Tag Archives: Tunisia

Dwindling ecology of the Sahara: large animals in decline

A view of the Sahara desert in Algeria – the last Algerian lions survived on the fringes of the Sahara into the 1940s with others surviving in northern coastal forests into the 1950s. (Photo by Florence Devouard)

The Bubal hartebeest is extinct, the dama gazelle and addax survive in only 1% of their former range, and various other hoofed animals from the region are extremely threatened: the Nubian Ibex clings on in parts of Algeria whilst the Barbary sheep fares a little better.

Of the major predators, the Barbary Lion has certainly been extinct in the wild for 50-60 years (assuming some of its ancestors still survive in a handful of zoos). The African wild dog no longer inhabits the Sahara desert (and was only present in southern fringes. The Saharan cheetah only inhabits 10 per cent of its former range, surviving largely unnoticed in southern Algeria. Similarly a small leopard population is known to survive in the southern Algerian Sahara, but is lost from 97 percent its historic range.

However there are opportunities for recovery: the scimitar horned oryx is extinct in the wild, but controlled releases in fenced reserves in Tunisia and Chad are looking to re-establish the wild population. Similarly the Addax has been reintroduced in fenced reserves in Morocco and Tunisia. The leopard was thought extinct in the late 1990s, but a small population appears to survive in the Atlas Mountains. Do these examples of experimental reintroductions and relic populations offer hope for wider recovery of North African and Saharan ecosystems?

Reading:

Anon (2013) Sahara Desert’s large mammals Slipping Into Extinction. Environmental News Service. December 5, 2013 http://ens-newswire.com/2013/12/05/sahara-deserts-large-mammals-slipping-into-extinction/

Busby et al (2009) Genetic analysis of scat reveals leopard (Panthera pardus) and cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) in Algeria. Oryx, 43(3), 412–415

Wildlife Conservation Society. “Critically Endangered Cheetahs In Algeria Snapped With Camera Trap.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 February 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090227082603.htm>.

Lion food – try it Tunisian style

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Mosaic of lions eating wild boar, 2nd century AD, Museum of El-Jem, El-Jem Thydrus, Tunisia

This 2nd century Roman mosaic from Tunisia is a fine example of its genre and interesting for its depiction of lions, a not unfamiliar scene in artwork of the era.

The picture manages to look both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Two lions devouring prey, yet it is two male lions. The prey is relatively large compared to the lions but it is only a pig. The scene is a dry and sparse climate and there are depictions of human presence a temple or palace perhaps… all somewhat fanciful, surely?

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) in India. Photo S Black

There are many pre-Roman artistic depictions of lions devouring prey in Mediterranean art (bulls, deer etc.). Perhaps fewer of lions eating wild boar. We do know that wild boar are the prey of lions in India today and boar would have been prey elsewhere in the former middle eastern range of the species. They would also have been a key prey for lions in North Africa as depicted in the mosaic. If lions were still present in the wilds of Algeria or Morocco today, then wild boar would probably be the best food source (other than domestic flocks).

We know that Barbary lions tended to operate in small family groups rather than the prides familiar in savannah landscapes, so it is interesting to see two males in this depiction – does this offer a clue to how Barbary lions behaved, perhaps?

In reality almost all lion depictions of the classical era show male lions and almost never lionesses, so little can be gained from this depiction. The Tunisian mosaic is most probably a purely artistic interpretation of events. It is satisifying, however, to see the lions depicted with a known wild prey species form the region. In classical European artwork lion prey is more often depicted as domestic cattle, donkeys, horses or wild deer. Interestingly 18th and 19th century art often depicts lions attacking horses and domestic camels.

Old-fashioned human-wildife conflict

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There are very few taxidermy specimens of Barbary Lions. Over the past 15 years my colleague, Dr Nobuyuki Yamaguchi has spent months attempting to locate these treasures, following the footsteps of Vratislav Mazak, the famous biologist who had previously tracked down many specimens in the 1960s. Sadly some of these items have gone missing over the past 40 years.

“The thief of Beja” by V. Simeonovski (click image to see full size version)

Only one specimen, in Leiden’s Naturalis Museum in the Netherlands, includes clear information on its provenance. Leading widlife artist Velizar Simeonovski has recreated the scene, showing the male lion being shot at close range (thumbnail link, right) by a local Tunisian defending his livestock. Velizar also offers an interesting commentary on the story.

Th male lion at Beja was shot in 1823, over a hundred years before the last lions dissappeared from the region. Whilst many of the subsequent encounters between people and lions in North Africa include livestock predation by lions it is also true that lions became more adept at withdrawing into remote areas away from human contact. In the 20th century only one third of the 30 encounters with lions resulted in the animal being shot and only two incidents involved livestock attacks.

Reading:

Black SA, Fellous A, Yamaguchi N, Roberts DL (2013) Examining the Extinction of the Barbary Lion and Its Implications for Felid Conservation. PLoS ONE 8(4): e60174. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060174

Mazak V (1970) The Barbary lion, Panthera leoleo(Linnaeus, 1758);some systematic notes, and an interim list of the specimens preserved in European museums. Z Saugetierkd 35:34-45
https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftfrsu351970deut#page/34/mode/1up

Simeonovski, V. (2014) “The thief of Beja” 13 February 1823, the vicinity of Beja , Tunisia. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200278268637339&set=a.1930331635954.58603.1772149103&type=3&theater

Yamaguchi N, Haddane B. 2002. The North African Barbary lion and the Atlas Lion Project. International Zoo News 49 (321): 465-481.