Lion's Habitat
Threats To The Lion's Habitat
The lion’s habitat varies greatly depending on the continent and region in which they live, and all of them are threatened by man in some way. The Gir Forest sanctuary in Asia is the last habitat stronghold for the gravely endangered Asiatic Lion. Here, the numbers have increased from a reported 78 to a promising 327 over the past ten years. The lion’s habitat while in captivity is another matter completely, where the only threats to his survival lie with illness or old age.
The lions habitat in Africa used to span from tip to tip, as the plains and open fields of the wild country side belonged to these wondrous cats. The hunting of them however, by foreign dignitaries, rich travelers, and native peoples, became the sport of legend from the late 1800’s until the mid 1900’s. The last male Numidian lion was gunned down for a trophy in the 1930’s. The lion’s habitat in the African north, where the heaviest population of humans has settled, is a thing of the past.
In North America, the lion’s habitat ranges significantly, as panthers, pumas, cougars, and mountain lions each have their own tolerances, preferences, and prey. The most prominent risk and detriment to the lion’s habitat here, as with the other two continents he is being expelled from, is the human. We trap him in the mountains, we block him from the rivers, and we build homes on the cliffs where once he kept to himself in his den. As we drive his prey out, and block his mating and migrating paths, he turns his attentions toward the things that we have put in the place of his natural habitat. Where once there were deer, now there are small dogs or livestock. Where once he moved quietly to the edge of the river for a drink, he now wanders to the bustling dam for survival.
The lion’s habitat is threatened by us alone. All of the droughts and famines of all of the ages, the lions have survived somehow. He is strong, he is competent, a mighty survivor. The only thing he cannot survive is the selfishness of a gun wielding man, whether the man aims at the lion or the lions prey. Either choice amounts to his suffering and eventual demise. The Yuma Puma, for instance, is a small relative to the mountain lion, indigenes to the desert regions of North America. He is a desert cat, and he is nearly extinct. Humans have dammed the river source, causing his natural prey to migrate toward water, and he is quickly vanishing as a result. Wildlife rehabilitation experts are working diligently to save him and all of his relatives from extinctions.