Lions Face Extinction in West Africa
Lions in West Africa are on the brink of extinction, new research suggests.
Fewer than 250 adults may be left in West Africa, and those big cats are confined to less than 1 percent of their historic range.
The new study, detailed in the journal PLOS ONE, suggests that without dramatic conservation efforts, three of the four West African lion populations could become extinct in the next five years, with further declines in the one remaining population, study co-author Philipp Henschel, the lion program survey coordinator for Panthera, a global wildcat conservation organization wrote.
The West African lions are genetically distinct from their brethren in other regions of the continent and are closely related to Barbary lions of North Africa and the few Asiatic lions left in India.
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