HONG KONG: Since the 1940s, when lions numbered an estimated 450,000, lion populations have blinked out across the world. A new study has found that the number of predators such as lions declines relative to their prey when there is more prey.
Lions are dying off rapidly across Africa. These cats once ranged across the continent and into Syria, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, and even northwest India; 2,000 years ago more than a million lions roamed the Earth. Now they may total as few as 20,000 animals.
The proportion of predators, lions, to prey across dozens of parks in East and Southern were looked at and the results were shocking.
McGill PhD student Ian Hatton, when he started looking at the proportion realized that it had nothing to do with isolated human hunters. The parks were teeming with potentially tasty treats for the lions. So one might imagine that the population of lions in each park would increase to match the available prey. It was the opposite. It was seen that in crowded settings, the prey reproduced less. Hatton and the McGill-led team discovered similar pattern in a whole range of different ecosystems.
This level of organizational structure and function in ecosystems that had not previously been recognized. Some scientists are already suggesting that it may well be the discovery of a new law of nature. It came about by chance.
Tesla driverless system to use updated radar technology
WASHINGTON: Electric carmaker Tesla announced Sunday it was upgrading its Autopilot software to use more advanced radar technology. In a...
