Bauer Hans, De Iongh Hans H, Princée Frank P, Ngantou Daniel
Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
C R Biol. 2003 Aug;326 Suppl 1:S112-8. doi: 10.1016/s1631-0691(03)00047-7.
The lion has historically probably been widespread at low densities in West and Central Africa, nowadays they are largely restricted to small isolated populations inside protected areas. The total number is probably between 1200 and 2700, the best possible guesstimate would be 1700. Mankind is the main cause for the suspected decline of lion populations, both inside and outside protected areas. Very little research has been done on West and Central African lions a few examples are summarized here. The international community is slowly becoming aware of threats to lions in the region and some initiatives for lion conservation have started.
历史上，狮子可能在西非和中非广泛分布，但密度较低。如今，它们大多局限于保护区内的小而孤立的种群。总数可能在1200至2700头之间，最合理的猜测是1700头。人类是狮子种群疑似减少的主要原因，无论是在保护区内还是保护区外。对西非和中非狮子的研究很少，这里总结了一些例子。国际社会正逐渐意识到该地区狮子面临的威胁，一些狮子保护倡议已经启动。
