A Tribute to Hahani, a Lioness Mother

On 8 June 2020, Hahani, a lioness mother of the Rietspruit Game Reserve in Limpopo Province, South Africa, and costar to her sister in The Tail of Two Mother's, was euthanased by Dr Pete Rogers of Provet Wildlife Services after a drastic decline in her condition. We are waiting on test results but early indications are that her condition resulted from TB. This is our small tribute to Hahani.

TB is contagious and is increasingly present in the Greater Kruger National Park and adjacent areas. It originated from cattle introduced from Europe hundreds of years ago and made its way into the Greater Kruger ecosystem in the early 1990s. There are many other TB strains detected in wild mammals including occasionally human and sometimes avian TB.

The likely vector and host species here are probably warthog that would have crossed from the R40 road into the Rietspruit Game Reserve. Lions are suspected of being able to cross infect each other but most likely infections originate from their kills, at least originally.

What was expected to be a population threat to lions in the Greater Kruger National Park has not actually affected the total number of lions living in the park and has only impacted the average age of death.

For those who would like to know more, you can read a lecture by Prof Michele A. Miller delivered to the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University:
http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Inaugura...
 

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