That lion appears to be a nice one to me as well, however, this group was listed with the lions photographed as being turned down last year. Go to page two on this link and you'll see this group of four lions in picture 16 of a collection of lions turned down in 2003. I was told that about 1/2 of the lions in this collection, and this group of four in particular, were photographed in Moyowosi.

These don't look like males from a pride and the one on the left certainly looks big enough to drop the hammer on.

Anyone that tells you that the lion on the left standing up is too young to shoot, either does not know anything about lions, or simply does not want you to shoot a lion and they are taking you on a goose chase That lion on the left is a 6-7 year old lion that will not get any bigger in size or in mane. That lion is for sure a shooter and would let any of my clients shoot that one without hesitation. The two on the right are too young and should not be shot, and can not see the one in the middle to be able to tell.

Strict quota I agree with and a great way to manage an area, but telling a client that the one on the left is too young has nothing to do with strict quota, because if the client has paid for a lion hunt, that one is old enough to shoot and will not get any better than what he is. It would be more honest to say that they want him to stick around to pass on more genes, but not that he is too young

I would have to say that if the male lion is there with a pride of lions then it would have to depend on the situation. If the there are cubs there, then by no means should the male be shot regarless of trophy quality. if there are females that are pregnant, then by no means should the male be shot. If none of the above are present, then it is just a matter of each company and each PH to decide if there would be any effect to the pride if the male was shot. Just because the male lion that is there with the pride is shot though, does not mean that the pride will go to hell. Lions die all the time of natural causes, and it does not affect the pride and another male will take its place. Another male will come in and take over the pride, as there are plenty of lone males looking for a pride, who might even have better genes than the one that is in the pride already. So, if you are thinking about long term genes for lions, whos to say that the male in the pride is the best choice and that there is not another male that would be better?

The problem is that just because a male lion is by himself, does not mean that he is not already in a pride. Male lions do not always stay with the pride and are always wondering around by themselves checking their boundaries etc etc..... So, I do not see how anyone can say that shooting a lone male lion is the only ethical way of hunting lions though? That lone male lion just might be a pride male with 10 cubs that are 5 miles away and he is out checking his boundary!!! So, IMO there is no true answer and all depends on the situation and the PH.

Quite possibly they are shootable in terms of trophy status, but if they are with prides, their management policies prevent them from being taken. With that in mind, would some of these lions being on this list be more understandable?