Poaching , direct killing, ceremonial killings, and retaliatory killings are the biggest threat to lions (AWF Lion, 2020; Ewaso Lions Human-Carnivore Conflict, 2020; IUCN Lion, 2020; Lion Recovery Fund Threat to Lions, 2020; Panthera Lion, 2020). About 100 years ago there were 200,000 lions, today there are less than 30,000 (BCA Threats to Lions, 2020). Lions are now mostly found in easters and southern Africa (BCA Threats to Lions, 2020).
Lions are being poached for their skins, claws, teeth, bones, and other body parts (Lion Recovery Fund Threat to Lions, 2020). Lion bones are now being used in the illegal wildlife trade in place of tiger bones (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016). Lion body parts have begun being used for traditional Chinese medicine as substitutes for tiger products (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016).
The bushmeat trade is the illegal poaching of wildlife using snares to create a violent death for animals (Lion Recovery Fund Threat to Lions, 2020). Lions are affected by the bushmeat trade by having their prey population decline by getting stuck in the snares (Lion Recovery Fund Threat to Lions, 2020). Lions also get stuck in the snares, even though the snares are placed illegally to catch other species (Lion Recovery Fund Threat to Lions, 2020).Ceremonial killings still occur in certain parts of Africa as a rite of passage to demonstrate manhood or bravery (Lion Recovery Fund Threat to Lions, 2020).
Canned hunting is similar to trophy hunting except with canned hunting the lion, or target animal, has no way to escape the hunter (BCA Canned Hunts, 2020). Lions are bred and when the cubs are adults they are a part of the canned hunts (BCA Canned Hunts, 2020). The farm owner makes sure they have wild lions mixed in their farmed lion population to prevent inbreeding (BCA Canned Hunts, 2020). The cubs are used for cub petting and once they grow up they enter the canned hunt life (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016). Canned hunting is big in South Africa where it is believed that 8,000 lions are in captivity for canned hunting (BCA Canned Hunts, 2020). In South Africa an estimated 1,000 lions are killed each year in canned hunts (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016). The video below, although a cartoon, shows the painful life of a cub used for cub petting and then as an adult a part of a canned hunt.
Trophy hunting is another threat to lions and poorly regulated trophy hunting reduces the lion population even faster (Lion Recovery Fund Threat to Lions, 2020). Every year approximately 600 lions are killed in trophy hunts (BCA Threats to Lions, 2020). It is estimated that 100 lions are killed every year in Kenya alone, leading experts to believe that there will be no lions left in Kenya by 2030 (BCA Threats to Lions, 2020). Most hunters want the male lion and once the lion is removed, the pride faces instability (BCA Threats to Lions, 2020). When a male is no longer present there is a disruption in the population, lower reproductive and survival rates and displacing pride members into highway risk areas (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016).
About two thirds of all lions killed as trophies in South Africa are exported to the United States (BCA Canned Hunts, 2020). Cecil, the black-maned lion, is the most well known lion that has been illegally hunted (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016). Cecil was a radio-collared lion that was illegally hunted by an American in Zimbabwe in July 2015 (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016).
Trophy hunting is a small factor in the lion population decline (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016). However, when all methods to kill a lion are combined, killing a lion is the biggest threat. The number of lions killed illegally across Africa is five times the number killed by trophy hunters, and in some areas it may be ten times (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016). Most lion killings are illegal and therefore not reported (Panthera, WildAid & WildCru., 2016).
The Lion Recovery Fund was created by the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) with the goal of doubling the number of lions in Africa (Lion Recovery Fund About, 2020). WCN and LDF want to expand the conservation footprint of increasing the extent and effectiveness of the management of lions, they want to build the will of wanting all people to bring lions back, and they want to scale the funding of having funding available so they can focus on the conservation of lions and their landscapes (Lion Recovery Fund About, 2020).
You can help lions by not buying lion products, not buying meat from the bushtrade and not participating in trophy or canned hunts or organizations that support either type of hunt.
*Lion in the main picture is Cecil the lion, by Craig Taylor.
Literature Cited
African Wildlife Foundation. (2020). Wildlife conservation: Lion.
Big Cat Allies. (2020). Canned hunts.
Born Free Foundation. (2019, September 24). The bitter bond: Award-winning short film by Born
Free Foundation [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV8aV3ZY7SM
Ewaso Lions. (2020). Human-carnivore conflict. https://ewasolions.org/human-carnivore-conflict/
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. (2020). Lion: Panthera leo.
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. (2018, January 9). Lion Recovery Fund: Our strategy to save
lions- narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgD7B9gFvTM
Lion Recovery Fund. (2020). About. https://www.lionrecoveryfund.org/about/
Lion Recovery Fund. (2020). Threats to lions. https://www.lionrecoveryfund.org/threats-to-lions/
Panthera. (2020). Lion. https://www.panthera.org/cat/lion
Panthera., WildAid., & WildCru. (2016). Beyond Cecil: Africa’s lions in crisis.
Taylor, C. (N.D.). Cecil, Zimbabwe [Photograph].
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