These research results confirm the drastic loss of African savannah and the severe decline in the number of remaining lions, said Big Cats Initiative Grants Committee Chair Thomas E. Lovejoy, University Professor for Environmental Science Public Policy at George Mason University and Biodiversity Chair of The Heinz Center. Immediate and major action is required to save lion populations in Africa.
Immediate and major action is required to save lion populations in Africa.
African savannahs are defined by the researchers as those areas that receive between 300 and 1500 mm of rain annually. These savannahs conjure up visions of vast open plains, said Stuart Pimm, co-author of the paper who holds the Chair of conservation at Duke University. The reality is that from an original area a third larger than the continental United States, only 25 percent remains. In comparison, 30 percent of the worlds original rain forests remain.
Lions in West Africa are at highest level of risk, Pimm and the other researchers found. The lions in West Africa are essentially gone, said Pimm. Only a radical effort can save them at this stage.
Stuart Pimm is also a member of the Big Cats Initiative Grants Committee and a regular blogger for National Geographic News Watch. We interview him here about the research released this week.
Your study found that the population of wild lions in Africa plunged by two-thirds in 50 years. Whats the methodology to determine the populations then and now?
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