Editing Lion (section)

===In Africa===
[[File:Lion.ogv|thumb|right|Video of a wild lioness]]

Several large and well-managed protected areas in Africa host large lion populations. Where an infrastructure for wildlife tourism has been developed, cash revenue for park management and local communities is a strong incentive for lion conservation.<ref name="IUCN" /> Most lions now live in East and Southern Africa; their numbers are rapidly decreasing, and fell by an estimated 30–50% in the late half of the 20th century. Primary causes of the decline include disease and human interference.<ref name=IUCN/> In 1975, it was estimated that since the 1950s, lion numbers had decreased by half to 200,000 or fewer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Myers |first1=N. |year=1975 |title=The silent savannahs |journal=International Wildlife |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=5–10 }}</ref> Estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002–2004.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=H. |last2=Van Der Merwe |first2=S. |year= 2002 |title=The African lion database |journal=Cat News |volume=36 |pages=41–53}}</ref><ref name=Chardonnet2002>{{Cite book |last=Chardonnet|first=P. |year=2002|title=Conservation of African lion |url=http://conservationforce.org/pdf/conservationoftheafricanlion.pdf |publisher=International Foundation for the Conservation of Wildlife|location=Paris, France |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110184540/http://conservationforce.org/pdf/conservationoftheafricanlion.pdf}}</ref>

In the [[Republic of the Congo]], [[Odzala-Kokoua National Park]] was considered a lion stronghold in the 1990s. By 2014, no lions were recorded in the protected area so the population is considered locally extinct.<ref name=carn>{{cite journal |last1=Henschel |first1=P. |last2=Malanda |first2=G.-A. |last3=Hunter |first3=L. |title=The status of savanna carnivores in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, northern Republic of Congo |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=2014 |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=882−892 |doi=10.1644/13-mamm-a-306  |doi-access=free }}{{open access}}</ref> The West African lion population is isolated from the one in Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals. In 2015, it was estimated that this population consists of about 400 animals, including fewer than 250 mature individuals. They persist in three protected areas in the region, mostly in one population in the [[W National Park|W]] [[Arli National Park|A]] [[Pendjari National Park|P]] protected area complex, shared by [[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Niger]]. This population is listed as [[Critically Endangered]].<ref name=Henschel2015/> Field surveys in the [[W-Arly-Pendjari Complex|WAP ecosystem]] revealed that lion occupancy is lowest in the W National Park, and higher in areas with permanent staff and thus better protection.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Henschel |first1=P. |last2=Petracca |first2=L. S. |last3=Hunter |first3=L. T. |last4=Kiki |first4=M. |last5=Sewadé |first5=C. |last6=Tehou |first6=A. |last7=Robinson |first7=H. S. |year=2016 |title=Determinants of distribution patterns and management needs in a critically endangered lion ''Panthera leo'' population |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=4 |issue=4 |page=110 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2016.00110 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2016FrEEv...4..110H }}</ref>

A population occurs in Cameroon's [[Waza National Park]], where between approximately 14 and 21 animals persisted as of 2009.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tumenta |first1=P. N. |last2=Kok |first2=J. S. |last3=van Rijssel |first3=J. C. |last4=Buij |first4=R. |last5=Croes |first5=B. M. |last6=Funston |first6=P. J. |last7=de Iongh |first7=H. H. |last8=de Haes |first8=H. A. Udo |year=2009 |title=Threat of rapid extermination of the lion (''Panthera leo leo'') in Waza National Park, Northern Cameroon |journal=African Journal of Ecology |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2009.01181.x |pages=1–7 |volume=48 |issue=4|hdl=1887/14372 |s2cid=56451273 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In addition, 50 to 150 lions are estimated to be present in Burkina Faso's [[Arly-Singou]] ecosystem.<ref name="Bauer & van der Merwe">{{Cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=H. |last2=Van Der Merwe |first2=S. |doi=10.1017/S0030605304000055 |title=Inventory of free-ranging lions ''Panthera leo'' in Africa |journal=Oryx |volume=38 |year=2004 |issue=1 |pages=26–31|doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2015, an adult male lion and a female lion were sighted in Ghana's [[Mole National Park]]. These were the first sightings of lions in the country in 39 years.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Angelici |first1=F. M. |last2=Rossi |first2=L. |year=2017 |title=Further lion, ''Panthera leo senegalensis'' Meyer, 1826, sightings in Mole National Park, Ghana, and possible first serval ''Leptailurus serval'' Schreber, 1776 record after 39 years (Mammalia Felidae) |journal=Biodiversity Journal |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=749–752 |url=http://www.biodiversityjournal.com/pdf/8(2)_749-752.pdf |access-date=9 March 2018 |archive-date=10 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310074200/http://www.biodiversityjournal.com/pdf/8(2)_749-752.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the same year, a population of up to 200 lions that was previously thought to have been [[Local extinction|extirpated]] was filmed in the [[Alatash National Park]], Ethiopia, close to the Sudanese border.<ref name="NewScientist2016">{{cite magazine|magazine=New Scientist|last=Wong|first=S. |title=Hidden population of up to 200 lions found in remote Ethiopia|date=2016|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2075740-hidden-population-of-up-to-200-lions-found-in-remote-ethiopia/|access-date=2 February 2016|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201230053/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2075740-hidden-population-of-up-to-200-lions-found-in-remote-ethiopia/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC Ethiopian lion, 2016">{{cite news|date=2016|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35460573|title=Lions rediscovered in Ethiopia's Alatash National Park|publisher=BBC News|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201144220/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35460573|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005, Lion Conservation Strategies were developed for West and Central Africa, and or East and Southern Africa. The strategies seek to maintain suitable habitat, ensure a sufficient wild prey base for lions, reduce factors that lead to further fragmentation of populations, and make lion–human coexistence sustainable.<ref>{{cite book |title=Conservation Strategy for the Lion West and Central Africa |publisher=IUCN |author=IUCN Cat Specialist Group |year=2006 |location=Yaounde, Cameroon |url=http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_West_and_Central_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919114530/http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_West_and_Central_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-date=19 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=IUCN Cat Specialist Group |year=2006 |title=Conservation Strategy for the Lion ''Panthera leo'' in Eastern and Southern Africa |publisher=IUCN |location=Pretoria, South Africa |url=http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_East_and_South_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619001314/http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_East_and_South_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-date=19 June 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lion depredation on livestock is significantly reduced in areas where herders keep livestock in improved enclosures. Such measures contribute to mitigating [[human–lion conflict]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Assessment and mitigation of human-lion conflict in West and Central Africa |author1=Bauer, H. |author2=de Iongh, H. |author3=Sogbohossou, E. |journal=Mammalia |year=2010 |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=363–367 |doi=10.1515/MAMM.2010.048|s2cid=86228533 }}</ref>