NEWSLINK: Indian lions losing their bite

Leya Musa / 16 hours ago


Asiatic lions in the wild generally have good tooth health so when a group of doctors undertook a survey including medicals of lions in the Gir region of India they were surprised to see tooth decay. They also found minor bone deformities and officials are now looking into whether the water provided is contaminated with fluoride.

Two doctors, Dr Jalpan Rupara and Dr Purvesh Kacha., produced a report, Ecology of Lions in Greater Gir Landscape, that highlighted that both lions and humans appeared to be suffering from fluorosis. The study area was Lathi Liliya which has a lion population of about 40 lions.

Eight lions were examined and three were found to be suffering from tooth decay and some lions were also suffering from mild bone deformities. One lion that was examined only had 2 of its 26 teeth still remaining. A second lion had lost 4 teeth and a third lion had lost 3 teeth.

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