Lions on the Brink?

If you want to be in the killing club then you've got to kill a lion. Safari Club International, an organization dedicated to promoting the killing of wild animals for sport, has the lion listed on a number of its hunting awards. The lion is one of the "Dangerous Game of Africa," the "African 29," the "Cats of the World," and the grand slam "Africa Big Five" (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo). Safari Club International's magazine is replete with stories about lion hunts in which hunters hang bait from tree limbs in what one author called "the perfect setup" for an easy ambush and kill. Another author rates the lion as the most dangerous of the Africa Big Five and "perhaps the most difficult of all Africa's great prizes." He contends, "Most parks in Africa hold good numbers of lions, so there need be no concern over the species' survival."

In reality, the future looks bleak for the African lion (Panthera Leo) of west and central Africa, based on the results of a workshop held in Cameroon in June 2001. The recently published proceedings from the meeting highlight the pressures placed on these fragmented lion populations and the need to protect them immediately. One participant at the meeting noted that the population estimates of between 1,500 and 2,000 lions "in the entire West African region was considered as a shock."

The "information exchange" on "Status and Needs for Conservation of Lions in West and Central Africa" reveals that in west and central Africa, lions in countries such as Senegal, Mali, Benin, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon are threatened by poachers, loss of habitat (especially for conversion of land to agriculture and forest cutting for timber), slaughter for the use of their parts in traditional medicines, and trophy hunting.

The situation seems dire in some parts of southern Africa as well. Researchers Chris and Tilde Stewart in Zambia claim that in the northeastern part of the country, "numbers are critically low and they probably have no future here." Little population data apparently exists for the rest of the country. In Botswana, the Director of Wildlife placed an immediate ban on all hunting of lions in February 2001, as a precautionary measure to prevent further decline of lions there. The temporary ban was praised by conservationists but assailed by trophy hunters.

Will Travers of the Born Free Foundation has stressed the need to respond to the findings of the Cameroon workshop as a matter of urgency. "This latest lion news must serve as a wake up call to all conservationists. Unless we take concerted action to reduce poaching, prevent further habitat loss, stop trade in lion parts and eliminate trophy hunting this serious situation will soon become a crisis."

Nine Charged with Illegal Trade in Exotic Cats:
Tigers, Leopards, and Other Big Cats Appear to Have Been Killed for Trophies

Following a lengthy investigation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a series of indictments have been issued against individuals in Michigan, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri for trafficking in protected tigers and leopards. A couple of the individuals involved are licensed as exhibitors under the Animal Welfare Act. Apparently, those charged were buying and killing tigers, leopards, snow leopards, lions, mountain lions, cougars, mixed breed cats, and black bears with the intention of introducing their meat and skins into the lucrative animal parts trade.

At this point only one individual has been sentenced. Woody Thompson, Jr., owner of the Willow Lake Sportsman's Club in Three Rivers, Michigan, pled guilty to brokering the interstate sale of three tiger skins. He was sentenced to six months of home detention, two years probation, a $2,000 fine, and he was ordered to pay $28,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's "Save the Tiger Fund."

More indictments are expected soon.