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Happy World Lion Day!
These majestic creatures embody courage, strength, and pride. Lions are graceful, powerful, and mesmerizing animals. With their muscular bodies, beautiful manes, and insanely powerful roars, they are respected far and wide as the king of the jungle.
The Lion (Panthera Leo) is the second largest cat in the world, weighing upwards of 420 pounds. They are active during darker, cooler hours and spend an average of twenty hours a day sleeping, grooming, and resting.
Lions are social animals, and they are the only big cat species to live in groups. These large groups are called prides, and they have a complex social structure.
Who runs the pride? Girls! Unlike many other mammals, female lions dominate their family units. Lionesses are responsible for hunting, protecting their young, and finding resources such as watering holes. All lionesses in a pride are related and stay together for life, while male lions earn their place in the pride by battling the previous males.
Once integrated into a new pride, the male lion will stay in that pride for three to five years before moving on to another. Males are primarily responsible for protecting their pride and territory, to keep them safe from intruders.
Despite popular belief, Africa isn't the only place lions exist! Today, wild lion populations exist not only in Sub-Saharan Africa, but also in the Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in India, where only 600 individuals remain. However, if we traveled back in time, we would witness lions roaming through Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Europe, Northern Africa, and Southwest Asia.
In the last century alone, the world tragically lost over 90% of lions from their historic ranges. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists lion populations as vulnerable, meaning they are on the brink of becoming endangered. Scientists estimate that there are approximately 23,000-39,000 individuals left in the world, with declining numbers.
Why are we seeing such drastic declines in lion populations? Human activity threatens wildlife every day, and unfortunately lion populations are no exception from the destruction we cause. Lions are at risk due to agricultural processes, logging, war, habitat destruction, urbanization, prey depletion, poaching, and trophy hunting.
Growing populations of humans increase pressure on these animals. Urbanization of their habitats can create areas where humans are dangerously close to lions. With tensions rising between humans and lions, it is essential to act now to ensure the survival of this species.
During my studies in conservation biology, I learned that the mitigation of human-lion conflict is the most important action we can take. To save lions from extinction, we must end the cruel decimation of their populations from poaching and trophy hunting.
Conservationists are working diligently to protect areas where lions can live free of these devastating threats. Constant research, monitoring and relocation help protect lion populations. Continued conservation efforts and increased awareness of the dangers lions face are two essential weapons in the fight for their lives.
World Lion Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate lions and learn more about the ways in which we can advocate for the protection of this magnificent species.
Even from afar, we can contribute to the success and survival of lions! Listed below are some great resources for more information and wonderful conservation organizations supporting lion recovery:
Lion Recovery Fund: https://www.lionrecoveryfund.org/
IUCN Redlist lion facts: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15951/115130419
African Wildlife Foundation: https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/lion
National Geographic Big Cats: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/big-cats/
Panthera: https://panthera.org/cat/lion
African Parks: https://www.africanparks.org/
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