué ecosystem in Cameroon. Smaller populations in exist in Waza National Park in Cameroon and Zakouma National Park in Chad. Within the Central African Republic, there are perhaps only about 150-500 lions left. Other estimates count 1,252 lions within the country, but numbers in Central Africa are generally thought to be unreliable.[9][10]

In Gabon, the presence of lions in Batéké Plateau National Park at present is doubtful.[11] A lion was shot in the plateau in 1999.[9]

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are about 175 lions in the area of the Garamba National Park, and 60 in Virunga National Park. The latter form a contiguous population of about 210 with lions in Uganda.[9][10][12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pocock, R. I. (1939). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. – Volume 1. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. Pp. 210–222.
  2. 1 2 Haas, S.K.; Hayssen, V.; Krausman, P.R. (2005). "Panthera leo" (PDF). Mammalian Species. 762: 1–11. doi:10.1644/1545-1410(2005)762[0001:PL]2.0.CO;2.
  3. ↑ Bertola, L.D., Jongbloed, H., Van Der Gaag, K.J., De Knijff, P., Yamaguchi, N., Hooghiemstra, H., Bauer, H., Henschel, P., White, P.A., Driscoll, C.A. and Tende, T. (2016). Phylogeographic patterns in Africa and High Resolution Delineation of genetic clades in the Lion (Panthera leo). Scientific reports 6: 30807.
  4. 1 2 Kitchener, A.C., Breitenmoser-Würsten, C., Eizirik, E., Gentry, A., Werdelin, L., Wilting, A. and Yamaguchi, N. "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News. Special Issue 11: 76.
  5. ↑ Allen, G. M. (1939). A Checklist of African Mammals. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 83: 1–763.
  6. ↑ Heptner, V. G.; Sludskij, A. A. (1992) [1972]. "Lion". Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola [Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part 2. Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats)]. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. pp. 95–202.
  7. ↑ Antunes, A.; Troyer, J. L.; Roelke, M. E.; Pecon-Slattery, J.; Packer, C.; Winterbach, C.; Winterbach, H.; Johnson, W. E. (2008). "The Evolutionary Dynamics of the Lion Panthera leo Revealed by Host and Viral Population Genomics". PLoS Genetics. 4 (11): e1000251. PMC 2572142 Freely accessible. PMID 18989457. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000251.
  8. ↑ Bertola, L. D.; Van Hooft, W. F.; Vrieling, K.; Uit De Weerd, D. R.; York, D. S.; Bauer, H.; Prins, H. H. T.; Funston, P. J.; Udo De Haes, H. A.; Leirs, H.; Van Haeringen, W. A.; Sogbohossou, E.; Tumenta, P. N.; De Iongh, H. H. (2011). "Genetic diversity, evolutionary history and implications for conservation of the lion (Panthera leo) in West and Central Africa". Journal of Biogeography. 38 (7): 1356–1367. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02500.x.
  9. 1 2 3 Bauer, H.; Van Der Merwe, S. (2004). "Inventory of free-ranging lions Panthera leo in Africa". Oryx. 38 (1): 26–31. doi:10.1017/S0030605304000055.
  10. 1 2 Riggio, J., Jacobson, A., Dollar, L., Bauer, H., Becker, M., Dickman, A., Funston, P., Groom, R., Henschel, P., de Iongh, H., Lichtenfeld, L., Pimm, S. (2012). The size of savannah Africa: a lion's (Panthera leo) view. Biodiversity Conservation 22(1): 17–35.
  11. ↑ Henschel, P.H., Azani, D.E., Burton, C.O., Malanda, G., Saidu, Y.O., Sam, M.O., Hunter, L.U. (2010). Lion status updates from five range countries in West and Central Africa. Cat News52: 34–39.
  12. ↑ Sunquist, M. E. & F. C. Sunquist (2009). "Family Felidae (Cats)". In D. E. Wilson & R. A. Mittermeier. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 1: Carnivores. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 137 ff. ISBN 978-84-96553-49-1.
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