A CONSERVATION group, Wild Africa Fund has urged the public to protect lions by reducing illegal bushmeat consumption, supporting better protection of their shrinking habitat, and championing anti-poaching measures.
In West Africa, only about 120 – 374 lions are remaining. Unlike in South Africa, where these cats are generally well protected and maintain stable populations, West African lions face extinction, losing 99 per cent of their historic range.
Beyond habitat loss, lions have suffered a decline in prey species such as antelope due to the bushmeat trade and are frequently killed in retaliation for preying on livestock. Additionally, the snares and traps set for bushmeat often injure and kill lions.
In Nigeria, the fewer than 50 lions left in the wild are found in Kainji Lake National Park and the Yankari Games Reserve, both in northern Nigeria. In Ghana, several researchers have tried to find lions in the wild without success. They have disappeared completely in several West African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Mali, and Sierra Leone.
“West African lions might disappear forever if we don’t urgently address the threats they face,” says Festus Iyorah, Nigeria Representative for Wild Africa Fund. “If we can protect their habitats more effectively, they could bounce back and boost our tourism.”
The fund believes it is possible to halt the decline of lions and restore their numbers, following the lead of countries that have brought lion populations back from the brink of extinction.
In Rwanda, lions were wiped out in the 1990s during the civil war and the 1994 genocide. Subsequently, farmers who settled on land previously inhabited by lions poisoned them to protect livestock. After over a decade of absence, seven lions were reintroduced from South Africa to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park in 2015, followed by two more male lions added to the park in 2017.
Today, the park has a thriving population of about 58 lions. This shows that it is never too late to protect and rebuild West Africa’s critically endangered lions, especially in countries like Ghana, where lions are possibly extinct.
“Lions are perhaps the most iconic African animal and have massive cultural significance. Their disappearance in West Africa would be tragic and squander an opportunity to foster wildlife tourism that has provided millions of jobs in east and southern Africa,” according to co-founder and CEO of Wild Africa Fund, Peter Knights.