Killing of Cecil the lion suggests a bleak future for the king of the jungle
Walter Palmer's slaying of Cecil has thrown a spotlight on the shrinking population of African lions and the challenge of conservation efforts
The circle of life is closing in on the king of the jungle.
When Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil the lion, the internet exploded with outrage. But scientists who have studied lions say the big cats have been in big trouble for years.
They've watched the African lion population shrink by more than half since 1980 and dwindle even faster in East Africa, where lions used to be most abundant. They've seen trophy hunting like Palmer's - promoted as a way of raising cash to preserve wildlife populations - fail to live up to its promise.
And even more importantly, they've seen lion habitats shrink and many beasts killed by local residents because of conflict with livestock and agriculture.
When humans and lions clash, the king of the jungle usually loses.
"We should be very worried," said Oxford University lion researcher Hans Bauer, who is based in Ethiopia. "The numbers are clear. They are in dramatic decline."
Experts estimate there were about 75,000 African lions in 1980; now there are between 20,000 and 32,000. Last year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed placing African lions on the threatened-but-not-endangered list. On its red list of species in trouble, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature calls the lion "vulnerable," one step away from endangered.