African and Asian Lions (Panthera leo) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status

*For historic distribution, see Distribution.

Africa

• Today
  • Approximately 23,000 adults and subadults (see Nicholson et al. 2024)
    • Still considerable uncertainty in current estimates
• Difficult to estimate population size, even on a regional scale (Bauer et al. 2015)
  • Previously, stable populations in southern Africa masked declines in other parts of Africa (Bauer et al. 2016)
  • Systematic surveys lacking (Bauer et al. 2015)
  • No reliable estimates exist for five African countries (Bauer et al. 2015)
• Historical estimates of lion populations in Africa (Hazzah et al. 2009)
  • 1950: 500,000
  • 1975: 200,000
  • Early 1990s: less than 100,000
• Populations decreasing across much of Africa (Bauer et al. 2015; Bauer et al. 2016, except as noted)
  • Continent-wide: ~43% decline from 1993-2014
    • Except in four southern countries: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (i.e., only increasing in southern Africa)
      • Subpopulations increased by 12%
      • Majority of these populations are fenced
      • 60% decline in remainder of Africa
  • Lion populations in West, Central, and East Africa likely to experience a 50% decline over the next two decades (~2015-2035)
    • West and Central populations: 67% chance of 50% decline
    • East Africa populations: 37% chance of 50% decline
  • Outside southern Africa, unfenced lion populations estimated to have declined by 62% between 1993 and 2014
    • Unfenced reserves in southern Africa: 11% decline
  • Half of unfenced lion populations expected to be near extinction in next 20-40 years (Packer et al. 2013)
• Populations close to extinction
  • Greatest concern for populations in West, Central, and East Africa (e.g., Bauer et al. 2015; Bauer et al. 2016) (abundance data source: Riggio et al. 2013, as recommended to SDZG Library by Hans Bauer)
    • Found in small, isolated pockets
    • West/Central Africa
      • West: ~500 lions
        • Subpopulations Critically Endangered
      • Central: ~2200
        • Evidence of being regionally endangered
    • East Africa
      • ~18,300 lions
      • Traditionally abundant
      • Experiencing steep declines, like West/Central Africa
      • Bauer et al. (2016) suggest listing populations in this region as regionally endangered (based on evidence from Bauer et al. 2015)
    • Southern Africa
      • ~11,100 lions
      • Overall, Least Concern
      • Heterogeneous: Some populations experiencing declines while others increasing
• Disappearing from large parts of Africa (Bauer et al. 2015)
  • Recently extirpated from 12 African countries (Bauer et al. 2016)
    • Possibly 4 additional countries
• Stable, increasing, or at high density (but see Bauer et al. 2015)
  • Fenced populations
  • Fenced reserves in Kenya and southern Africa (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009; Bauer et al. 2015)
• Signals a major ecosystem-level change to Africa’s savannahs (Bauer et al. 2015)
  • Shifting trophic interactions
  • Diminishing influence of lions as formative apex predators

 India

• About 700 adult and subadult individuals (Nicholson et al. 2024)
• Only subpopulation remaining in Asia (Bauer et al. 2016)
  • 4 areas (3 outside of Gir Forest protected area)
  • Contiguous distribution (Bauer et al. 2015)
• Most occur in the Gir Forest National Park (Bauer et al. 2015, 2016)
  • Recent expansion into surrounding countryside
• Stable (compared to prior Critically Endangered status) (Bauer et al. 2015; Bauer et al. 2016)
  • Where management is properly funded

Current IUCN Status

• African lion
  • Vulnerable (2023 assessment) (Nicholson et al. 2024)
  • Population trend: decreasing
  • Species population reduction of 30% over the past 2 decades (3 lion generations)
  • Populations in West and Central Africa of special concern (Barnett et al. 2014)
    • West Africa subpopulation: Critically Endangered (2014 assessment) (Henschel et al. 2014)
      • Only ~500 lions remain
• Asian lion
  • Endangered (2008 assessment) (Breitenmoser et al. 2008)
  • Single population of ~300 breeding adults
  • All occur within a single small area
  • Numbers are expected to suffer a decrease due to increasing conflict with people

