Kenyan data misleads over
status of lion populations

Experts have warned that the survey cited by Kenya as the basis for its proposal to ban all international trade in lion trophies and skins contains incomplete data. A more comprehensive report demonstrates that African lion populations are not under threat.

The Kenya Wildlife Service, which collaborates closely with the wealthy American animal rights group the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), claims that the number of lions in Africa has dropped from 200,000 to 39,000 over the past quarter century.

"The African Lion Database", updated in May 2002, is a partial collation of data from various published sources. Its authors concede that the figures are incomplete, with numbers being unavailable in many regions and disputed, queried or questioned in others. Kenya also admits that half of all African lions are already protected because they live inside national parks. However, based on its survey, Kenya is proposing the transfer of all African lions to Appendix I.

A more extensive and recent survey on African lion populations has been prepared for Conservation Force, a pro-hunting organization, under the auspices of the International Foundation for the Conservation of Wildlife. Author Phillippe Chardonnet, in coordination with 40 wildlife experts across Africa, identified nearly twice the number of areas containing lions across 42 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chardonnet also documents that most of the lion sub-populations are stable.

John Jackson of Conservation Force told the Tribune that Kenya's figures don't add up and should be withdrawn. "It is clearly disingenuous to produce a partial survey on lion populations and then use it as the basis to persuade the international community that numbers are falling dramatically. The Kenyan data is simply unreliable and misleading."