Science & technology | Aesop’s ecological fables

How ants persuaded lions to eat buffalo

A tale of elephants, thorn trees, and the sensitivity of ecosystems

Elephants navigate a landscape invaded by big-headed ants at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya.
For want of ants, the trees were lostPhotograph: Brandon Hays

“The ant and the zebra” sounds like the title of one of Aesop’s fables. Like all good fables, this one has a moral, which is that tinkering with nature has unpredictable consequences. Unlike the Greek originals, though, which were allegories, this fable is real.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “How ants persuaded lions to eat buffalo”

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