Lions dwindling in Africa
2012-12-05 11:39
Johannesburg - The lions that roam Africa's
savannahs have lost as much as 75% of their habitat in the last 50 years as
humans overtake their land and the lion population dwindles, said a study
released on Tuesday.
Researchers at Duke University, including
prominent conservationist Stuart Pimm, warn that the number of lions across the
continent have dropped to as few as 32 000, with populations in West Africa
under incredible pressure.
"Lion numbers have declined
precipitously in the last century," the study, published on Tuesday by the
journal Biodiversity and Conservation, reads. "Given that many now live in
small, isolated populations, this trend will continue. The situation in West
Africa is particularly dire, with no large population remaining and lions now
absent from many of the region's national parks."
Fifty years ago, nearly 100 000 lions roamed
across the African continent. In recent years, however, an ever-growing human
population has come into the savannah lands to settle and develop. That has
both cut down the amount of land lions have to roam, as well as fragmented it,
researchers said.
Using satellite imagery, the researchers
determined the amount of land now available for lions that remains wild and
minimally impacted by human growth. Those lands are rapidly diminishing, and
more territory will likely be lost in the next 40 years, the report said.
Five countries in Africa have likely lost
their lions since a 2002 study was run, the report said. Only nine countries
contain at least 1 000 lions, while Tanzania alone has more than 40% of the
continent's lions, it said.
"An obvious caveat is that areas for
which we detect little conversion of savannahs to croplands may still suffer
human impacts that make them unsuitable for lions," the report said.
"Over-hunting for trophies, poaching - of lions and of their prey species -
and conflict with pastoralists may not have (present) any visual signal to
satellites. Even where there are low human population densities and areas
designated as national parks, there (may) not be lions within them."
The report calls for more mapping and
studying to be done to ensure the lions' protection.
- SAPA
