Lions could become extinct in 10-20 years
It’s not easy being king. In fact, it’s a lot worst than most of us think. In the 1950s, the lion population was 450,000 strong. Today there may be as few as 20,000 lions left. And if the situation doesn’t change dramatically, we could be looking at extinction within 10 to 20 years.
But it may not come to this, according to conservationist Dereck Joubert, Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society and maker of the 2011 film The Last Lions. (If you watch the YouTube trailer for it, National Geographic will donate 10 cents to a lion and big cat conservation in Botswana! So watch! And watch again!). Here, TakePart speaks with Joubert to find out the truth about lions today.
Dereck Joubert: It happened because of people, and it continues to happen to lions for the same reason. We have 7 billion people and 20,000 lions. We have to be extremely careful about the power we exert on the planet and its occupants.
We are working on a study, and early results show that the deaths to lions right now is a mixed bag of causes, starting with trophy or safari hunting and cattle and lion conflicts, where herders retaliate once lions kill cattle. Trade in lion bones is becoming the next big thing. South Africa has released 1,000 lions as skeletons into the market, and that creates a market in itself. Habitat erosion and destruction due to farming, slash and burn, is another issue.
http://news.yahoo.com/king-extinction-lions-could-gone-10-20-years-204113853.html
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