Panthera leo senegalensis

Male West African lions can weigh up to 400 pounds and are 1.7 meters long (excluding tail). What distinguishes male lions from other cats is their distinct manes. The horny spines at the end of the tail are also a distinctive feature. The body is large, the body is uniform, the limbs are medium-long, and the toes are oriented. The head is large and round, the snout is short, and the senses of sight, hearing, and smell are all well developed. The canine teeth and cleft teeth are extremely developed; the upper cleft teeth have three cusps, and the lower cleft teeth have two cusps; the molars are relatively vestigial, and the crown diameter is smaller than the height of the lateral incisors. The fur is soft and often has distinctive patterns. The claws are sharp and retractable (cheetah claws cannot be fully retracted). The tail is more developed.

One of the most important habitat groups is the WAP complex, which consists mainly of the W, Arli and Pendjari National Parks in Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger. Other areas include the Niokolo Koba National Park in Senegal, the Kainji Lake National Park in Nigeria and the Yankari Game Reserve.

The scientific name of the West African lion is Panthera leo senegalensis, and its foreign name is West African lion. It was once widely distributed in the African continent except for the central Sahara Desert and tropical rainforests, and also distributed in small quantities in India. However, due to excessive hunting by humans, lions have disappeared from West Africa. Now they are only distributed in small quantities in East Africa and South Africa, and most of them live in national parks. They are still in danger of extinction.

Lions are the only cats that can really roar, and their roars can be heard eight or nine kilometers away. They are also the only cats that need to live in groups to survive. Lions have excellent eyesight and can spot prey from a long distance. They hunt in groups, which is fast and efficient. Lions mainly prey on ungulates, such as wildebeest, eland, and zebra, and sometimes elephants and rhinos. Drink plenty of water after eating.

Lions are more favored by Westerners than any other animal in Africa. Kings of countries such as Britain, Scotland, Norway, and Denmark have lion images on their crowns. Lions also appear on armbands worn by people in countries and regions such as Zurich, Luxembourg, Wales, and Hesse, Germany.

Lions have always been regarded as the king of groups and the king of grasslands in the animal kingdom, but humans do not take them seriously. As early as the 16th century, Europeans set foot in West Africa and North Africa. They often hunted and regarded hunting lions as the most solemn hunting activity, an act of showing courage and skill. Lions fell one by one amid the laughter of these people. Humans not only hunted adult lions, but also captured young lions, and then brought them back to Europe and sold them to the rich, nobles, and royal families. As Europeans continued to hunt and capture lions, the number of lions in West Africa and North Africa has been decreasing day by day. In modern times, urban expansion and population growth have put a lot of pressure on nature: agricultural land has encroached on their traditional habitats, and local villagers suspected that lions ate livestock and hunted lions in retaliation, which has further aggravated the decline of the West African lion population.

A recent survey showed that only 404 lions (269-583) remained in West Africa (Henschel et al., 2014). It is listed as a critically endangered species in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its living range is less than 1.1% of its historical range. In addition, the occupied area consists of isolated patches without suitable corridors, and there are no recent records in Ghana and Guinea.

Documentary evidence shows that West African lions are facing serious survival problems. These include current regional issues such as population growth and urbanization, agriculture, land cover change, extinction of prey species, and related developments such as killing by people. However, studies of the status of lions in other parts of Africa and large carnivore/human relations for other species on other continents also suggest that the problems facing lions in West Africa are more severe. Clearly, killings of people and livestock and public attitudes towards these and other nuisances are serious issues that may hamper conservation efforts. In relation to the problems facing carnivore conservation on other continents, with regard to less dangerous mammals (such as jaguars and all bears), similarly dangerous species (such as leopards and slightly more dangerous tigers), and more adaptable species (such as cougars), and the fact that predator conservation may be more advanced and socially supported in other continents, lion conservation may be an uphill battle. West Africa faces more severe problems than other parts of Africa because there are fewer protected areas, less international support and funding, and fewer research results available. The initial actions will be more detailed studies, with parameters derived from studies of other species and different regions, and issues specific to lions in West Africa. The next set of actions will involve political support from West African and international sources, as well as social support from local people. Finally, local ecological work requires not only the support of lions, but also the support of the prey on which lions depend for survival. (PS: Although lions do not kill the most people, they are more dangerously aggressive to humans among all carnivores.)

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