Sabi Sands lions

The Sabi sand game reserve
Privately owned
Has today got a problem
With Lions that have roamed
Across the reserve
In the heat of the day
Under drought conditions
And have started to pay

A price for such stress
Has apparently seen
Notoedric mange
On their bodies now lean
A parasite lives In the skin
Or the hair
It’s a bit like a mite
And it burrows in there
Creating tunnels beneath the skin
Where the mites begin feeding
And reproducing, a sin
Of a creature for it can
Burrow so deep
living on skin cells
And lymph, all would weep
At the pain and discomfort
And the loss of hair
And blood and bacteria
Builds up in there

Malnutrition can cause this
Weakening phase
Poor diet bad teeth
All of this plays
Into the immune systems weakening so
And emaciation and dehydration
Follow

There could be two reasons
One is the rat
If use is being made
Of anti coagulants at
A place it can cause
This mange to occur
And if lions feed on carrion
Worms they can share
The tape worm the round worm
All weaken the soul
And make it more difficult
To remain in control

PFIZER Make a product
Called REVOLUTIONTM
Clearly not organic
But it could stem
The problem me thinks
It has done so abroad
On bob cats in California
And it did accord
Them with some sanity
And saved a few
Though rat infestations
Are worth looking at too

Warfarin could cause this
Happening there
The lions wouldn’t show it
But there is despair
Within them apparently
And it could be
An answer to why
Mange took hold actually

The rains have set in
And hopefully they
Will make a difference
But not right away
They have lost much hair
Which could point for me
That bacteria has breached
Their immunity
If this is the case
They will need veterinary care
I think spend some money
At least be aware

And check out the bob cat problems
In California

Encourage more Honey Badgers
Who are wonderful rat consumers
And ensure who ever uses anti coagulant rate treatments
That they are kept well away from the Lions
And only used by very responsible people