Poaching+(In+Progress)

== The relationship between man and the lion have not always been a good one. Even to this day, lions are still shot as vermin in some parts of Africa. Until recently, lion populations in general were healthy in most of their present range, with numbers in the 30-40,000's. Poaching, and habitat destruction have taken their toll on the lion, but the biggest problem today appears to be disease. Diseases such as canine distemper, tuburcelosis, and FIV (feline equivalent of HIV) and even HIV have decimated lion populations in the last several years. South Africa is espercially hard-hit, with dramatic population losses in the Kruger National Park area. Population estimates for wild lions now number 18-24,000. == A small population of lions lives in the Gir Forest Sanctuary of India. This population of lions has come back from a very low number to about 350 animals. Very recently, a new sanctuary has been declared for the lion in this area, giving them more room to spread out without causing conflicts with humans. Suprisingly, certain tribes of people coexist more or less peacefully with the lion in these sanctuaries. Still, the Asiatic lion is highly endangered. Another factor that has led to severe losses in lion population in some areas is hunting. It has always been the norm for hunters to take male lions. When a pride male is killed, new males take over the pride and kill the cubs. This effectively stops the pride from producing new adults for 18 months to two years. Also, the tendency to select bigger-maned lion while hunting has resulted in an overall decrease in mane size among wild lions. As a result of these factors, many countries in Africa have banned lion hunting, or severely restricted it. The lion is the only big cat that is not considered an endangered species (Asiatic lion excepted). It is listed in CITES appendix II as a 'threatened species'. This means that there are some restrictions in international trade of lions and their parts. But with the current sharp decrease in lion populations, endangered status is probably not far down the road. Subspeciation in lions is a subject of much debate. It is looking more and more like there are two, perhaps three subspecies of lions instead of the seven mentioned above. The Barbary Lion Reintroduction Program has been studying the genetics of lions off and on now for some years. They have yet to be sucessful in finding a genetic marker for the Barbary lion. In the end, it may be that we will identify Barbary lions (or any other lion 'subspecies') by their phenotypic (appearance) traits. Luckily, many African nations have set aside large game reserves for thier most important national treasure- their wildlife. This, of course, includes lions. These parks bring thousands of tourists, and hard foreign cash with them, each year. But, pressure from farmers may erode the areas in some of these parks. Poachers have killed much wildlife in recent years, and some parks have experienced all-out 'wars' between rangers, poachers, and even local native tribes. Man's intervention in natural ecosystems can also cause serious problems. In 1994, canine distemper- introduced accidently by man- wiped out a third of the Serengeti's lions. Although this epidemic is now under control, the damage has been done. Luckily, lions have a lot of reproductive potential, and numbers should return to normal within a generation or two. In South Africa, Tubercelosis is now wiping out out many lions. Unlike canine distemper, Tubercelosis can be carried naturally in some lion prey species (Namely Cape Buffalo) and will be much harder to control. India has a small population of the Asiatic lion. The 250 or so members of this group are all that remain of the lions that once roamed all of the Middle East and Asia. These lions are more tolerant of man than their Afircan counterparts. That makes them easy to study. But at the same time, they get into trouble when they wander into town. Just imagine finding a lion going through your garbage can! Asiatic lions are a bit smaller than their African counterparts, and the males tend to have scruffier manes. In South Africa, the value of their wildlife is now being recognized by businesspeople. Many large (50,000 acres or more) reserves for lions and other animals have been set up all over the country, and many smaller ones exist as well. Some of these private reserves run lion conservation breeding programs and seek to strengthen the bloodlines of captive lions. Some of the unneeded animals are then turned loose on these large reserves and hunted (not to be confused with so-called 'canned hunting', which the operators of thes reserves hate) by hunters who pay a large price for the privelige. This gives the lion a fair chance (A lion typically lives from six months to two years in the 'wild' before being sucessfully hunted.), and gives the hunter a challenge identical to hunting a truly wild lion. And, since the population of the lions is controlled by other means, this kind of hunting does not cause the kind of reproductiove problems that hunting wild lions does. The proceeds from the hunting are then funneled back into the breeding program, and it becomes self-sustaining. At least one of these programs is now big enough where it can supply quality lion genetic materials (semen, etc.) to breeders all over the world. In fact the game reserve programs in South Africa are now so sucessful that there are now more lions in private reserves in Africa than there are living in the wild. Zoos are more and more becoming a safe holdout for predators. Far from the caged showcases they used to be, modern zoos seek to preserve and strengthen the bloodlines of the animals they care for. Many zoos try to keep their animals on tracts of land that resemble their natural habitat. Indeed, there are far more siberian tigers in zoos than now exist in the wild! (There is a long ways to go with lions, though, in terms of building population reserves of known bloodlines. Unfortunately, some of the efforts by the largest zoos has been nearly self-defeating due to an overbearing requirements for 'subspecies purity'-- they have taken it too far the other direction.) The day may come when we will rebuild natural populations from zoo animals. (Land has already been obtained for a place to bring back the Barbary lion as soon as it is agreed on what is a 'Barbary lion', and suitable numbers of them have been bred in captivity.) Work by people like the Adamsons (of 'Born Free' fame) will help us to more easily accomplish this difficult task. The sad truth, however, is that suitable habitat for the African lion is disappearing, and we may someday only have captive lions. (So, now is the time to learn how to properly care for them in captivity.) Another emerging resource in the battle to preserve the lion for posterity is the private amimal owner. Although certainly not commonplace, there are quite a number of private individuals who raise big cats for a variety of purposes. Their expertise often exceeds that of large zoos. In fact, a substantial portion of the lions captive genetic potential lies among these people, and the day must come when the large and the small facilities join together in preserving the captive genetic diversity of the African lion. One problem with private ownership is that there are occasional situations where a lion or other big cat is abused, or is improperly caged, allowed to escape, injures or kills someone, etc. It needs to be recognized that this is not the rule with these people, but the exception. Unfortunately, animals rights groups and the media tens to blow incidents involving big cats way out of proportion in their goal to either ban ownership of all animals, or to sell newspapers. The damage that is being done to responsible owners by these actions must be recognized and stopped. As a result of the aforementioned actions by the media and animal rights groups, a wave of legislation is being introduced in this country to ban private ownership of lions and other large felines. Unfortunately, the important message of the role that responsible private lion owners play is not being heard by legislators. This may mean that the biggest threat to captive lions populations in this country might actually be a legal one.