PC: Pietro Luraschi, Ruaha Carnivore Project
The African lion (Panthera leo) population has declined nearly 90% in the last five decades.
They have gone extinct from 26 countries and now occur in only 8% of their original range.
More than 50% of their remaining range is in non-protected, community areas.
The main threats to lions include:
Human-lion conflict (retaliatory killings and poaching)
Targeted and inadvertent snaring and poisoning
Habitat loss
Prey-based depletion
There are now fewer wild lions left than rhinos.
Furthermore, conservationists are often working in isolation, competing for the same limited funding and resources, and lacking an effective way to share information with colleagues. The Pride Alliance aims to prove a new, effective model of collaboration to strengthen conservation efforts and influence future conservationists.