What are the normal causes of death in lions?

Most lions die from diseases, starvation or old age, or as a result of violent attacks from their own species. Old lions are sometimes killed by groups of hyenas.

Lions host a number of endoparasites such as Babesi, a blood parasite that causes anaemia in cubs, tapeworms such as Taenia gonyamai, and trypanosomes. Mange, caused by a mite, Sarcoptes scabiei, also accounts for some deaths. Although parasites could kill them, healthy animals are usually capable of living with quite a heavy infestation. After all, parasites would become extinct if they killed all their hosts by overtaxing them.

Although bovine tuberculosis has been present in the Kruger Park since about the 1950s, it became a real problem during the 1990s, as lions killed and consumed tuberculosis infected prey, such as African buffalo. Tuberculosis may be responsible for severe loss of condition and may eventually lead to the death of the lion.

Outbreaks of the bacterial disease anthrax are also a mortality factor.