Sunday Okobi
On World Lion Day 2023, Wild Africa Fund has urged the Nigerian and West African public to protect lions by reducing illegal bush meat (game) consumption. The fund also made case for a better protection of their shrinking habitat of the lions, and champion anti-poaching measures in order to avoid their extinction, as well as boost West African tourism.
In a statement issued and made available to THISDAY yesterday by the Nigeria Representative for Wild Africa Fund, Festus Iyorah, the organisation said in West Africa, only about 120 to 374 lions are remaining.
It stated that “unlike in southern Africa, where these majestic cats are generally well protected and maintain stable populations, West African lions face extinction, losing 99 percent of their historic range.
“Beyond habitat loss, lions have suffered a decline in prey species such as antelope due to the bushmeat trade and are frequently killed in retaliation for preying on livestock.
Additionally, the snares and traps set for game often injure and kill lions.”
Wild Africa Fund said in Nigeria, the fewer than 50 lions left in the wild life are found in Kainji Lake National Park and the Yankari Games Reserve, both in northern Nigeria, while in Ghana, several researchers have tried to find lions in the wild without success.
According to Iyorah, “They have disappeared completely in several West African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Mali, and Sierra Leone. West African lions might disappear forever if we don’t urgently address the threats they face.
“If we can protect their habitats more effectively, they could bounce back and boost our tourism.”
Iyorah said Wild Africa Fund believes it is possible to halt the decline of lions and restore their numbers following the lead of countries that have brought lion populations back from the brink of extinction.
He said in Rwanda, lions were wiped out in the 1990s during the civil war and the 1994 genocide. Subsequently, farmers who settled on land previously inhabited by lions poisoned them to protect livestock.
After over a decade of absence, seven lions were reintroduced from South Africa to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park in 2015, followed by two more male lions added to the park in 2017.
