Lion In Africa: Status, Threats, Trends
There remains only a fraction of the population 50 years ago, and still fast declining
Document created 01 February 2009, last updated 02 March 2011
Decline has been accelarating in the last 20-30 years. From an estimated 200,000 individuals across Africa in the 1960's, the number has now fallen to probably below 30,000 (see The Independent 2006 and IUCN-Red List, link below).
Lions are still present in most countries of sub-saharan Africa, although in west and central Africa the populations are small and isolated, well below the endangered threshhold (see IUCN-Red List).
While East Africa remains lion's stronghold, its situation there has degraded in the last decade, to the point where survival in Kenya is now in doubt (see The Independent 2009, Reuters 2009, links below).
The main causes for this decline are habitat loss and conflict with local people, especially around livestock protection. While conflicts are not new, occurrences have been multiplying with the fast growing human population, who often encroach into previously wild lands . A factor in the growing rate of killings in Kenya and throughout Africa has been the widespread practice of poisoning lions and other carnivores using common pesticides (see see IFAW 2010, Mongabay 2009, links below).
Links to external websites:
[wb1] Mongabay.com - 30 Jan 09 - The war-torn frontier between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has prey to support more than 900 lions, but conservationists must act soon to protect the big cats from poaching and poisoning by livestock herders, report research
[wb2] The Independent - 3 Apr 09 - Kenyan lions being poisoned by pesticides' - Conservationists in Kenya are calling for a deadly pesticide to be banned after it was linked to the poisoning of a "staggering" number of lions and other wildlife.
[wb3] Reuters - 17 Aug 09 - Kenya may lose all its lions in 20 years - Kenya's lion population could disappear altogether in the next 20 years because of climate change, habitat destruction, disease and conflict with humans, the country's wildlife authority said on Monda
[wb4] IFAW - 2010 Report: "The falling call of the wild", details the increasing threats and plunging populations of big cats and rare canids living in the wild
[wb5] The Independent (London) - 12 Jan 06 - Threat To Lions: 'King of the Beasts may not rule beyond this century' -
[wb6] The Guardian - 1 Mar 11 - African lions under threat from a growing predator: the American hunter - United States now biggest market for lion hunting trophies, wildlife coalition warns
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