West African Lion on the edge of extinction

[Jurek7]

Panthera, organization devoted to study and protection of wild cat, has, among others, bad news about West African Lions, down to several hundreds of animals.

http://www.panthera.org/sites/defau...Henschel_2011_Lion_range_West_Africa-Full.jpg
February 2012 Newsletter | Panthera

I wonder if any West African zoos have purebred local lions and if ex-situ breeding program is possible? We all know how well lions breed in zoos.

 

[DavidBrown]

Thanks for posting this Jurek. The general state of West African wildlife conservation is pretty desperate with the lions being in a desperate state along with the giraffes (maybe 200 left), elephants (a few thousand maybe?), cheetahs, and other species. Many of the antelope species in the Sahel have been extirpated and the West African black rhino is now extinct. Hopefully the giraffes, elephants, and lions can sustainably hang on in some areas.

 

[IanRRobinson]

Gerald Durrell said in the latish 80s that West Africa was twenty years behind South America in terms of environmental awareness, but unfortunately twenty years ahead in terms of environmental destruction. Whatever help is needed, getting good zoos in Nigeria, Ghana and elsewhere to undertake captive breeding and education could be so important for the future for taxa like duikers, guenons and mangabeys.