Bush pigs spark attacks by lions

We all tend to fret about shark attacks when paddling at the seaside but pity the poor Tanzanian farmer. While sharks killed three people worldwide in 2002, lions killed 563 men, women and children in Tanzania alone in the 15 years from 1990-2004.

Tanzania has the largest population of these big cats in Africa, and their increased willingness to attack humans has put pressure on conservation efforts there. A research team from the University of Minnesota studied the attacks and in the journal Nature today, suggests a simple way to reduce them

The country's rising population has reduced the territory available to lions and their traditional prey including hartebeest and impala.

Dr Craig Packer and colleagues found that about 39 per cent of attacks happened during the March-May harvest season and that more than 27 per cent of lion-attacks were in the fields. At harvest time farmers sleep in makeshift huts to protect their crops, not against lions but against nightly invasions by bush pigs. They are voracious crop pests but have also become useful alternate prey for hungry lions.

Attracted by the pigs, the lions also increasingly encounter the farmers. A full 76 per cent of the attacks were in areas where natural prey was scarce but where the bush pigs were plentiful.

Researchers ruled out moving people but suggest controlling pig numbers near villages and fields. This would also reduce the need for farmers to sleep in their fields and so inadvertently becoming an alternative food source themselves.