ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - B - THE LION (Panthera leo)

[tigerluver]

Trophy hunting is a very controversial topic. Here we have a study that shows moratoriums on hunting can have a major beneficial effect in just 3 years:

Quantifying lion (Panthera leo) demographic response following a three-year moratorium on trophy hunting

The most important statistics from the work in my opinion:
"Closed mark-recapture models revealed a large increase in lion abundance during the hunting moratorium, from 116 lions in 2012 immediately preceding the moratorium to 209 lions in the last year of the moratorium. More cubs were produced each year of the moratorium than in any year with trophy hunting. Lion demographics shifted from a male-depleted population consisting mostly of adult (≥4 years) females to a younger population with more (>29%) adult males." Reply