Rwanda: Why Moving South African Lions to Rwanda Is Not Without Problems

analysis

Recently seven lions made a 4,000 kilometer long journey from South Africa to Rwanda. They have been translocated to Akagera National Park, as the foundation of a new population. Lions have been extinct in Rwanda since 1994, a fate of many populations in recent decades.

Local extinctions affect ecosystems and can lead to instability, because certain roles in the ecosystem change as a member of the food chain is lost. In addition to the ecological aspect, there is an evolutionary one. Local extinctions may also lead to the disappearance of evolutionary lineages within species. These evolutionary lineages, visible as differences in the DNA, represent diversity below the species level.

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