So on the one hand, it’s an amazing story of adaptability in the face of climate change:

“In 2015, the lions found the sea again and started hunting coastal prey on the beach, after a drought decimated their usual inland prey of ostriches, oryxes and springboks. “The seals were a blessing,” says Van Malderen. “Climate change has pushed these desert lions to the edge, forcing them to adapt in extraordinary ways, to survive along the beaches of the Atlantic coast.””

OTOH - It’s devastating for the seal population who likely had become accustomed to land being a safe haven from ocean predators.

“Van Malderen has watched Gamma grow up, first encountering the lioness when she was three months old. She is now three-and-a-half years, “almost an adult,” she says, adding that the lioness has become a fearsome hunter capable of killing 40 seals in a single night.”

  • meliodas_101@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I feel like they are hunting seals because they can’t hunt other animals because the population of other animals is too low.