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”

From the January 27th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Dr Dorothy Bishop.

Elon Musk is causing problems for the Royal Society

His continued membership has led to a high-profile resignation

Legal Amazon preservation area borders the field for soybean planting.

Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions

Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier


Robot mixing at Toyota Research Institute.

Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques

They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes


Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad for you

A mystery is finally being solved

Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever

Concerns about some of their business models are building

The two types of human laugh

One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else