Lion in 2005: West African lion crisis papers
[506] [read-lion-4-106] In 2005, the field log for Lion is headed “West African lion crisis papers.” The figure kept beside that heading is 2015. It is a count or a date from the work, not a rank of the species’ worth. A zoo birthday card does not replace the log. Dawn and dusk vision, roar as a spacing sense. The mane is heat and status, not armour against a horn.
The 2015 Hwange killing spiked petitions and some airline trophy bans. Zimbabwe and US Fish and Wildlife arguments did not end trophy hunting as a system. Are lions recovering like some wolves? No. Most African populations are still in long decline outside a few well-funded parks. VU is not a rebound band.
What did Born Free fix in the public mind? Elsa the lioness (1960 book, 1966 film) made rehabilitation a children story. Field lion work is pride demography and conflict, not a single tame cat. The Serengeti Lion Project (Packer and successors) produced the long pride dataset that textbooks still mine.
1898 bridge-camp killings were a specific railway-and-drought story. They are a genre, not a base rate. Males take large prey and cubs of rivals. The postcard male-on-a-rock is a coalition politics, not a lazy king. Lion is one of 24 types in this animals atlas. The pages treat it as a full system -- history, anatomy, operating principles, culture, icons, future pressure and market shape -- not a ranking of a best species.
Keep 2005, “West African lion crisis papers,” and 2015 together or the note on Lion stops being that year’s record.2005
Figures to keep
- Year of the note
- 2005
- Figure to keep
- 2015
- Species
- Lion
- Line in the log
- West African lion crisis papers
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