50% Of Our Lions Extinct in 40 Years

Image courtesy of National Geographic

One of Africa's most famous animals, king of the animal kingdom, is under massive pressure with 50% of its population due to be extinct in 40 years. With the massive expansion of urban Africa over the last 20 years there has been an extreme decrease in lion population moving down from the top of Africa and now as far south as Namibia. In just the last 20 years the African lion has dwindled to almost 20 000 when it was once 450 000. If these animals are lost there will be a huge imbalance in the entire ecosystem spinning the natural process into turbulence causing huge problems in the future. This huge depopulation has been caused by human invasion into their habitat creating problems with loss of prey and pesticides and even illnesses that have been caused due to diet and habitat change. The situation is particularly dire in West Africa, where it is estimated that the lion population dropped from approximately 1,200 lions in 2002 down to between just 480 and 525 lions in 2012. The University of Duke established that the Savannah is in worse shape than the rain forests with less than 25% remaining. If we don't get involved and help conserve lions we may be facing a massive extinction from one of the top predators that has ever existed.