The Rapid Decline if the African Lion

             

In all of the animal kingdom the species this post centers around is the closest to my heart. I love all animals, big or small, adorable or ugly. The African lion above all however, ignites my spirit to fight for animals in a way I can’t describe. For as long as I can remember the lion has been my favorite animal. In fact the lion means so much to me that last Christmas a very dear friend of mine symbolically adopted a lion in my name and I can honestly state it is the best gift I have ever received in my entire life. Other than their obvious physical majesty and beauty, I find their social structure and behaviors to be truly fascinating and unique. I’m not alone in this fascination: throughout the ages many people have drawn inspiration from this magnificent creature, from Alexander the great to the countless European families, including my own, who have put the image of a lion on their family crest. The plight and outlook of the African Lion however, is looking increasingly bleak and I am terrified of the concept of a world without lions because we are well on our way to seeing lions becoming extinct in the wild within the next two decades. 

             In 1990, the year I was born, the population of wild African lions numbered around one hundred thousand; today, in the year 2012, the population of wild lions numbers somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand. The causes of this rapid decline are numerous include the following: loss of habitat, trophy hunting, poisoning by local populations, and recently poaching for use in traditional Chinese medicine (as a replacement for tigers because they are becoming exceedingly rare as well and harder to come by on the black market). Many people around the world have the misconception the African lion, being such a marquee animal, is impervious to extinction and safe. This notion, however, is mere wishful thinking and is a wholly uninformed opinion. Just because people around the world admire the lion does not mean that they are automatically protected; in fact it is this misconception that is preventing them from attaining the level of protection necessary to thrive and grow in number.

            The greatest threat the African lion currently faces is their continual and increasing loss of habitat. The greatest factor contributing to this loss is the expansion of human civilization. Cities and populations are getting bigger, demanding more and more farmland for cultivation and pasture for the raising of cattle. As people commandeer more land for human purposes lion populations are being forced into smaller and smaller areas. Not only is this pressure causing the loss of numbers, it is creating another danger for those few that survive. This danger is inbreeding. As their habitat dwindles, lion populations are becoming more and more isolated and inbreeding is increasing at an ever-higher rate due to the lack of genetic diversity in these fragmented populations. Although initially a population with a high incidence of inbreeding may seem healthy to the laymen due to its numbers, over time the lack of genetic diversity will increase the incidence of disease and physical deformity, wrecking havoc on that population’s possibility for a healthy future. If habitat loss is not halted soon there is very little hope for the existence of wild lions past the next two decades.

            The next greatest threat African lions are facing is a new one, and it is the threat of poaching to supply bones to the Chinese traditional medicine trade in replacement of tiger bones, which are even harder to come by due to the extremely critical situation they are in (a topic that will definitely be explored in a future post). Since tiger numbers are even lower than that of lions, they are hard to find on the black market. Those who follow the practices of Chinese traditional medicine (a practice that has been around for centuries, but has exploded and expanded in recent decades due to the recent interconnectivity of the planet) believe, erroneously, that the consumption of tiger parts has health or spiritual benefits. As tigers have become increasingly harder to obtain, Asian criminals have started to claim lions provide the same benefits as tigers (proving that this entire industry is based on lies and perpetuated for profit alone). Despite these lies, however, the incidence of lion poaching for the trade is increasing (just like the poaching of rhinoceros in recent years which has increased by over 3,000%). Money needs to be provided to police wild areas to stop and prosecute the poachers involved in the trade, and Asian nations, especially China, need to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade.

                

            Another large contribution to the decrease in lion numbers is trophy hunting. Rich bastards pay thousands of dollars to go out and kill lions for the sole purpose of hanging them on their walls. Somehow these hunters have convinced the international community (or the international community doesn’t care enough to actually check the facts) that by paying thousands of dollars to kill one lion they are ensuring the future of all lions. This idea however, completely neglects lion society and what it means to kill a pride male. Lion prides usually consist of one or two males and a larger amount of related females. The males are either loners or brothers who come from a different family and the females are all submissive to the males whom reproduce with all of them. When males take over a pride they kill the cubs the pride females currently have because a lack of cubs causes the females to ovulate, thus enhancing the new male’s chance at proliferating its genes. A male’s time in charge of a pride is usually very short, three to four years on average. By killing the cubs and causing the females to ovulate immediately, males ensure they can produce the most generations possible in their often-short reigns. When males are murdered ahead of their time, however, their lives are not the only ones lost. Their cubs, that under human-less conditions would’ve been able to grow up and thrive, are killed by the next group of males to take over. The repeated killing of pride males not only kills those males, but also, prevents entire generations of lions from coming of age. Thus it is not hard to see why the murder of lions for trophy hunting must be stopped.

           

            Lions are in serious danger. If nothing is done soon, lions are expected to disappear from the wild within the next 20 years. Lions desperately need our help. Imagine a world where you watch The Lion King with your grandchildren and have to explain to them why lions are no longer the kings of the jungle, and why the only way they can see one is in a zoo. I beg you to raise your voice with me. Lions are incredibly important to their ecosystems. They are apex predators that keep prey populations in check. Hundreds of communities rely on tourist dollars from people looking to come and see the king of beasts. Lions are in trouble; please raise your voice with me.