/ 13 March 2001

LIONS FALL PREY TO FLIES

SWARMS of vicious bloodsucking flies have killed at least six lions in Tanzania’s world famous wildlife park, the Ngorongoro Crater, said conservation officials. The lions died after they were repeatedly bitten by flies known as ”stomoxys”, said Nim Shallua, acting conservationist at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority in northern Tanzania. ”The flies bite the lions and then keep biting their wounds, inflicting a lot of pain and traumatising them. The lions are dying of trauma,” said Shallua. The flies usually appear after extreme changes in weather. – Reuters