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🦁Icons & legends

Lion · A social pantherine whose prides, Gir relic and 2015 Cecil killing still structure African conservation politics.

Icons here are not a ranking of living animals as best. They are the Wikipedia-titled faces a later chapter can attach images to.

Stats are relative 0-100 marks inside this type, for comparison on the page, not a global scoreboard.

Podium

Asiatic lion / Gir
Asiatic lion / Gir
India
2
Cecil the lion
Cecil the lion
Zimbabwe
1
🥉
Elsa the lioness
Kenya
3

The legends

1
Cecil the lion -- Lion Daughter#3 · CC BY-SA 2.0

Cecil the lion

Zimbabwe · died 2015

Hwange male that moved trophy politics.

Story

Cecil the lion (died 2015, Zimbabwe) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
high
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material
2
Asiatic lion / Gir -- Lion 0720reemagupta · CC BY-SA 4.0

Asiatic lion / Gir

India · relic population

Single-forest P. l. persica.

Story

Asiatic lion / Gir (relic population, India) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
high
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material
3

Elsa the lioness

Kenya · Born Free

Adamson rehabilitation template.

Story

Elsa the lioness (Born Free, Kenya) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
high
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material
4
Tsavo man-eaters -- Lion Superx308 Jeffrey Jung email: superx308 at gmail.com · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tsavo man-eaters

Kenya · 1898

Railway camp killings as a genre.

Story

Tsavo man-eaters (1898, Kenya) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
notable
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material
5

Craig Packer

United States · Serengeti project

Pride demography lead.

Story

Craig Packer (Serengeti project, United States) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
notable
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material
6

The Lion King

United States · 1994

Pride rock as a global cartoon state.

Story

The Lion King (1994, United States) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
notable
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material
7
Barbary lion -- Lion Photograph by Fernandus (formerly of Biskra, Algeria), published by Alfred Edward Pease (29 June 1857 – 27 April 1939) · Public domain

Barbary lion

North Africa · extinct in wild

Atlas and zoo memory of a lost northern animal.

Story

Barbary lion (extinct in wild, North Africa) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
notable
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material
8

Lion Guardians

Kenya · Maasai programme

Warrior-to-monitor conflict work.

Story

Lion Guardians (Maasai programme, Kenya) is filed here as a dated individual, programme or portrayal -- not as a rank of the living animal.

“Icons teach constraints: law, habitat and methods matter as much as a famous face.”

Public reach
notable
Record depth
documented
Conservation weight
material

Stats are relative 0–100 marks within this species, for comparison only.

Comparison Lab

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5 / 8

Debate

Trophy fees vs decline

Some papers treat hunting revenue as habitat glue. Others treat it as a demographic leak. Cecil did not settle the table.

One Gir vs many fenced parks

A single relic versus a managed metapopulation -- Gujarat politics versus extinction insurance.

Keep exploring

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