October 31, 2001. Copyright, 2001, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Lions under threat in West and Central Africa

LONDON, October 31, Graphic News:  LIONS may disappear from West and Central Africa in the next 10 years because populations are too small to survive, according to a new report by conservationists.

The two largest groups consist of around 200 lions each in Cameroon and along the borders of Senegal, Mali and Guinea, but other populations are as small as 50. In order for the animals to continue to exist without inbreeding at least 100 breeding pairs, or 500 to 1,000 animals, are needed.

According to 1996 estimates by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), there are between 30,000 and 100,000 lions throughout the African continent but Hans Bauer, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, who has worked in Cameroon for many years, said the real numbers are probably closer to 10,000-30,000.

ÒFor the next century lions will not go extinct but they will be restricted to about a dozen national parks,Ó he said.

Bauer was one of a group of 30 lion experts who met in Cameroon in June to discuss the dwindling lion populations in West and Central Africa.

ÒIn all of West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Chad, there are only 2,000 animals,Ó he said, adding that not all of the groups would survive into the next decade.

Lions need large tracts of land to survive but the experts, known as the African Lion Working Group, say the animals are being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas because more land is being used for agriculture and livestock.

The report, soon to be published on the Internet at www.african-lion.org, calls for the establishment of a database on lion populations in the region. The experts also intend to prepare a lion management handbook and a scheme for the long-term conservation and monitoring of the lions of West and Central Africa.
/ENDS

Source: Reuters, African Lion Working Group