By: Giovanni Gonzalez / Staff Writer
The lion population in Africa has declined from about 450,000, to less than 20,000 over the past 50 years according to a recent TED.com talk. This is a massive plunge in their numbers, and these big cats are more to Africa than just any other endangered species.
Lions are having trouble keeping their populations up while humans interfere not only with their habitats, but with the lions themselves. The loss of this species would disturb the balance of Africa’s entire ecosystem and have lasting effects on its economy as well.
Humans are the single biggest threat to the declining population of lions. When just one lion is hunted for sport or killed by a farmer protecting his cattle, it sends a reverberating effect to the nearby population. When a male is removed from his pride, another male steps in to take his place and usually kills all of the cubs fathered by the previous male. The new male may go as far as killing some adult females as well if they interfere, which can lead to upwards of 25 lions being killed, according to researchers Beverly and Dereck Joubert. Although this scenario happens naturally, humans are speeding up the process by removing males from their prides and allowing new males to take over with no resistance.
We may see the last few lions on Earth caged in zoos in as little as 15 years if nothing is done to remedy their declining population. When an apex predator like the lion is removed from the ecosystem, populations of their prey increase and overgraze the land. This, in turn, hurts all animals in the ecosystem, in addition to harming the water systems. If these human – predator conflicts are the deciding factor in whether entire ecosystems fall, then Africans who have contact with lions have a responsibility to form a less violent relationship with them.
Africa’s safari and ecotourism business brings the nation about $80 billion a year, according to www.defenders.org. Although lions are not the only animal people come to see, they can be considered a main event. Without lions, Africa’s ecotourism is expected to drop off dramatically, depriving the nation of much-needed business. Not only do the lions play a huge part in their ecosystems, but play a role in serving the very people that are killing them off.
Without lions to promote ecotourism, many parts of Africa will be much worse off economically and will require more aid from other countries. It is apparent how the loss of these creatures can have effects all around the world.
It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure the survival of all endangered species. Although it seems people grow apart from nature as time goes on, we are still a part of nature and must do what we can to support it, especially when we are the ones destroying it in the first place. Our carelessness will surely catch up with us should we let these animals disappear.
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