Forthcoming IUCN Status

• National Red List: Lions in South Africa will be categorized as Least Concern (Bauer et al. 2016)
• Global Red List: Lions in Indian subpopulation will be categorized as Endangered (Bauer et al. 2016)
• West Africa: Critically Endangered (Henschel et al. 2014; Bauer et al. 2016)

CITES Status (Checklist of CITES species)

• African lion
  • ​​Appendix II (UNEP 2019)
• ​Asian lion
  • Appendix I ("Indian populations") (UNEP 2019)
  • Highest level of protection from commercial trade under CITES
• 2016 news: Ten African countries proposed listing all lions on Appendix I (https://cites.org/)
  • See CITES Joint Statement and LionAid article
  • Possible West/Central populations to be listed under Appendix I, but not all populations
• All cat species included on Appendix I and/or II (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009)
  • Except domestic house cat

U.S. Endangered Species Act

• Endangered
  • Listed as of December 2015

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

• Lion conservation and management programs supported by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance include:
  • Long-term studies of African lion reproduction in managed care
  • Chemical communication and behavior
  • Conservation education and outreach in Kenya

Conflict with humans

• Competition for land/space (e.g., conversion for agriculture) and food (bushmeat trade) due to increasing human populations and expanding settlement (Lindsey et al. 2013a)
  • Lions most successful in areas of low-to-medium human densities (Dolrenry et al. 2014)
• Retaliatory or pre-emptive killing of lions to protect livestock and humans (Ikanda and Packer 2008; Kissui 2008; Wilson and Mittermeier 2009; Bauer et al. 2015)
  • Targeted disproportionately compared to other livestock predators (Kissui 2008)
    • Larger numbers of highly-valued cattle are killed by lions than by hyenas and leopards
  • Humans poison carcasses that lions then scavenge on (Hazzah et al. 2009; Wilson and Mittermeier 2009; Packer et al. 2011; Bauer et al. 2016)
    • Inexpensive poison available (e.g., insecticides) (Hazzah et al. 2009)
    • Little information on number of lions poisoned each year (Bauer et al. 2016)
• Lion attacks on livestock
  • In bomas at night or fields during the day (Kissui 2008)
    • Most attacks on cattle and donkeys; also sheep and goats (Kissui 2008)
    • Cattle more highly valued, monetarily and culturally
    • Cause economic losses for pastoralists/ranchers (Patterson et al. 2004; Kissui 2008)
    • Reduces tolerance for predators (Hazzah et al. 2009; Hemson et al. 2009)
• Lion attacks on people
  • Circumstances increasing probability of attacks (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009)
    • Low prey densities
    • A lion is physically unable to hunt its usual prey
    • Human-dense and lion-dense populations converge
  • Few estimates of number of attacks per year
  • High incidence in Tanzania (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009)
    • Attacks on over 1,000 people between 1990 and 2007 (Kushnir et al. 2010)
      • Most in central and southern regions (Kushnir et al. 2014)
    • Most attacks occur when people are tending crops in agricultural fields (Kushnir et al. 2010)
      • Lions force their way into huts that farmers sleep in during harvest season
  • Packer et al. (2005) and Kushnir et al. (2010) discuss many social factors that increase the risk of attack by lions
    • Vary with human activity patterns and location
    • Examples:
      • Distance walked to resources (water, firewood, neighbors, but surprisingly not to agricultural fields)
      • Higher abundance of bush pigs
      • Low diversity of wild prey
      • Sleeping outdoors (especially at night)
      • Home safety (construction sturdiness)

