Living with Lions

....Background....

 

Lions in national parks

'Everyone sees lions on safari in Africa... they can't be dying out!'

The huge and rapid decline in African lion numbers has largely been overlooked by both the public and conservationists, because lions are still often seen in national parks and game reserves, where most of the remaining lions live.

'So if lions are still quite common in national parks in Africa, why is there a conservation crisis?'

The problem is that most of these protected areas are not big enough to ensure the long-term survival of viable populations of lions. Lions need huge ranges and hunting territories and only a few national parks in Africa are big enough to supply them. This means that lions often wander out over park boundaries and into human-dominated areas where they come into conflict with man, and are often killed. Most national parks are too widely separated to prevent inbreeding, causing many ‘protected’ lion populations to suffer genetic problems such as increased vulnerability to disease.

 

Another problem is that in small isolated populations disease can spread much more easily and quickly, and political unrest or war could completely wipe out theoretically protected wildlife in these national parks. It is therefore crucial to conserve lions outside protected areas, where currently their numbers are decreasing rapidly.

Why lions are dying out

As the human population continues to expand and take over new areas, lions are losing their habitats to humans. Livestock production is the only viable way of making a living for many rural African people and often lands become severely overgrazed, degrading previously pristine habitats. Former wildernesses are turning into barren regions, with less wildlife, particularly grazers like zebra and wildebeest, which have to compete with livestock for food and water.

 

Because of the dramatic reduction of their ranges and a decreased availability of their wild prey, lions are increasingly moving into human habitats and coming into contact with people and their livestock, where they sometimes resort to preying on cattle, and can cause significant impact on farmers’ livelihoods. As a result many are killed. The increasing interaction between humans, domestic livestock and the remaining lions in Africa, and the easy availability of guns, traps and poisons may mean that the lions of Africa will soon die out unless urgent action is taken.

Solutions

There is no simple solution to the problem of lion conservation, but two projects are working to find the best possible approaches to conserve the remaining populations of lions in unprotected parts of Kenya, which they hope will be applicable to similar areas across Africa.

The Laikipia Predator Project and the Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project carry out scientific research on the behaviour and ecology of lions in human-dominated environments, to find out how lion populations might be conserved in these areas.

They are trying to create solutions to the conflicts between man and lions, so that their persecution can be reduced.

Follow the links to find out more about the projects, the researchers, and the lions they are trying to conserve, and how you can help make a difference to the fate of African lions.

 

 

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