The targetedpoaching of lions for their body partsis emerging as a major threat, putting African lion conservation at a critical crossroads, a newstudyhas found. Urgent action is needed because this represents a “potentially existential threat to the species,” the authors warned. Published last week inConservation Letters, the research was conducted by scientists from organisations including theEndangered Wildlife Trust, theMammal Research Instituteat the University of Pretoria, the Wildlife Conservation Network, the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford, Panthera andAfrican Parks.
Lions have suffered one of the largest range declines of all carnivores. Only about 25 000 adult and sub-adult lions remain, occupying roughly 6% of their historic range. Threats include habitat loss, the depletion of their prey, retaliatory killings, cultural hunting,bycatch in snaresand poorly regulated trophy hunting.
Even in protected areas, prey depletion andbushmeat snarespose serious risks. Many African countries have set aside significant protected areas that could support three to four times the current lion population if they were adequately funded and managed. “The challenge will be ensuring the persistence of lions and other wildlife through the next few decades,” the authors said, noting rapid human human and livestock population growth, weak governance in many countries, widespread political instability and chronic underfunding of conservation.
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Over the past decade, reports of targeted poaching for lion body parts have increased, driven by local and transnational demand for traditional medicine and cultural practices, much of it supplied through the illegal wildlife trade. While lion parts have been used for thousands of years, the trade appears to be changing. Although most parts are likely sourced opportunistically from natural deaths or other human-caused mortalities, direct and deliberate poaching is becoming “increasingly prevalent”, the study said.
Expanding cultural use within Africa, combined with persistent demand in Asia, has intensified both the scale and intent of poaching. Lions’ communal hunting and feeding behaviour also makes them particularly vulnerable to poisoning, where a single bait can kill multiple animals. The study documented several recent cases in which giraffes were deliberately killed and used as poisoned bait to attract lions, a method that “demonstrates a level of forethought and coordination characteristic of organised poaching networks”.
Poisoning frequently affects other species too, including vultures and eagles. Demand spans cultural, spiritual and commercial purposes across Africa and Asia. Lions are revered for attributes such as strength, power, protection and nobility.
In South Africa, parts are linked to the Umndawu ancestral spirit; in Uganda, fats and oils are used in spiritual practices; skins signify royalty and supernatural power. In western Tanzania and West Africa, lion parts are incorporated into amulets, rituals and commercialised spiritual services, sometimes far from their natural range.
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