Hunting and poaching

• European livestock ranchers and 20^th century hunting expeditions removed large number of lions from Africa (Whitman et al. 2007)
• Hunting now prohibited in some countries
  • For example, banned in Kenya since 1977 (Whitman et al. 2007; Akama 2008)
  • Other places: no legal protections (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009)
  • Commercial trade of African lion permissible under CITES Appendix II (Nowell and Pervushina 2014)
• Poachers often use snares (Whitman et al. 2007)
• Harvesting body parts
  • Use in traditional medicine
    • Illegal trade is an emerging threat (Nowell and Pervushina 2014; Bauer et al. 2016)
    • Local markets (Packer et al. 2011)
    • Markets in Africa and Asia (Craigie et al. 2010; Miller et al. 2014)
  • Parts most sought after (Nowell and Pervushina 2014; Bauer et al. 2016)
    • Bones
      • Increasing use of African lion bone in Asia
        • Historically, not used in Asian traditional medicine
        • Now, being used to make medicinal wines in China
      • Similar use as tiger bone
        • May be marketed as tiger bone
        • Difficult to distinguish lion and tiger bone (see Nowell and Pervushina 2014, p. 51)
      • Export of bones from “captive” lions to China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Viet Nam
        • May be cover for illegally-sourced bone from wild/protected lions
    • Fat
    • Skins
    • Claws
    • Manes
• Trophy hunting
  • Defined as “…hunting by paying tourists, typically with the objective of selecting individuals with exceptional physical attributes…and usually in the company of a professional hunting guide” (Lindsey et al. 2007)
    • “Sport hunting” (Packer et al. 2009)
  • Allowed across at least 27-32% of the lion’s range, in countries where legally permitted (Lindsey et al. 2013b)
  • Multimillion dollar industry (Whitman et al. 2007)
    • Among highest prices of all trophy wildlife species in Africa (Lindsey et al. 2012)
    • Most foreign hunters from the United States and E.U. nations (Lindsey et al. 2007)
    • Industry largest in southern Africa, particularly South Africa (Lindsey et al. 2007)
      • Contributing factors
        • Hunting closures in other countries
        • Political instability in other regions
        • Successful wildlife conservation outside of protected areas in southern Africa
        • Other high value animals (elephants, rhinos, leopard, buffalo) also found in southern Africa
  • Can have positive or negative conservation impacts, depending on how well trophy hunting is managed (Lindsey et al. 2013b; Bauer et al. 2016)
    • Not thought to cause declines unless poorly managed (Bauer et al. 2016)
    • Removing males at least 6 years old reduces impact on populations (West and Packer 2013)
  • Lack of consensus on the ethical, social, and biological effects (Lindsey et al. 2007)
    • Debate: animal rights groups and ‘protectionists’ vs. hunters and pragmatic conservationists (see Lindsey et al. 2007)
  • Suggested advantages and limitations of trophy hunting in conservation (see Lindsey et al. 2007 for discussion)
    • Advantages
      • Generates revenue in places not suitable for tourism (Lindsey et al. 2007; Whitman et al. 2007)
      • Vastly increases land area used for wildlife conservation (much larger than protected areas/parks alone) (Lindsey et al. 2007)
      • May create a buffer between national parks and villages (Whitman et al. 2007)
        • Reduces human-lion conflict
    • Limitations
      • Excessive take can drive population declines (Packer et al. 2009; Packer et al. 2011)
        • Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, and Zambia (see Bauer et al. 2016 for literature citations)
      • Social disruption in a pride (Lindsey et al. 2012)
        • Removal of tenure-holding males may lead to infanticide by incoming males (Lindsey et al. 2012)
  • Hunting restrictions may reduce budgets for anti-poaching and community outreach (Lindsey et al. 2012)
    • Precluding hunting may impose greater long term risk to lions
      • Undermine wildlife- and conservation-compatible land uses (e.g., agriculture and pastoralism) (Lindsey et al. 2013b)
• Ritual lion hunting
  • Cultural practice of the Maasai (Ala-mayo)
    • See Cultural History
  • Banned in the 1970s (Ikanda and Packer 2008)
    • Tradition adhered to by some Maasai youth
      • Retaliatory killings after cattle depredation may serve as pretext to carry out ritual (Ikanda and Packer 2008; Kissui 2008)
    • Few lions taken this way, annually (Ikanda and Packer 2008; Packer et al. 2011)
      • Compared to trophy and actual retaliatory killings
      • Nomadic lions (which experience high natural mortality) often killed (Ikanda and Packer 2008)

