http://allafrica.com/stories/201202020425.html


Namibia: African Lion Tops Etosha Conference
By Jana-Mari Smith, 2 February 2012

A LANDMARK conference addressing the survival of Africa's biggest carnivore, the African lion, will take place over two days at Etosha National Park this month.

The African Lion Working Group (ALWG) conference will be attended by 34 delegates from around the globe on February 10 and 11.

According to Tammy Hoth, the director of the AfriCat Foundation which is organising the event on behalf of the ALWG, the delegates convening in Namibia's world-famous park are all involved in lion conservation, research, human-wildlife conflict mitigation and other areas which address the plight of the survival of the African lion.

She said the conference will provide a platform for delegates to "share experiences and valuable research on one of the most vulnerable of carnivores on our continent. The ultimate goal is to ensure the long-term survival of the wild lion in its natural habitat".

According to the ALWG, in 1975 the number of free-ranging lions in sub-Saharan Africa was roughly estimated at 200 000.

At the end of the 20th century, numbers had dwindled to below 100 000 and by 2005 population counts concluded that the numbers had plummeted to between 16 500 and 47 132.

The ALWG was formed in October 1999 in response to the shocking revelation of the fast decline of lions roaming the wilderness. Since then the organisation has grown from 15 members to 76 today.

The ALWG conference in Etosha will also host presenters who will share information and discuss methods that result in "improved population monitoring and protection of people, livestock and lions simultaneously".

Overall, the conference is intended to place emphasis on the future of the African lion "and how the conservation of the African lion should be addressed to not only improve conservation but hopefully to turn around the whole downhill trend of lion population numbers".

quote:

Overall, the conference is intended to place emphasis on the future of the African lion "and how the conservation of the African lion should be addressed to not only improve conservation but hopefully to turn around the whole downhill trend of lion population numbers".

The ALWG was formed in 1999 for the purpose of coming up with solutions to mitigate the threats to their survival and they are still discussing this subject now!!! What have they been doing for the last 12 years?

spending a lot of grant money while appealing for more.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202160229.html


Namibia: Scientists Mull the Future of Lions At Etosha Meet
By Jana-Mari Smith, 16 February 2012

HIGHLY QUALIFIED scientists and conservation groups gathered at a landmark conference in Namibia last week to discuss the future of the iconic African cat: the lion.

The group consisted of members of the African Lion Working Group (ALWG), an organisation that was founded in 1999 because "of this need amongst biologists to communicate in a formal way", Sarel van der Merwe, chairperson of the ALWG, said last week.

Van der Merwe said the rapid decline of free-roaming lion populations in the sub-Saharan African region triggered deep concerns among scientists and has elevated the need to study the lion and to pinpoint solutions which could revive their populations.

Tammy Hoth, the director of the AfriCat Foundation in Namibia, said the two-day conference highlighted the precarious position in which free-roaming lions find themselves today. She said it was important to note that "lion numbers have dropped from approximately 200 000 in the 1970s to below 50 000 currently.

Hoth, whose AfriCat Foundation organised and hosted the event, said the conference participants were informed that some countries' lion populations have dropped so low that there is "little hope of redemption unless the respective governments put into place renewed policy and regulation and take the conservation of their lion populations seriously".

Some of the issues that plague the lion populations include illegal hunting, over-utilisation of trophy-size animals and lack of capacity to control and regulate quotas. Hoth added that "most frightening of all, [is] the increase in the lion bone trade, canned lion hunting and uncontrolled captive breeding".

Most agree that human encroachment of lions' habitat is one of the biggest culprits. With the ever-expanding take-over of land by humans, the natural prey of lions has been "squeezed out", forcing lions to prey on livestock. And, in retaliation, livestock owners kill lions indiscriminately. "It is our responsibility to bring attention to the situation with high-level scientific work," Van der Merwe said.

Hoth said there was an upside, though. A number of the ALWG conservationists reported increased successes with human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategies and increased awareness among communities about the plus side of looking after the lions in their midst.

She said delegates at the conference praised Namibia for its positive contribution to lion conservation by developing communal conservancies. She said conflict between farmers and lions still needs serious attention, though.