You hear it all the time.
“Lions will be extinct in our lifetime.”
What does that even mean? Why is this happening? Is it because of hunters?
Short answer: No. It’s NOT because of hunters. If anything it is the exact opposite.
I follow along and work with my friends over at Blood Origin who work to spread the TRUTH about hunting with research and facts to back up their statements.
I came across this very informative post the other day that I thought did a great job explaining what is happening to the lion population globally.
The caption reads:
“The crisis is the LOSS of wildlife. Totally agree. Unfortunately hunters are often painted with broad strokes tied to the bad apples of the industry as arbitrators of this loss vs. the protagonist of improvement.
There are bad apples in every industry, but their actions never represent the majority of the individuals – that is incredibly true for the hunting industry.
So let’s talk some truth about lions.
It’s scientifically undeniable that trophy hunting, when done correctly, is not a major threat to lion extinction. IUCN and the top carnivore ecologists in the world all agree.
You are absolutely correct to state that lion populations have dramatically declined. We all want more lions around, Correct? We want lions around for future generations to see, Correct? We want lions around because they are integral components of the ecosystem, Correct? It Could be close to 100% hunters would all say yes to those questions.
So what’s the TRUTH here?
The #1 threat to Lion decline is habitat loss. The #2 threat to Lion decline is loss of prey and human wildlife conflict. Ok …
So what activity today is protecting more lion habitat and providing more prey and reducing human wildlife conflict than any other activity? It’s called hunting. Quota and age based lion hunting is providing value to Lions and increasing their populations across multiple countries in Africa.
How awesome would it be if instead of all the $$$ put into banning hunting was focused on habitat protection, increasing the prey base and mitigation human wildlife conflict and those efforts worked in tandem with hunting? Could you imagine the result? It would be a game changer.”
One of my favorite things about following along with Blood Origin is the comment section. They have people who have genuine questions that try to debate facts. I think it is awesome to start a conversation this way if it is done with genuine concern and are actually wanting to learn more about a certain topic.
In regards to this post a guy responded with this:
“I disagree. Hunting does not protect lions, it kills them. I think the point being made here is that money poured into habitat protection programs is what enables lion populations to thrive in order for them to be killed. The end goal is always to kill a lion.
The money invested simply protects the land and food the lion needs before it’s killed. As a hunter, I draw the line at species who’s numbers are declining (def not the case for deer and elk). It would be drastically different if lion populations were so overgrown or causes of vehicular accidents that their numbers needed to be reduced for public safety. This is very prevalent with deer on the east coast. There is no contributing factor like that for lions.”
The response:
“I see your point of view. Hunting as an action kills. It kills elk, deer, and lions. The benefits of hunting creates and protects habitats for deer, elk, and lion. Lions need vast swathes of protected habitat to increase their populations. Lions numbers are declining globally – but in hunting areas where they are protected, provided this habitat, as well as abundant prey (thanks again to hunting and anti poaching) their numbers are growing (I welcome you to look at the 24 Lions project with the @cabelafamilyfoundation and @zambezedeltaconservation – it actually should be called the 80 lion project). Could one day one of the oldest males be hunted? Yes. But that takes time and protection. Remember hunting protects populations.”
This is a great example of being open to learn more and get educated on a topic. It’s okay to disagree with someone, but go into a conversation like this open minded and wanting to learn more! It’s conversations like this that are going to open up peoples minds to another point of view and maybe, just maybe, they will want to do more research and form a more educated opinion on their own!
