Asia’s New Taste for African Lion Bones Threatens Conservation Efforts

The Herald Sun

Lion bones have become a hot commodity for their use in Asian traditional medicine, driving up exports from South Africa to the East and creating new fears of the survival of the species.

Conservationists are already angry over lion trophy hunting.

The skeletons are mostly shipped to Vietnam and Laos, feeding conservationists’ fears that the market will drive up lion poaching – just as the illegal hunting of rhinos escalates for their horns, also popular in Asian traditional remedies.

Lions vs. Cattle: Taste Aversion Could Solve African Predator Problem

Scientific American (John R. Platt)

“After coexisting for thousands of years, humans and African lions (Panthera leo) are on a collision course. Lion populations have dropped from 450,000 animals 50 years ago to as few as 20,000 today. Most of that decline has taken place over the past two decades, and experts are now predicting that the big cats could actually go extinct in as little as 10 to 20 more years.

Threats to lions come on many fronts—including hunting by American trophy seekers, poaching for use in traditional Asian medicine, disease and pesticide poisoning—but the biggest danger occurs when lions encroach upon livestock. Cattle farms have taken over much of the African savanna and grasslands, thus pushing aside lions’ natural prey such as impalas, zebras and buffalo. Rather than following the prey to new territories, many lions simply turn to its nearest replacement—cattle. But when lions kill cattle, it affects peoples’ livelihoods, and the lions are the ones that often end up paying the price with their lives as farmers shoot or poison the troublesome beasts.

African Lions Under Threat From a Growing Predator: the American Hunter

The Guardian

United States now biggest market for lion hunting trophies, wildlife coalition warns

“American hunters are emerging as a strong and growing threat to the survival of African lions, with demand for trophy rugs and necklaces driving the animals towards extinction, a coalition of wildlife organisations has said.

Demand for hunting trophies, such as lion skin rugs, and a thriving trade in animal parts in the US and across the globe have raised the threat levels for African lions, which are already under assault because of conflicts with local villagers and shrinking habitat.

Sumatran Tiger Cubs Found in Threatened Forest

World Wildlife Fund

“WWF camera traps recorded 12 tigers in just two months in the central Sumatran landscape of Bukit Tigapuluh, including the mothers and cubs in this video. The forests where these tigers live face the looming threat of being cleared by the pulp and paper industry.

It is estimated that only around 400 Sumatran tigers are left in the wild. The Sumatran tiger and the other five surviving tiger subspecies – the Amur, Malayan, Bengal, Indochinese and South China – number as few as 3,200, compared to 100,000 a century ago.”