As the global human population increases, pressure on wildlife and habitat intensifies. Surveys chart the rapid decline in free-ranging African lions (Panthera leo). Available habitat shrinks, forcing lions into smaller and more fragmented populations. In situ attempts to protect and restore habitat and lions are rightly the mainstay of conservation effort for this species. However, they are relatively new and dependent on donor funding. It remains an empirical question as to whether current in situ conservation efforts will provide sufficient success on a continent-wide scale to maintain genetically diverse and viable lion populations before the species becomes critically threatened with extinction.
