Lion numbers could be halved across Africa by 2035, study warns

[NickB79]

http://news.yahoo.com/lion-numbers-could-halved-across-africa-2035-study-213137142.html

Libreville (AFP) - Lion populations could be halved across much of the African continent within 20 years, with those in west Africa in danger of being wiped out due to hunting and humans' increasing need for cultivated land, a new study says.

The 20-year study, to be published by the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, sounds the alarm over the future of Africa's estimated total of 20,000 of the big cats.

The only exceptions are the intensively managed populations in the southern countries of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, where lion numbers are increasing.

The researchers estimate that in the mid-20th century there were around ten times the present number of lions, 200,000 spread throughout Africa.

What's interesting is that, for all the bad publicity big game hunting gets, the only countries where lion populations are actually doing well are countries that are A) not corrupt beyond belief, and B) actively include legal big game hunting in their conservation management techniques.

[LanternWaste]

1. Which nations are those specifically...?

"the only countries where lion populations are actually doing well are countries..."

Which nations are those specifically, and what objective, peer-reviewed evidence supports your allegation?


http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/08/03/3687425/trophy-hunting/

"There is little evidence that the staggering sums paid by individuals to hunt some of the world’s most endangered animals do not help to sustain local communities or promote conservation. The returns from killing animals — both in terms of profit and longer term gains such as employment — are far more limited than the returns from ecotourism.

"Trophy hunting itself accounts for an average of about two percent of all tourism-related revenues for sub-Saharan African countries. The amount of overall revenue from hunting big game that goes towards community development is only around three percent. That number might even be lower since many of the countries where game hunting is most widely practiced are plagued by corruption that may well undermine the amount of earnings that reach local communities from collectively-held land.

"For the 11 countries where big game hunting is most widely practiced, hunting preserves take up about 15 percent of national territory, but account for less than one percent of their respective country’s GDP. The earnings from tourism overall are up to six times the amount accrued from trophy hunting.