Lions in Trouble

doi:10.1126/science.294.5545.1275b

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Science 9 November 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5545, p. 1275
DOI: 10.1126/science.294.5545.1275b

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Lions are plentiful in East Africa, where they are a staple of the tourist trade. But populations in the west and central portions of the continent are sparse, fragmented, and threatened by human encroachments as well as poaching for traditional medicine products, according to a commission set up by the World Conservation Union.

Lions mate in Waza National Park, Cameroon.

P. E. LOTH

Their report, newly available on the Web (www.african-lion.org), concludes that there is not a single lion population in West or Central Africa that is large enough to be viable--that is, with enough lions to avoid inbreeding. The largest groups, in Cameroon and along the borders of Senegal, Guinea, and Mali, comprise about 200 animals each. There are tiny pockets of lions elsewhere, some with no more than 10 animals. The whole region probably contains no more than 2000, says Hans Bauer of the University of Leiden, a member of the African Lion Working Group.

Bauer says lions are especially tricky to count. "Aerial counts, roadside counts, sampling methods, dung counts: It all works very well for prey, but not for lions," he says. "The only method recognized as accurate is knowing them all individually."

The lion experts want to start a lion database, but so far there's no money for it. The World Wildlife Fund does not recognize lions as endangered, partly because no one until now has tried to put together an inventory of West African populations.