How Many Lions Are Left In The World?

It is impossible to give an exact number of lions left in the world. The only figures relating to the numbers of lions in the world available state that over the last century, lion populations have declined not only drastically, but most likely irreversibly, from more than 100,000 to about 23,000.

• Defending Lions in the Wild

Large proportions of lions left in the world inhabit areas outside of national parks, reserves or zoos, etc. This makes it extremely difficult to establish their exact numbers, or to provide any kind of protection for them.

• The Human Threat

The decreasing number of lions in the world is partly due to human expansion. As the human population increases, more and more of the lion's habitat is taken over. Farmers kill lions at every opportunity in order to protect their livestock. In addition, lions have frequently been known to catch various diseases from livestock.

Then, of course, there are the trophy hunters. Unfortunately, several African countries still allow this lunacy, and where it is illegal, poachers ply their evil trade. There are also some African tribes who regard the hunting of lions as an important ritual.

• Other Threats

Injuries caused by large prey during hunting, or in fights with other predators, as well as the taking of cubs by other predators, such as leopards and hyenas, also affect how many lions are left in the world.

The lion's own behavior also has an impact on how many lions are in the world. Fights between male lions often lead to fatal injuries, and male lions taking over a pride from an older male tend to kill existing cubs. Due to the huge distances often found between prides, inbreeding has also become a problem in keeping up numbers of lion left in world.