Lions could be extinct in 20 years
October 3 2010 at 11:19am



Africa's most potent symbol, the lion could be extinct within two decades, according to Sunday's Rapport newspaper.

According to the report it is estimated there are between 30,000 to 16,500 lions in the wild worldwide.

Endangered Wildlife Trust director Harriet Davies-Mostert was quoted as saying: “Lions are largely threatened because they are not tolerated outside protected area, and in particular stock farmers and shepherds have cut their (lions') numbers.”

She said habitat loss and trophy hunting were also having an effect. In Kenya wildlife authorities claimed they were losing 100

lions a year and the lion population had dropped to about 2000 in the wild.

Davies-Mostert warned the slaughter of Africa's lions could increase as demand for “medicine” products from the Far East rose.

According to the report the International Union for the Conservation of Nature had said lions were extremely vulnerable.

The Rapport said that lion numbers had fallen by 30 percent in the past 20 years and there was a 10 percent chance they could be extinct in the next 20 years. - Sapa

Lions won't be extinct but wild lions might be.

They do touch on an interesting little bit regarding the Asian trade. There are reports that some of the farmed lion operators are trying to find/create an Asian market for lion bits (since tiger is increasingly hard to find). For the most part the asians have been uninterested in lions. IF they succeed and they get interested in lion bits it won't be limited to farmed animals, the wild ones will be quickly targeted.

So all those farmed lions that get shot in SA, you guys know where the leftover bits go? The hide and skull heads home... Does the rest go to building a Chinese/vietnamese market?

This is something that we need to be asking.

I'll bet it's somehow the SCI "Inner Circles" fault?

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

what LS said, PLUS ONE!!

It has to be SCI's fault.

Rich

Lions could be extinct in 20 years

That statement could apply to most anything.

quote:

Originally posted by JBoutfishn:
Lions could be extinct in 20 years

That statement could apply to most anything.

yup

I turned sixty-one late in September. I could be extinct in twenty years...

Weren't we down to about fifty or so wild Elephants according to some other anti-sport hunting organization a few years back?

I expect the primary impact of this will be to raise Lion hunting costs about 25% for 2011.

Rich

One sure way to make them extinct in the wild is to close all Lion hunting....just use Kenya as the example...

Kenya closed all hunting.

If lion hunting was closed but other hunting remained open would the lions still benefit?

Yes they, Kenya, did....and they themselves estimate all species outside parks have been reduced by up to 70% and that park wildlfe reductions may be as high as 20%....a real model but NGO's and anti's think stopping hunting is the answer!