Ecology 6th Edition by Charles Krebs

Exercise 9

Anthrax, a bacterial disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, is lethal to most mammalian herbivores. Within a few months during 1983-1984 an anthrax epizootic wiped out 90% of the impala population in Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania. How is it possible for an epizootic of this type to suddenly appear in a population and then disappear for decades? Discuss the biological mechanisms that might permit this type of phenomenon. Prins and Weyerhaeuser (1987) discuss this particular impala epizootic.