If a Tree Falls in the Woods or an Extinct Lion is Seen on Camera....

Endangered species don't often come back from being endangered, and the same thing is true of extinct species. Although it is unlikely, it is possible for an endangered species or extinct species to suddenly increase in number. Well, the more correct statement would be that sometimes extinct species re-evolve themselves back into the gene pool, however that does not happen often as a specific set of requirements must be met such that the environmental conditions are such that it would be more advantageous towards the extinct species.

That being said, in the same way that a tree that falls in the woods still makes a sound, just because we do not see an animal does not mean that it no longer exists. This is something we are learning now with a lion that was believed to be extinct. Miraculously, a lion has been spotted in Sena Oura National Park for the first time in almost 20 years. Located in Chad, the Sena Oura National Park is a protected area with national park status that is home to 16 species of endangered animals, including but not limited to the African elephant, the lion, and the cheetah.

The history of the park is quite interesting and it dates back to the decline of forestry in the 1980s. To counteract the effects of deforestation, overfishing, and over farming, in 1995 local authorities and natives signed the Dari agreement which protects the forest. Then in 2002, the Ministry of Environmental and Regional Administration of Chad agreed to select an area to transform it into a nature reserve. This area was then declared the Sena Oura National Park in 2007, though the official "birth" of the park as a national park is noted to be in 2010. Now, the Sena Oura National Park is full of lush forest with tall trees, thick bushes, thick tall grasses, and woody shrubs able to house a variety of animals other than the endangered species.

A team of conservationists from both the Chadian government and the Wildlife Conservation Society (based out of New York City, interestingly enough) released an image showing a lioness and as they described "in her prime and clearly in great health." Were the lions in the park really extinct? There's a good chance that the population dropped so low that the presence of lions in the area was not detectable. There is also a chance that the lions really did die out and another species of lion moved to and adjusted to the conditions of the area. The photo of the lion was taken in February of this year by a camera trap in the Sena Oura National Park where lions haven't been spotted since about 2004. It was a single lion, but given typical lion behavior there are likely to be more as lions usually travel in packs known as "prides". This is especially true for the female lions; they are more likely to travel in prides than males since the females do hunt as a group. Lions in general are considered vulnerable, but lions in West and Central Africa are considered critically endangered with their genetics being distinct from the more robust lion populations in East and Southern Africa.

Why are lion populations decreasing such that they're considered critically endangered and vulnerable? Poaching. Just because something is illegal does not mean that people won't do it and exotic big game poaching is a big example of that. It's no surprise that there are endangered and extinct species of lion, but it would also be no surprise to find that those lions have (or may have) crossbred with other lions in an effort to keep their pride going. Is that what happened in this particular case? That has not been confirmed, but it might be possible. There is an adjacent park to the Sena Oura National Park that has about 182,000 acres of land where big cat populations have been increasing.

Arbitrage is your source for business, finance, and tech info. Don't miss the podcast at https://www.arbitragetrade.com/podcasts