Stomoxys

Misfortunes never come single handed. While echoes of the mysterious killer disease that has been terrorizing Ngorongoro Crater for ten months are still ringing, a fresh epidemic has just erupted and is reported to be causing more grievous harm to the wildlife.

Huge swarms of deadly biting flies known as "Stomoxys" are currently infesting the Crater, inflicting bad wounds and painful sores to the animals.

Explaining the sudden epidemic, the Principal Conservator with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Emmanuel Cheusi said the flies were the result of the aftermath of the drought spell of 2000 and heavy rains of late last year and early this year.

So far the fierce Stomoxys flies are reported to have caused the deaths of six lions in the Crater, while the remaining 62 are in very bad conditions suffering from serious wounds.

Cheusi pointed out that, a similar epidemic occurred in 1962 when the extensive drought of 1961, followed by heavy rains of 1962 brought the first outbreak of Stomoxys flies whose attacks on the animals resulted into the death of over 67 lions.

From then, Ngorongoro had to do with only 8 lions a number which slowly increased to 68 by the year 1999.

Another outbreak of Stomoxys came with the aftermath of El-Nino/La-nina weather spells, when heavy rains and dry spells in the Simanjiro district brought forth the deadly insects which claimed the lives of both livestock and wildlife in the area.

While NCAA in conjunction with various experts are currently making efforts to save the ailing lions, fresh reports from the area has told this paper that, lions - the most affected species of wildlife - have mysteriously disappeared from the Crater, probably hiding from the deadly insect bites.

Ngorongoro Crater has also been experiencing mass deaths of animals whereby for the past ten months begin May 2000. A total of 604 animals have died under mysterious causes.

The dead animals includes 323 buffaloes, 193 wildebeests, 69 zebras, three hippopotamus, five rhinoceros and six lions.

The animals were first suspected to have died from either Theileria or Babesiosis disease but blood samples taken for laboratory tests have proved otherwise.

More blood samples have been sent for further tests in Holland and South Africa, but until going to press, results were yet to be announced.

There were two reasons to suspect the crater lions were inbred:

No new lions had entered the crater during the previous four years

A report suggesting the population of crater lions had been devastated by a plague of biting flies in 1962

According to Henry Fosbrooke, conservator of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area during 1961 and 1962, exceptionally heavy rains permitted the biting fly Stomoxys calcitrans to breed constantly for more than six months. By May 1962 the crater had switched from heaven to hell for the lions. Most lions became emaciated and covered with festering sores, and while many sought shelter by climbing trees or hiding in hyena burrows, they eventually became so ill they were no longer able to hunt. By the time the rains finally abated, Fosbrooke estimated the population of at least 70 lions had been reduced to about ten.

Misfortunes never come single handed. While echoes of the mysterious killer disease that has been terrorizing Ngorongoro Crater for ten months are still ringing, a fresh epidemic has just erupted and is reported to be causing more grievous harm to the wildlife.

Huge swarms of deadly biting flies known as "Stomoxys" are currently infesting the Crater, inflicting bad wounds and painful sores to the animals.

Explaining the sudden epidemic, the Principal Conservator with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Emmanuel Cheusi said the flies were the result of the aftermath of the drought spell of 2000 and heavy rains of late last year and early this year.

So far the fierce Stomoxys flies are reported to have caused the deaths of six lions in the Crater, while the remaining 62 are in very bad conditions suffering from serious wounds.

Cheusi pointed out that, a similar epidemic occurred in 1962 when the extensive drought of 1961, followed by heavy rains of 1962 brought the first outbreak of Stomoxys flies whose attacks on the animals resulted into the death of over 67 lions.

From then, Ngorongoro had to do with only 8 lions a number which slowly increased to 68 by the year 1999.

Another outbreak of Stomoxys came with the aftermath of El-Nino/La-nina weather spells, when heavy rains and dry spells in the Simanjiro district brought forth the deadly insects which claimed the lives of both livestock and wildlife in the area.

While NCAA in conjunction with various experts are currently making efforts to save the ailing lions, fresh reports from the area has told this paper that, lions - the most affected species of wildlife - have mysteriously disappeared from the Crater, probably hiding from the deadly insect bites.

Ngorongoro Crater has also been experiencing mass deaths of animals whereby for the past ten months begin May 2000. A total of 604 animals have died under mysterious causes.

The dead animals includes 323 buffaloes, 193 wildebeests, 69 zebras, three hippopotamus, five rhinoceros and six lions.

The animals were first suspected to have died from either Theileria or Babesiosis disease but blood samples taken for laboratory tests have proved otherwise.

More blood samples have been sent for further tests in Holland and South Africa, but until going to press, results were yet to be announced.

A fresh epidemic has erupted in Ngorongoro Crater as huge swarms of deadly biting flies, called "Stomoxys," have infesting the crater, inflicting bad wounds and painful sores on animals.

According to Arusha Times, the deadly insects have come in the wake of reports of a mysterious disease that has been killing animals in the crater for some ten months now.

The Principal Conservator with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Emmanuel Cheusi, is quoted by the newspaper as saying the flies are a result last year's drought which was followed by heavy rains.

The flies have caused the deaths of six lions, leaving 62 with serious wounds.

A similar epidemic occurred in 1962 when the extensive drought the previous year was followed by heavy rains.

The weather condition brought an outbreak of Stomoxys flies whose attacks resulted in the death of over 67 lions, the newspaper quoted Cheusi as saying.

From then on Ngorongoro had only eight lions. They�re slowly increased to 68 by 1999.

Another outbreak of Stomoxys came in the aftermath of El-Nino-La-Nina weather spells, when heavy rains and dry spells in the Simanjiro District brought forth the deadly insects which claimed the lives of both livestock and wildlife in the area.

According to the paper, lions, the most affected species of wildlife, have mysteriously disappeared from the crater, probably hiding from the deadly insect bites.

Ngorongoro Crater has also been experiencing mass deaths of animals. Beginning last May, 604 animals have died mysteriously.

They include 323 buffaloes, 193 wildebeest, 69 zebras, three hippopotami, five rhinoceros and six lions.

The animals were first suspected to have died from either Theileria or Babesiosis diseases but blood samples taken for laboratory tests have proved otherwise.

More blood samples have been sent for further tests in The Netherlands and South Africa.