00:00welcome to the explainer today we're tackling something absolutely incredible focusing on one
00:05of the most iconic majestic and culturally significant animals on the planet we're talking
00:10about the mighty lion you know we all recognize them from movies from folklore and as these
00:15ultimate symbols of courage and strength but today we're going to look right past those symbols
00:20we're digging into the actual data to understand the very real very pressing threats these big
00:25cats are facing out there right now okay let's dive into this right off the bat there's this
00:31massive stark contrast between what we think we know and what the data actually tells us
00:36the myth of course is that the lion is this invincible king of the beasts just ruling over
00:42the savannah without a single care in the world but the reality well it's far different the lion
00:47is incredibly vulnerable to extinction and its global population is actively declining it's a
00:53classic case of our cultural perception lagging way behind the ecological reality and to truly
00:58understand what we stand to lose we really have to appreciate their incredible biology think about
01:04this for a second a lion's roar can be heard up to five miles or eight kilometers away no seriously
01:10they have these enormous vocal cords that let them communicate across vast expanses of land whether
01:15they're coordinating with their pride or claiming their territory they just have this commanding presence
01:20but the profound tragedy here is that despite this booming powerful voice the species is
01:25systematically being forced into silence section one meet the top predator what's really fascinating
01:32here is the sheer scale of these animals lions are the second largest cat in the world right
01:38behind the tiger a male lion can weigh up to 260 kilograms that is over 570 pounds and they can
01:45stretch to two and a half meters in length but what truly sets them apart from literally every other
01:50big cat is their social structure they are the only big cats that live and hunt in family groups which
01:56we call prides these prides are mostly made up of related females who actually do the bulk of the
02:01hunting they work perfectly together to take down large hooved mammals like buffalo zebra and
02:06wildebeest so the crucial point is that they aren't just big for the sake of being big they have a
02:11critical
02:11job to do as top predators lions sit at the very peak of the food chain step one they hunt
02:17those
02:18large herbivores we just talked about step two by doing this they regulate the populations and
02:23behaviors of those grazing animals which leads to step three because herbivore numbers are kept in check
02:28the grasslands and forests are saved from over grazing without lions those environments would just become
02:34barren and completely unproductive they are quite literally the guardians of their ecosystems section two
02:41a vulnerable population now you'll often hear the word vulnerable thrown around but in the
02:46conservation space it has a very specific meaning according to the international union for the
02:50conservation of nature or the iucn a species classified as vulnerable is considered to be
02:55facing a high risk of extinction in the wild so this isn't some vague warning about the distant future
03:01this is a scientific assessment telling us that lions are on a downward trajectory and if left unchecked it
03:06leads to their total disappearance from their natural habitats and to show you exactly how fast this is
03:12happening eight percent that is the estimated decrease in the global lion population just between
03:18the years 2018 and 2023 in a span of merely five years we lost nearly a tenth of the lions
03:24left on earth
03:25that is a staggering incredibly rapid decline and it really highlights just how urgent this situation is
03:31right now to put that into absolute numbers for you the iucn estimates there are only between 22 000
03:37and 25 000 adult and sub-adult lions left across all of africa and over in india confined to the
03:43gura forest there are roughly just 670 think about that total global population around 25 000 animals in
03:50total you could easily fit every single wild lion left on the entire planet into a small local sports
03:56stadium and you'd still have plenty of empty seats it's frighteningly few especially when you realize the
04:00used to roam across vast portions of the globe section 3 the threat of habitat loss and this
04:06brilliantly illustrates one of the biggest problems imagine a school playground now imagine the school
04:12doubles its number of students but at the exact same time half the playground gets fenced off for a
04:17new parking lot suddenly there's less space way more competition and the space you do have is broken up
04:23into tiny disconnected pockets this is exactly what habitat fragmentation feels like for wildlife
04:28lions naturally need massive amounts of connected territory to hunt breed and thrive but as human
04:34populations expand the wild savannah is increasingly being converted into agricultural land and settlements
04:39their playground is shrinking and fragmenting every single day section 4 human and lion conflict
04:45so when you cram humans livestock and top predators into those same shrinking spaces well conflict is just
04:53inevitable let's walk through the tragic three-step cycle of human lion conflict step one there's a
04:59reduction in the lion's natural prey very often caused by the human bushmeat trade because there is less
05:05wild game to eat we move to step two the starving lions turn to hunting livestock like cows and goats
05:10which are
05:11encroaching on their territory now livestock are absolutely central to the economic livelihoods of pastoralists losing even a
05:17single cow can be economically devastating for a family so out of sheer desperation we reach step three
05:23humans retaliate killing the lions using poison spears guns or snares it's a deeply tragic cycle where both
05:30humans and lions are losing out section 5 the cruelty of captivity now this next major threat isn't about
05:38competition for space it's about lions being actively removed from the wild or specifically bred in
05:43confinement for human exploitation we need to clearly define a highly controversial industry known as
05:49canned hunting this is a practice where captive bred wild animals in this case lions are hunted in a
05:54confined enclosed area they have absolutely no way to escape it essentially guarantees a kill for a
06:00paying customer taking the wild completely out of the wild hunt the timeline of a captive bred lion is pretty
06:07unsettling to look at for months one to six cubs are often hand reared and used as adorable props for
06:13tourist photos and selfies but from years one to three they grow way too large and dangerous to
06:18handle safely so by year four and beyond these human habituated lions are transferred to can hunting
06:23facilities to be shot for trophies and their bones are often sold into trade it's important to note here
06:28that conservation organizations like born free strongly object ethically to this entire life cycle
06:34while some proponents argue the controlled hunting actually provides conservation funding groups like born
06:40free strongly dispute those claims they point to significant debate within the scientific community and
06:45highlight the profound animal welfare issues at play to really emphasize the sheer industrial scale of this
06:518 000 that is the estimated number of captive bred lions currently living in south africa alone that are set
06:58to
06:59face this exact fate that means there are roughly a third as many captive bred lions waiting for a canned
07:05hunt in just one single country as there are wild lions left in all of africa the scale is truly
07:11sobering and you
07:12know the exploitation goes beyond just hunting lions naturally evolved to roam vast open distances but in
07:19captivity whether they're kept in unsuitable zoo enclosures with the wrong climate used as performers in circuses
07:25bizarrely kept as private pets or just exploited for social media selfies their natural behaviors are
07:30completely suppressed the poor social interactions and the severe lack of space are a far cry from the
07:36lives they were meant to live on the savannah it takes a huge physical and psychological toll on these
07:41animals section six protecting the pride but listen i don't want to leave you feeling helpless here
07:47there are incredible conservation organizations working tirelessly right now to reverse these trends
07:52saving lions isn't just about building higher fences it requires a really multi-faceted approach
07:57first up is community engagement setting up conservation clubs and figuring out ways for
08:01humans and lions to actually coexist which effectively reduces that human predator conflict we discussed
08:06earlier next is rescue and care providing lifetime sanctuary and large natural enclosures for lions
08:11freed from exploitation and finally it requires steadfast habitat protection just ensuring that the wild
08:17spaces they desperately need remain intact and connected which brings us to our final
08:22defining question for this explainer we've seen their incredible power we've seen their vulnerability
08:27and we've examined the heavy threats of habitat loss conflict and captivity the data is clear and the
08:34choice is ultimately up to humanity will the magnificent five mile roar of the lion finally fade to silence
08:41or can we evolve our own behaviors and learn to share the savannah keep that question in mind as you
08:46look
08:47further into conservation thanks so much for focusing in with me today
08:52you
