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Trinkel, M.; Angelici, F.M.
The decline in the lion population in Africa and possible mitigation measures
2016 Book Chapter
During the late Pleistocene lions _Panthera leo_ spp. ranged all over Africa, Eurasia, and some parts of North America (Steele 2007 ; Barnett et al. 2009a , b ). Today African lions only occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, where they have suffered a marked reduction of range and population sizes (Nowell and Jackson 1996 ). Over the last century the lion, classified as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List (Bauer et al. 2012 ), has lost about 82 % of its former distribution range (Ray et al. 2005 ). There are strong indications that lion populations are declining: current population estimates range from 23,000 to 38,000 free-ranging lions living in 68 lion areas (Fig. 3.1 ) (Chardonnet 2002 ; Bauer and Van Der Merwe 2004 ; Riggio et al. 2013 ). Approximately 24,000 lions are in strongholds, but about 6000 lions are living in populations with a high risk of local extinction, of which about 3000 are in West and Central Africa (Riggio et al. 2013 ).
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