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Pulling together to save the “King Of Beasts” 10 January 2006
Conservation of the African lion is on the table at a meeting in Johannesburg this week which brings together stakeholders ranging from national range state governments to local community representatives, from lion biologists to safari hunters. The workshop, convened by the World Conservation Union and the Wildlife Conservation Society, aims to develop strategies to ensure a future for this iconic species. The lion (Panthera leo) is a powerful symbol of Africa, but over the past 20 years, numbers are suspected to have dropped dramatically to a population estimated between 23,000-39,000 today. Across Africa, the lion has disappeared from over 80% of its former range. The lion was classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2004 due to a continuing decline in population. In West Africa, lions number fewer than 1,500 and meet the criteria for Regionally Endangered. Major threats to the species include habitat loss, a decline in the lion’s prey base, and human-lion conflict. Living with lions, with their tendency to prey on livestock, and sometimes attack people, poses hardships for many African communities. But the lion also brings economic benefits as a tourist attraction - as a focus for ecotourists, and as a target of sport hunters. At the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) conference in November 2004, Kenya proposed restricting commercial trade of the African lion, primarily lion trophies from safari hunting, by moving it from Appendix II to Appendix I. This met with vigorous opposition from other African range states, and Kenya withdrew its proposal. The World Conservation Union in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society, was then asked to convene a series of workshops to bring together African range state governments, lion biologists and other stakeholders to develop regional conservation strategies for the lion and achieve consensus and cooperation among the conservation community on the way forward. The workshop on the West and Central African lion took place in Cameroon in October last year. Participants developed a regional lion conservation strategy and recommended that range states develop national action plans for lion conservation and create the post of "lion focal point". Results from the Cameroon workshop and this week’s Southern and Eastern Africa workshop will feed into a continental lion conservation strategy, or action plan. This will help guide both national governments and the international conservation community by ensuring that investment in lion conservation is targeted most effectively. Emerging from the workshop series will be a better understanding of the current status and range of the African lion, including "Lion Conservation Units", or areas identified as being of top priority for lion conservation, and consensus on and political commitment to the management actions necessary to conserve lion populations over the next 10 years. For more information
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