Long-term ecological study of the Serengeti Lion

Twenty-one (21) prides were sighted that includes; the Barafu, Cub Valley (Sametu), Gol Kopjes (Simba East), Jua Kali, Kibumbu, Lake Magadi, Loiyangalani, Loliondo, Maasai Kopjes, Mukoma Gypsies, Mukoma Hill, Mukoma Mischief, Naabi, Plains, Tower Hill, Transect, Simba Survivors, Vumbi, Vumbi Kidogo, Young Transect and Zebra Kopjes. A total of 205 individual lions were identified in the core study area. A total of 13 lion coalitions were sighted within the study period. Five (5) coalitions were nomads and eight (8) coalitions were resident males. The largest coalition of males comprised of Fior, Hercules, Loki and Mionior. On 11th March 2023, a famous male lion known as Bob Junior was killed by a coalition of five males at Kibumbu Kopjes. Bob Jr had fathered a total of 19 recorded cubs in his prime (from 2018 to 2023) of which 4 were males, and 15 females. One male lion was translocated from Bukore village in the Western Serengeti to Central Seronera in order to mitigate human-lion conflicts. The research team attended one injured lion; the sample taken from the wound revealed a “Squamous cell carcinoma” virus. The Serengeti lion project will continue with long-term data collection on lion population demography, movement behaviour and mitigating human-lion conflicts in the Serengeti ecosystem.