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An isolated population of approximately 50 lions ( Panthera leo L.) in Waza National Park, Cameroon, caused considerable damage to livestock. Home range sizes of five collared lions were assessed, the mean was very large: 630 km2. The lions differed in their stock raiding behaviour, with two male habitual problem animals, one female nonproblem animal and two female seasonal problem animals that left the Park in the wet season. Together, they were inferred to kill over 100 heads of cattle annually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large carnivore populations have suffered declines worldwide. For the African continent, these have been particularly strong in West and Central Africa. The Bénoué Complex in North Cameroon, located in Central Africa, is a key landscape for their conservation. We determined spatiotemporal trends in lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus) and spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) abundance, using repeated spoor counts on transects from 2007 to 2015. Results of the temporal analysis indicate that lion and spotted hyaena abundance reduced over time across the complex, whereas leopards only declined in the last 2 years and primarily in the Faro Block. From the spatial analysis, it became clear spoor abundances differ between areas within the Bénoué Complex and between management types: Spoor densities were especially higher in Bouba Ndjida National Park and the hunting zones around Faro. This effect is most probably related to a more effective management strategy in these areas. Our fine-scale long-term monitoring technique provides a low-cost, easy to implement, multi-scale and effective tool for the identification of both regional and range-wide carnivore conservation hotspots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combination of medetomidine-tiletamine-zolazepam was used to conduct six immobilizations of free-ranging lions (Panthera leo) in Waza National Park, Cameroon, during 1999 and 2000. Drugs were administered by dart injection at 0.07+/-0.01 (mean+/-SD) mg/kg of medetomidine and 1.8+/-0.5 mg/kg of tiletamine-zolazepam. Chemical immobilization was characterized by smooth inductions (14.1+/-6 min), satisfactory analgesia, and muscle relaxation. One animal was treated for bradypnea. No major alterations of physiologic parameters (heart and respiratory rates, rectal temperature) were seen during immobilization in the other lions. Relative arterial oxygen saturation was measured in two animals and revealed mild hypoxemia. The animals received atipamezole at 0.3+/-0.1 mg/kg intramuscularly for reversal of anesthesia. Recoveries were uneventful. All animals were radiocollared, and no mortalities occurred during an 18-mo follow-up period. Use of medetomidine-tiletamine-zolazepam for anesthesia and reversal of anesthesia with atipamezole appear to be useful for reversible immobilization of free-ranging lions.