Editor's Den
Raghul Patteri
Editor
Lions – fondly, but erroneously referred to as the king of the jungle in Children’s tales. Erroneously because, lions prefer to inhabit grasslands and savannas while being absent in dense forests. But you will be right to refer to them as ‘king’ as they are royalty indeed of their habitat. The Apex predator of their kingdom, these magnificent animals portray royalty with their proud physical attributes, raw power and structured social order.
But this perception of royalty attached to them has also been a cause of the Lion’s misfortune. There was never a trophy hunter who did not want a dark maned lion to his name. The destruction of habitats due to natural and man-made causes led to further reduction in lion numbers. The ever-growing human population puts more pressure on lion habitats for livestock grazing and farming, activities which inherently increases the opportunities of man – lion conflicts.
Once a widespread species which roamed throughout Eurasia, Africa and North America, the lion today is limited to fragmented populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and one small critically endangered population in India.
This edition of PT Aware focuses on the problems faced by African Lions. The magnitude of the problem will self-reveal from a simple fact that lion population in Africa have declined by 43% since the early 1990’s. It is difficult to fathom that nearly half of the numbers of one of the most recognized animal symbols in human culture has been wiped out in less than 30 years!
PT Aware seeks to increase awareness about wildlife conservation issues around the world – highlight both worrying and exciting facts illustrated by photographs provided by the Paws Trails community. Our next issue will focus on African Elephants, therefore prepare to start uploading your photographs of these big mammals! A selection of your photographs will be chosen for publishing.
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