According to a study published in the scientific journal PNAS, the populations of this big cat are falling rapidly in almost all of Africa , except in small areas defined as natural spaces for wild fauna.
The research, carried out by an international team of zoologists, ecologists and other specialists, yields conclusive data: the number of lions in West, Central and East Africa has a great probability of decreasing by up to 50% within two decades. Only in the south of the continent is there a growth in the populations of this animal, which by 2050 could have disappeared from the savannas that we all identify as its iconic habitat.
According to the authors of the work, the rapidity of the extinction of free specimens could indicate the serious degradation of African ecosystems, where the lion is ceasing to be the predator located at the top of the food chain. To obtain these conclusions, they collected data and observations from 47 lion populations , and crossed them with statistical models and reproduction rates; in this way they found a clear geographic pattern: these cats decline in all their African habitats, except in southern countries (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe).
The researchers indicate that almost all populations of more than 500 specimens are in decline, and emphasize that the successful conservation of those in southern Africa is partly due to the reintroduction of lions in small, fenced and managed reserves with the utmost care. And they warn: if the money destined to maintain the great African natural spaces does not grow with the same intensity as the threats to lions, this species could be confined to a few nuclei in the south of the continent.
