Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
lion conservationlatest news & developments
Urgent action: Even in protected areas, prey depletion and bushmeat snares pose serious risks. Many African countries have set aside significant protected areas that could support three to four times the current lion population if they were adequately funded and managed. Photo: Supplied
AFRICAN LIONS

Poaching for body parts poses ‘existential threat’ to lions

Scientists warn that rising demand in Africa and Asia is fuelling targeted poaching and could push some lion populations towards local extinction

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
(File photo by Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images)
ENDANGERED WILDLIFE TRUST

Scientists warn that poaching, drought threaten Kruger lions and hippos

Lion numbers have remained stable from 2015 to 2023, while the population of hippos plunged by more than 2 500 from 2015 to 2017

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read