Habitat loss/degradation

• Available savannah habitat for lions has been reduced by 75% over the past century (Riggio et al. 2013)
• Populations small and isolated (Bauer et al. 2016)
  • Reintroductions to small, fenced reserves (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009)
• Increasingly restricted to protected areas (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009; West and Packer 2013)
• West and Central Africa populations (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009; Bertola et al. 2011)
  • Small and isolated; sparsely distributed
  • Little-to-no gene flow, even in wildlife parks
    • Decreased genetic diversity
    • Inbreeding depression
  • Increased consequences, if catastrophic events occur

Low prey abundance

• Depletion of ungulate prey (Wilson and Mittermeier 2009; Bauer et al. 2016)
  • Across Africa (Craigie et al. 2010)
    • Particularly, West and East Africa
• Prey under pressure from commercial bushmeat trade (e.g., Lindsey et al. 2013a)
• Lion densities strongly affected by impacts of weather (temperature, rainfall) on herbivore biomass (Celesia et al. 2009)
• Migration of prey can also create seasons where food is scarce (Nowell and Jackson 1996)

Diseases from domesticated animals (non-comprehensive list)

• Canine distemper virus from dogs (Kissui and Packer 2004; Wilson and Mittermeier 2009; Chauvenet et al. 2011; West and Packer 2013)
  • Some lion populations more resilient to outbreaks than others
    • Outbreaks may be of short duration with quick recovery following (Ferreira and Funston 2010)
    • 1993-1994 outbreak
      • Killed 33% of ~3,000 lions in Serengeti-Mara population
      • However, population was able to quickly recover
  • Dog vaccination campaigns
    • Ecosystem-level effects need to be evaluated (Chauvenet et al. 2011)
• Bovine tuberculosis
  • Likely infected when lions scavenge or kill African buffalo in advanced disease stages (Maas et al. 2012)
  • Prevalence may be high with negligible survival/health effects (Ferreira and Funston 2010)
• Feline immunodeficiency virus
  • No known negative effects on lion health (Maas et al. 2012) but not well-understood
• Inbreeding may cause small, isolated populations to become immunocompromised (Packer et al. 2011)

Other diseases and parasites (non-comprehensive list)

• Tanzania (West and Packer 2013)
  • Coronavirus
  • Calicivirus
  • Parvovirus
  • Rift Valley fever
  • Anthrax
  • Influenza
• Parasites (Schaller 1972; Bjork et al. 2000)
  • Ticks
  • Biting flies
  • Intestinal worms
  • Blood parasites
  • Sarcoptic mange (Young 1975)

Habitat areas

• National parks, wildlife preserves, private reserves
• Many in Africa
• Gir Forest National Park
• Population growth rates highest in fenced reserves and private managed reserves (Packer et al. 2013)
• Electrified boundary fencing (Hunter et al. 2007; Packer et al. 2013)
• Limits lion movements, keeping them within a protected area
• Expensive to install, $3,000+ per km (Packer et al. 2013)
• Success in South Africa
• Small, fenced, intensively managed, well-funded reserves (Bauer et al. 2015)
• Recommendation: Ensure adequate population connectivity among habitat fragments
• Habitat patches need to be within dispersal ability of females (Dolrenry et al. 2014)
• Females generally stay within natal area or an adjacent home range
• Do not disperse as far as males
• Males disperse and travel 2-3 times farther than females
• Protect lions moving through unprotected areas between habitat patches (Dolrenry et al. 2014)
• Maintain corridors among unfenced populations (Dolrenry et al. 2014)
• Monitor extinction and colonization rates (Dolrenry et al. 2014)
• Support large protected areas (Henschel et al. 2014)
• Helps prevent local extirpation

Regional conservation strategies (Bauer et al. 2016)

• Developed for lions in West and Central Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa
• Used to create Conservation Action Plans

Strategies to increase tolerance of lions in local communities (Dolrenry et al. 2014; Hazzah et al. 2014)

