Africa's lions are fast “'disappearing” from vast swathes of the continent, including from the savannah grasslands, where they are the indisputable flagship species, finds a new scientific paper. Threatened by habitat loss, a depleting prey base, poorly regulated sport hunting and a demand for traditional African and Chinese medicines, several lion populations have either entirely disappeared or are expected to go within the next few decades, says the paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Population models suggest that lions have a 67 per cent chance of being halved in two decades in West and Central and a 37 per cent chance of halving in East Africa in the same time frame. Their populations are declining everywhere, except in four southern countries — Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe — which “may soon supersede the iconic savannah landscapes in East Africa as the most successful sites for lion conservation.”
The reintroduction of lions in fenced and intensively managed reserves has been the key to their growth in southern Africa, says the paper.
While the animal is currently graded as “vulnerable” on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List, it will be considered “endangered” if numbers declined by 50 per cent over three lion generations, it adds. Their disappearance signals “a major trophic downgrading of African ecosystems with the lion no longer playing a pivotal role as apex predator,” says the paper. “Lions may no longer be a flagship species of the once vast natural ecosystems across the rest of the continent.”
Their survival is also inextricably linked to prey-base, and herbivore numbers declined by 52 per cent in East Africa and 85 per cent in West Central Africa between 1970 and 2005. “Unless political and funding commitments are scaled up to address mounting levels of threat, lions may disappear from most of Africa,” the authors warn.
For the study researchers looked at data of 47 lion populations. They estimated the population using individual identifications, radio telemetry, photo databases, transects, spoor counts, and density estimates. They then projected the rate of growth or decline of each population based on several parameters.
The authors recommend that lions should be listed as “regionally endangered” in Central and East Africa.
