Recently, I read an article about the rapid loss of lions in Kenya. According the the Kenya Wildlife Service, "Kenya has been losing 100 lions a year for the past seven years." Plus, there haven't been any wild lions in the past 20 years. This is a problem because if anymore lions are lost, they can soon become extinct. Also, there are several reasons this is happening. For example, there is habitat destruction, disease, and conflict with humans. In addition, the IUCN suggests that, "large lion populations of 50 to 100 prides are necessary to conserve genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding." Furthermore, Kenyans are poisoning prides, which is another reason they are depleting. However, those who kill lions are rarely punished for it. Additionally, Kenya is suffering a devastating drought, which isn't helping either. To add on, Kenyans lace cattle corpses with insecticide to poison the lions. Large areas of Kenya that held lions two decades ago are now almost drained of all wildlife. Frank, a wildlife biologist at a cat conservation group, concludes, "Only drastic action on many fronts-policy change, effective law enforcement, giving rural people an economic stake in their natural heritage, and a great deal of investment-will prevent the loss of wildlife in Africa." In my opinion, what these Kenyans are doing is wrong. They are wrong because if they keep hunting and killing them, the lions will become extinct. There are many animals in the world that have already suffered extinction, such as, the Dodo bird, the mammoth, and many more. Truthfully, there is no prize to endangering a species. Even though they win trophies, there is still the shame of harming a living animal. Although, some of the circumstances can't be helped, such as a drought, why add on to that by killing them? Personally, I believe this act is simply barbaric and unnecessary. Scientists and other people are working hard to find a way to stop this, and keep the species alive, which I am extremely thankful for. It is a pleasure to know that there are people out there that are trying to make a difference. However, it is still quite a shame that people enjoy watching creatures like this suffer. I mean, how would they feel if these lions tried to kill them? How would they feel if the lions enjoyed seeing this? In my opinion, violence is not the answer when dealing with animals. Granted, not all of this is the Kenyans fault, but a great part of it is. I believe if everyone left well enough alone, there wouldn't have been this problem. Luckily, once again, there are people doing something about this lion loss. Overall, this is the information that I read in the article, "Kenya Losing Lions, And Fast" by Shanta Barley, and how I feel about it.
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