Research overview: buffalo-to-lion transmission pathways for bovine tuberculosis

In ecosystems like Kruger, African buffalo serve as the maintenance host for bovine tuberculosis, and lions acquire infection chiefly by feeding on diseased buffalo. This overview surveys the transmission ecology linking the two species, including how prey selection, the targeting of weakened animals and the consumption of infected tissues drive lion exposure. It considers whether lion-to-lion transmission occurs and how that would change disease persistence, the spatial spread of infection across the park, and the role of other susceptible carnivores. The synthesis connects predator-prey dynamics to pathogen flow, illustrating how a disease maintained in herbivores reaches apex felids. It aims to help readers see bovine TB in lions as an emergent property of food-web structure rather than direct contagion among cats.