Nota+de+prensa+(inglés)

//__ The struggle of the African lion __//

Africa is not only damage by the big scar of the Rift Valley of Kenya, actually there is a bigger footprint which is destroying everything in its path: human movements. One of the main reasons why African lions (//Phanthera leo//) are declining in number, is because of the human´s activities. Thousands of newspapers, investigations and studies state that if people do not react on time, in few years the lion will have a tragic end: the extinct. The //Olkiramatian// and //Shompole Maasai// Group Ranches were one of the keys of the project. Those people used to live as nomads in the last centuries, moving their settlements, livestock and grazing areas seasonally. But recently, these movements have been reduced or forbidden because of the government’s laws. As a result, lions have suffered the fragmentation of their habitat and huge problems with humans. The fragmentation of their ecosystems not only affects to the lions, the land fragmentation´s are replacing the principal lion´s preys, such as zebras, wildebeests and other ungulates (Schuette et al., 2012). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a drastic reduction of the 30% of their population has been produced in the last two decades (Kenya’s National Large Carnivore Task Force, 2010), classifying it as vulnerable specie. Researchers predicted that there were around 75.800 lions in 1980, and in 2004 the figure was just of 23.000 individuals. In this way, the number of protected natural areas has increased but this measure is not enough to protect the lion population´s because the drop of them continue the same way in both places, protect and unprotect areas (Woodroffe and Ginsberg, 1998). In view of the above, people should make aware of the problem and start to promote with governments and organizations an answer to save the specie, which is emblematic of Africa and whose conservation is necessary because this majestic animal is irreplaceable. Press notice supported in: “ Coexistence of African lions, livestock, and people in a landscape with variable human land use and seasonal movements”. // Biological Conservation // (2012). Schuette,P.,Scott, C.,Christianson, D.

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos M.M. Jiménez, N. Mardomingo, B. Meléndez, N. Ocaña, V. del Pino y M. Ramos. For more information visit http://laluchadelleon.blogspot.com.es/ Contact email: laluchadelleon@gmail.com