Inventory of free-ranging lions Panthera leo in Africa
Open accessAbstract
The number of free ranging African lions Panthera leo has never been comprehensively assessed. We present an inventory of available information, covering most protected areas and ranging in quality from educated guesses to individually known populations. This gives a conservative estimate of 16,500–30,000 free ranging lions in Africa. The inventory shows that populations are small and fragmented in West and Central Africa, whereas the species still occurs widely in East and Southern Africa. The results concur with the current IUCN Red List categorization of the lion as Vulnerable.
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In 2008, large carnivore densities in the remaining private LUT were comparable to those found in protected areas elsewhere.
“In 2008, large carnivore densities in the remaining private LUT were comparable to those found in protected areas elsewhere (Bailey, 2005; Bauer & Van Der Merwe, 2004; Ivan, White & Shenk, 2013; Mills & Hofer, 1998; Thorn et al., 2009; Woodroffe, McNutt & Mills, 2004).”
From The impact of land reform on the status of large carnivores in Zimbabwe (2016) · cites this paper as Bauer & Van Der Merwe, 2004
The Inventory of African lions (Table 1; page not supplied) gives lion population estimates for protected areas, providing some context for a density comparison. It does not compare those estimates with large-carnivore densities in the remaining private LUT in 2008, and its data concern lions rather than large carnivores generally. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Defaunation in the Anthropocene
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The impact of land reform on the status of large carnivores in Zimbabwe
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- Authors
- Bauer, H., & Van Der Merwe, S.
- Affiliations
- Leiden University (NL)
- ORCID
- Bauer, H.
- Venue
- Oryx
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2004-01
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 26-31
- ISSN
- 0030-6053 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-3008
- OpenAlex
- W2098121012
- Cited by
- 180
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 5.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Oryx (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecological Modeling › Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Keywords
- African lion, lion, population inventory, population estimates, population fragmentation, protected areas, IUCN Red List, vulnerable species, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa
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