Africa\u2019s lions are running out of space. Habitat loss, shrinking prey populations and growing conflict with communities are putting the continent\u2019s big cats under mounting pressure, with retaliatory killings and poisoning posing an added threat to their survival.<\/p>\n
Brushing through the grass at Kenya\u2019s Ol Pejeta Conservancy and tearing into flesh as they feed, these lions represent both the country\u2019s wildlife wealth and one of its toughest conservation challenges.<\/p>\n
Lions are a major attraction for tourists and photographers and play a crucial role as apex predators in maintaining healthy ecosystems.<\/p>\n
But across Africa, their numbers have fallen sharply. The Africa Wildlife Foundation estimates the continent\u2019s lion population at between 20,000 and 23,000, down by about 43% over two decades.<\/p>\n
In Kenya, an estimated 2,500 to 2,600 lions remain.<\/p>\n
Philip Muruthi, vice president for species conservation and science at the Africa Wildlife Foundation, says habitat loss and fragmentation are the biggest threats facing Kenya\u2019s lions.<\/p>\n
\u201cKenya’s lion populations which number about 2,500 to 2,600 face the major threat facing their conservation and their future well-being is habitat loss and fragmentation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The loss of habitat also means less prey, while expanding human settlements increasingly bring people and predators into contact.<\/p>\n
When livestock becomes prey<\/p>\n
The pressure is particularly intense around the edges of protected areas, where livestock grazing can alter lion behaviour.<\/p>\n
Research in Kenya\u2019s Maasai Mara has found that lions avoid areas used by livestock, even after the animals have left. That effectively reduces the space available to the predators and can push them closer to human settlements.<\/p>\n
When lions kill livestock, the consequences can be deadly.<\/p>\n
Communities facing repeated losses may retaliate by killing the predators responsible.<\/p>\n
Muruthi says retaliation has become one of the key threats to lions in Kenya.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen conflicts occur, the lions might come in contact with the livestock, eat them and people retaliate and one of the key threats here in Kenya to lions is really retaliation, people killing lions because they ate their livestock,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Poisoning turns conflict into crisis<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, six lions and dozens of vultures were poisoned in Kenya\u2019s Amboseli area, highlighting how a single livestock conflict can trigger a much wider conservation disaster.<\/p>\n
Conservationists say poisoning often occurs when communities feel they are bearing the costs of living alongside wildlife without seeing enough benefits.<\/p>\n
David Mascall, a lion conservationist, says poisoned carcasses can be used to target predators after they kill livestock.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is with increasing populations of people and increasing livestock in those areas, has led drastically to lions and other predators starting to prey on livestock,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Mascall identifies Furadan, a pesticide, as one poison that has been used in such incidents.<\/p>\n
The consequences can extend far beyond the intended target. Lions feeding on a poisoned carcass can die, followed by hyenas, vultures and other scavengers that consume the remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf 10 lions fed on that carcass that had been spliced with this poison, all of them would die,\u201d Mascall says. \u201cThe hyenas that came also to feed on them and the remains of the carcass would die. The vultures, most of them would die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making wildlife worth protecting<\/p>\n
Conservationists say protecting lions requires more than securing national parks and wildlife reserves.<\/p>\n
It also means ensuring that communities living alongside predators have practical reasons to protect them.<\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s conservancies are increasingly being used to link wildlife protection with local livelihoods through employment, conservation enterprises and other economic opportunities.<\/p>\n
Muruthi says the challenge is to make wildlife an asset rather than a burden for communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can we turn wildlife into an asset?\u201d he asks, pointing to conservation enterprises, jobs and measures that reduce the cost of living alongside wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people can start to see that this is an asset, this is not always a loss to me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Education is another crucial part of the effort, Mascall says, particularly for households keeping livestock close to predator habitat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe survival of our wildlife generally, our lions in particular relates to education more than anything else,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
A future shared with people<\/p>\n
As Africa marks International Lion Day on August 10, conservationists warn that the future of the continent\u2019s lions will depend increasingly on what happens beyond the boundaries of protected areas.<\/p>\n
Habitat protection, better livestock management, compensation and community-led conservation can help reduce the pressure.<\/p>\n
But without addressing the costs borne by people living alongside wildlife, conservationists fear that conflict will continue to put lions and other predators at risk.<\/p>\n
For Africa\u2019s lions, survival is no longer only about protecting the animals. It is also about making coexistence work for the people who share their landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s lions are running out of space. Habitat loss, shrinking prey populations and growing conflict with communities are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":734184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-734183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/734184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}