• Improve livestock husbandry practices  (Maclennan et al. 2009; Bauer et al. 2016)
• Provide incentives to ranchers/pastoralists to monitor livestock
• Help mitigate livestock depredation (Patterson et al. 2004)
• Expand effective compensation program approaches (Maclennan et al. 2009; Bauer et al. 2016 and as noted)
• Pay livestock owners for losses
• Enables conversation between pastoralists and conservationists (Hazzah et al. 2009)
• System may also be abused (Maclennan et al. 2009)
• Apathy leading to poor husbandry of livestock
• Falsification of losses
• Corruption (e.g., misconduct of verification officers)

Reintroductions and translocations

• Groups of unrelated individuals can form long-term relationships; socially stable (Hunter et al. 2007)
• Some reintroduced lions fail to socially bond with existing wild prides (e.g., Kilian and Bothma 2003)
• Cohesive group structures need to be established prior to release (Abell et al. 2013)
• Populations may be still hindered if small habitat area, fenced in, and isolated from other lion populations (Hunter et al. 2007)

Wildlife tourism

• Advantages when well-managed (funds collected and distributed properly) (Bauer et al. 2016)
• Provides incentives for land/habitat conservation
• Generates revenue for park management and local communities
• When poorly managed, benefits tourism companies but not communities (see Hemson et al. 2009)

Sport hunting and wildlife populations (Nowell and Jackson 1996)

• Vigorous debate
• Hunting bans may work
• Helped “Asian lions” in the Gir Forest
• Population increased from 20 individuals (ca. 1900) to 523 individuals (in 2015) (Forest Force 2015)
• Hunting bans may indirectly harm wildlife
• Heavy poaching in Kenya followed 1977 ban (Akama 2008)
• Strategies for sustainable hunting practices (Lindsey et al. 2013b)
• Enforce age restrictions (e.g., males ≥ 7 years old (see Miller et al. 2016; also, Whitman et al. 2007; Packer et al. 2009; White et al. 2016)
• Difficulties in using traits for assessment (i.e., hunters not able to accurately age lions)
• See Miller et al. (2016)
• Nose coloration, facial scarring, coloration and wearing of teeth
• Aging the African Lion
• Improve industry monitoring
• Adjustable quotas, monitored for compliance
• Population monitoring to ensure sustainable quotas
• Establish minimum duration of hunts
• Have the same hunting companies operate for multiple seasons
• Enforce legislation
• Establish measures to reduce corruption in the industry
• Distribute benefits generated by trophy hunting and ecotourism to communities

Additional recommendations

• Update taxonomic distinctions that do not reflect full species diversity
• African populations managed as single subspecies (as of Aug 2016) (Bertola et al. 2011)
• Underestimates risk of extinction
• May result in disappearance of distinct lineages or populations (Bertola et al. 2011)
• Likely affects breeding practices in zoos (Bertola et al. 2011)
• Improve knowledge of occurrence, distribution, and status of breeding lion populations (Dolrenry et al. 2014)
• On a regional level
• Create a lion sightings database

Living with Lions

• Scientists and Maasai warriors working to conserve lions in Kenya’s nonprotected areas

Lion Guardians (Hazzah et al. 2014)

• Conservation organization working to reduce human-lion conflict
  • Kenya and Tanzania
• Focus on local value systems and cultures
• Integrate social, biological, and traditional/indigenous knowledge

Panthera

• Project Leonardo
  • Aims to increase African lion populations from 20,000 to a minimum of 30,000 lions over the next 15 years

African People and Wildlife Fund

• Northern Tanzania Big Cats Conservation Initiative

Desert Lion Conservation

• Scientific studies to conserve lions in the Namib Desert

IUCN Cat Specialist Group

• Develop management plans to promote felid conservation

FelidTAG

• Felid Taxon Advisory Group
  • Organized by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
  • AZA members and other felid experts participate
• Develop management plans to promote wild cat conservation and care of felids in AZA institutions

The male lion's mane is seen by many as a symbol of strength and power.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.