Conservationists have warned that there won’t be any lions left in Nigeria by 2050 if relevant stakeholders do not take action soon.

Foremost animal conservation organisations, WildAid and Wildlife Conservative Society have also alerted that there were less than 50 surviving lions in the Nigerian wildlife.

According to them, the high levels of poverty, lack of political interest in conservation, and an underdeveloped wildlife tourism industry are fuelling the attack on this symbolic animal.

Several wildlife conservation organisations across Africa have also raised the alarm regarding the depleting rate of this animal saying only about 20,000 lions are left.

Lions are indigenous to Sub Saharan Africa, and according to conservationists, there are only about 20,000 left in the African wildlife.

According to a 2013 report by Lion Aid, a lion conservation agency, there are less than 645 lions remaining in the wild in western and central part of Africa.

The report found that African lions were extinct in 25 African nations. They also estimated that about 15,000 wild lions remain on the continent, compared to about 200,000 that were present on the continent 30 years ago.

The lion conservation organisation revealed that lions were already extinct in countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo with clusters still left in Burkina Faso, Niger, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Chad.

According to Wildlife Conservation Society, it was revealed that in years ago, lions were widespread in the northern parts of the country but recently, they are now only seen in two sites in the country: Kainji Lake National Park and Yankari Game Reserve.

This depleting number may also impact the economy of the country, they say.

The President and Founder of WildAid, a non-profit wildlife conservation agency, Peter Knights, in a recent interview, lamented about the future of the animal and the inherent economic loss the country may suffer.

Knights explained that other issues affecting the survival and continued existence of the lions were human-wildlife conflict, agricultural expansion. He added that urbanisation demands were also causing lions to lose their natural habitat and get killed, becoming illegal bush meat in the process.

He further stated that the loss of their natural habitat as well as prey to feed on puts humans at risk as the lions in search of food now have little or no option than to feed on domestic livestock which now results in increased human-lion conflict.

While speaking in commemoration of the World Lion Day that is held every August 10, Knights reiterated that more efforts were needed to save the remaining lions, keep them in their natural habitat, and reap the economic benefits they contribute to the country.

He lamented that the economic and cultural significance of the lions were yet to be understood by Nigerians and that Nigerians were unsympathetic towards the situation of the animal.

He said, “Most people in Nigeria are amazed there are only 30 – 50 African lions left. There’s not many of them. They are shocked and they are concerned that they will disappear completely.

“I think there is low empathy towards lions. Internationally, I think people have got points in place. Like Kenya where they understand that keeping the lions is actually better than losing them because there is money to be made from tourism and they do realise the cultural significance of that.”

Speaking on, Knight said Tanzania with about 8,000 lions in its wild were creating jobs and increasing their revenues.

“In East Africa, in places like Tanzania, where there are about 8,000 lions, it is estimated that they make over a million dollars over the lifetime of a lion in the wild because people would love to come and see lions in the wild.

“The hope here in Nigeria is that we can protect the population, rebuild them and eventually you’d be able to go and see wildlife here in Nigeria in parks like Yankari.”

He also applauded the WCS for their concentrated efforts in keeping the remaining lions alive, away from poachers and also their efforts to ensure that lions did not go extinct in Nigeria.

In addition to that effort, WildAid said they were focused on creating campaigns that would awareness on the plights and implications of this ‘iconic’ animal getting extinct.

Also, in commemoration of Lion’s Day being celebrated, wildlife conservationist, Mark Ofua, said it was crucial to call attention to issues facing lions, especially in Nigeria because “we are fast losing them.”