Lions are a significant part of the animal population in Africa, it is rare not to mention them when referring to the wildlife that exists in the African continent. They mainly inhabit the open savanna, woodland and grassland regions. They now only exist in the "southern, eastern, central and sub-Saharan regions of Africa"(Murphy 70). The IFAW reports that the numbers of the African lion are declining, making them present in only a few countries. .
Estimates show that currently, the lion population is less than 40,000 yet, less than one hundred years ago, there would have been approximately 200,000 (www.ifaw.org). The born free USA Organization shares a similar point of view by noting that, during the past 22 years, the population of the African lion (Panthera Leo) has declined by 48.5% and its range has been reduced to a mere 22%. In addition, though the African lion is present in 27 nations, it is very few in numbers and in isolation, which reduces its viability (www.bornfreeusa.org).
A number of reasons are behind the possible extinction of the wild African lion. As the international fund for Animal Welfare points out, "Over the past two decades, the number of African lions has declined by at least 48.5 percent as a result of over-exploitations by recreational trophy hunting and commercial trade, loss of habitat and prey species, retaliatory killings, disease and other human-caused and natural factors" (www.ifaw.org). One of the reasons is that African nations have been trading lions of their parts for trophies of for recreational purposes. This trend of sport hunting and exportation of the lions reduces their population in Africa. The remaining lions often do not find mates for reproduction and birth of a new generation of lions. According to Braun, "from 1998 through 2008, at least 7,445 wild lions were traded internationally with the United States importing a minimum of 4,021 lions.
