Editing Lion (section)

===Hunting and games===
{{Main|Lion hunting}}
{{See also|Lion baiting}}
[[File:Sculpted reliefs depicting Ashurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king, hunting lions, gypsum hall relief from the North Palace of Nineveh (Irak), c. 645-635 BC, British Museum (16722183731).jpg|thumb|[[Bas-relief]] of a wounded lioness from [[Nineveh]], {{circa|645–635 BC}}]]
Lion hunting has occurred since ancient times and was often a royal tradition, intended to demonstrate the power of the king over nature. Such hunts took place in a reserved area in front of an audience. The monarch was accompanied by his men and controls were put in place to increase their safety and ease of killing. The earliest surviving record of lion hunting is an [[ancient Egypt]]ian inscription dated circa 1380 BC that mentions Pharaoh [[Amenhotep&nbsp;III]] killing 102 lions in ten years "with his own arrows". The [[Assyria]]n emperor [[Ashurbanipal]] had one of his lion hunts depicted on a sequence of [[Assyrian palace reliefs]] {{circa|640 BC}}, known as the [[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]]. Lions were also hunted during the [[Mughal Empire]], where Emperor [[Jahangir]] is said to have excelled at it.<ref name=Jackson156>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], pp. 156–159.</ref> In [[Ancient Rome]], lions were kept by emperors for [[Venatio|hunts]], [[Bestiarii|gladiator fights]] and [[Damnatio ad bestias|executions]].<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 142.</ref>

The [[Maasai people]] have traditionally viewed the killing of lions as a rite of passage. Historically, lions were hunted by individuals, however, due to reduced lion populations, elders discourage solo lion hunts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hazzah |first1=L. |last2=Borgerhoof Mulder |first2=M. |last3=Frank |first3=L. |year=2009 |title=Lions and warriors: Social factors underlying declining African lion populations and the effect of incentive-based management in Kenya |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=142 |issue= 11|pages=2428–2437 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2009.06.006|bibcode=2009BCons.142.2428H }}</ref> During the [[Scramble for Africa|European colonisation of Africa]] in the 19th century, the hunting of lions was encouraged because they were considered pests and lion skins were sold for [[Pound sterling|£1]] each.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 166.</ref> The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century.<ref>[[#Baratay|Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier]], p. 113.</ref> [[Trophy hunting]] of lions in recent years has been met with controversy, notably with the [[killing of Cecil the lion]] in mid-2015.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Capecchi |first1=Christina |last2=Rogers |first2=Katie |title=Killer of Cecil the lion finds out that he is a target now, of internet vigilantism |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 July 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/30/us/cecil-the-lion-walter-palmer.html |access-date=30 July 2015 |archive-date=29 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729215743/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/30/us/cecil-the-lion-walter-palmer.html |url-status=live }}</ref>