90 percent of African lions have been lost in a century and have become extinct in 26 countries, warns the environmental organization WWF in the framework of the celebration of World Lion Day and warns of the situation of vulnerability in which this big cat is.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), in the last 25 years the number of African lions has been reduced by half, leaving between 20,000 and 30,000 in the wild, distributed in only a tenth of its historical territory, according to a statement from the NGO.
In the last century, 90% of specimens disappeared.
This big cat is included as "vulnerable" in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the step prior to its inclusion in the category of "endangered".
Among the biggest threats to these animals, WWF points to habitat loss, illegal trafficking and trade, lack of food and competition with humans for wild prey, as well as poaching or conflicts with local ranchers.
A fundamental animal in nature
The African lion has a fundamental role in the balance of biodiversity as one of the largest predators that it is, maintaining healthy populations of herbivores, such as zebras or giraffes.
They have already become extinct in 26 countries (EFE).
According to WWF, as control over the trafficking of other animals such as the tiger or elephant increases, the lion has emerged as a new victim of poaching and illegal trafficking.
There are only about 25,000 left in the wild.
The illegal trafficking and trade of species, in which Spain is one of the European actors for being a key point in international transit for the passage of flora and fauna, has led WWF to launch since 2017 the campaign "Stop trafficking of species", in order to publicize the situation and involve citizens in the fight against this crime against nature.
From the NGO they warn that these felines "are persecuted, poisoned, trapped, hunted to be sold in clandestine markets for the commercialization of their skulls, skins, teeth or fat, as well as their claws as elements of costume jewelry.
They make wine with lion bones
In addition, they emphasize that in some Asian countries "wine is made with lion bones as a symbol of social status."
They recall that the trafficking of species "is equivalent" to that of drugs and weapons and "can move between 10,000 and 20,000 million euros a year", but is "much less risky and persecuted", they say, although it generates a similar social and economic impact, in addition to the corresponding impact on biodiversity.
They are distributed in only one tenth of its historical territory.
With the creation of reserves and protected areas for lions and all the wildlife with which they live, WWF seeks the protection of biodiversity, as in Soknot (southern Kenya and northern Tanzania), where they have launched a project to reverse the situation and double the number of specimens by 2050.
The African lion plays a fundamental role in the balance of biodiversity by maintaining healthy populations of herbivores (Shutterstock).
In addition, WWF points out that in conservation areas in Namibia, together with several partners, they develop different programs focused on allowing the life in freedom of African lions, projects in which they work with local communities to raise awareness of the life of the cats among farmers, forest rangers and researchers.
Likewise, the conservation NGO fights against poachers and different awareness projects have been launched that have managed to get some of them to become park rangers.
EFE Agency.
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