I have once more
uploaded a paper that I wrote for my AP Environmental Science class. This one
is about how the African lion populations are becoming threatened. I not only
included facts, but also my personal opinion about the issue. Since this is a
short paper, please consider researching more about this
matter because I only covered U.S Fish and Wildlife Service's point
of view. I have also posted many ways to help save the African lion from
extinction in the future.
Threatened African Lion: Are Humans at
Fault?
The
majectic African lion, known scientifically as Panthera leo leo, is likely to become extinct by the year of 2050,
according to Dan Ashe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director. The agency has
officially proposed that the African lions receive protection under the
Endangered Species Act, which has the responsibility to protect and recover
imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. There are various
threats lions currently face including habitat loss, loss of their prey due to
bushmeat trade, human-lion conflict, and sport hunting.
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to list these lions as threatened, other
than endangered, to allow the U.S. government to provide training and
assistance for conservation efforts and for the gradual restriction of the lion
parts trade and lion trophies into the country. With a population as low as
34,000 animals in Africa, lions face major problems since its populations have
been reduced by 50 percent from three decades ago and it is still declining.
Moreover, according to Ashe, lion populations in West Africa have been almost
decimated to the point of local extinction.
With
a growing human population of sub-Saharan Africa, it is expected that the lion
habitat will be converted to agriculture, and the hunting of its prey called wild
ungulates will increase. As a consequence, hungry lions are likely to attack
livestock and be killed by furious farmers. Furthermore, according to the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the biggest threats lions
face are these attacks by cattle farmers, who want to annihilate as many lions
as possible, in order to protect their livestock.
Another
threat for the lion populations is the sport hunting that occurs in 16 of the
20 countries in which lions are located. Numbers of trophies brought from
Africa to the U.S. by American hunters doubled between the years of 1999 and
2008. According to Ashe, the sport hunting does not threaten the species,
because revenues from the hunt support conservation. However, through my life
experience I have learned that there are several lion farms in Africa leading
to the trade in lion cubs to lion parks. These parks are often called sanctuaries
for the rehabilitation of lion cubs that are meant to “go back to the wild.”
While volunteers pay a huge amount of money in order to go to these places
where they get to pet cubs and walk with the adult lions, they think that they
are actually helping lion conservation. Unfortunately, what happens is that the
poor cubs end up being bought when they get a little older by the canned
hunting industry. Then, they are hunted and killed in controlled situations.
Even though, Ashe’s opinion supports the hunting of lions for trophies, I
believe this is extremely wrong and it is definitely a threat to the species
mainly because the farms are breeding thousands of lions with close relatives
posing a threat to the genetic variability of the species. Also, many of these
cubs are being born weak and sick leading to the spread of disease.
Sick lion cubs in Ukutula Lion Park, South Africa |
In
conclusion, lions are threatened in Africa mainly due to habitat loss, loss of
their prey due to bushmeat trade, human-lion conflict, and sport hunting. Humans
are at fault mostly because all the problems lions face are due to human
activities. Even though the article is being informative, it should present
more solutions and ways of preserving the African lion species, other than
acquiring revenues for its conservation through sport hunting.
Ways you can help:
Go to Volunteers in Africa Beware Facebook Page where they help the future volunteers avoid the trap of breeding lion farms masquerading as conservation facilities ---https://www.facebook.com/volunteersbeware
Watch The Con in Conservation episode about hand raised lion cubs that end up in canned hunt from SABC Digital News --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hav-1GuVcWQ&app=desktop
Watch Jason Wood's speech --- https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=547847185326287&set=vb.352953834815624&type=2&theater and join him in the fight against canned hunting --- http://jasonwood.com.au/issues/canned-hunting/stopcannedhuntingnow/
Works Cited
Platt, John R. "African Lions Face Extinction by 2050,
Could Gain Endangered
Species Act protection." Scientific American. 27 October 2014.
Web. 23 October 2014.