Wildlife Poaching In Africa

Photocredit: sciencemag.org

The African lion is 4.5 to 6.5 feet (1.4 to 2 meters) long from its head to its rump, and its tail measures from 26.25 to 39.5 inches (67 to 100 centimeters) long. They typically weigh 265 to 420 lbs. (120 to 191 kilograms) and can be found in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They eat large animals that they find in the grasslands, including antelopes, zebras and wildebeest.

African lions are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species because their numbers are decreasing. Their current population is estimated at 30,000 to 100,000; almost cut in half in the past two decades because of retaliatory killings by farmers (whose livestock the lions eat), as well as from trophy hunting and habitat loss. According to the African Wildlife Foundation, Africa’s lion population has decreased in size by approximately 42 percent during the past two decades.