./assets/video/intro
The Global Wild Cat
Conservation Organization
Continue to Panthera.org
https://dg2d3wxprq381.cloudfront.net/cms/sites/default/files/WLD2020_SkinnyHeader_CreditNitishMadan01.jpg?itok=zm2yQRVl
World Lion Day 2020
Just over a century ago, there were more than 200,000 wild lions living in Africa. Today, there are only about 20,000; lions are extinct in 26 African countries and have vanished from over 95 percent of their historic range. Join the Pride and Helps Us Save Lions
In celebration of World Lion Day on August 10th, we are proud to share the story of the lion ‘Shy’ and his quest for a safe and lasting home in the vast landscape of Kafue National Park, Zambia. Panthera, Zambia's Department of National Parks and Willdife and the Zambian Carnivore Program, together with partners, are transforming this park into a stronghold for lions like Shy along with leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs. 
https://dg2d3wxprq381.cloudfront.net/cms/sites/default/files/lions.png?itok=o3l06HmQ
My name is and I wish to donate
to .
https://dg2d3wxprq381.cloudfront.net/cms/sites/default/files/lions.png?itok=o3l06HmQ
Keep our world wild
Give today to save wild cats
Panthera is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 20-4668756). Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

If you are a UK tax-payer click here. If you are a French tax-payer click here.

Other Ways to Donate
By mail: Panthera, Attn: Business Development, 8 West 40th Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Questions? Email us at donate@panthera.org
Recurring gifts can be adjusted at any time by contacting our development department.
Continue Donation
Close
How would you like to donate?
notice
Panthera is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 20-4668756). Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

If you are a UK tax-payer click here. If you are a French tax-payer click here.

Other Ways to Donate
By mail: Panthera, Attn: Business Development, 8 West 40th Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Questions? Email us at donate@panthera.org
hidden
2732
email
Email
your@email.com
We will send you a reciept on this address
Please enter a valid email
Keep me updated on the status of big cats around the world
number
Donation Amount
100.00
Enter amount you want to donate
Gift Amount
Gift amount in $
Please select an amount
Make this a monthly gift so that my support can have an impact all year
Allocation
Make a donation in honor of someone
Tribute Type
Select
Please select tribute type
Please select honor type
text
Honoree Name
Name
Please enter Honoree's full name
This field can't be empty
text
Recipient Name
Notification Recipient Name
Please enter the name of the person to be notified
This field can't be empty
email
Recipient Email
Notification Recipient Email
Please enter the email of the person to be notified
Please enter a valid email
textarea
Note
Enter custom message
How would you like to donate?
notice
Panthera is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 20-4668756). Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

If you are a UK tax-payer click here. If you are a French tax-payer click here.

Other Ways to Donate
By mail: Panthera, Attn: Business Development, 8 West 40th Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Questions? Email us at donate@panthera.org
text
First Name
First Name
This field can't be empty
text
Last Name
Last Name
This field can't be empty
Country/Region
Select
Please select your Country
State/territory
Your State/Territory
Please select your State
text
Address
Main Street 1
This field can't be empty
text
City
Your city
This field can't be empty
text
Postal code
1234
Please enter a valid postal code
Make an anonymous donation.
Complete Transaction
text
Name
Name on card
As written on the card
This field can't be empty
text
Card Number
1234 5678 9123 4567
Only numbers, no dashes
This field can't be empty
Expiration date
Expiration Month and Year
number
Security code
123
3 digit security code on the back of your card
This field can't be empty
Thank you for your generous donation!
Your donation receipt will be sent within 24 hours to the email address provided. If you have any questions, please contact our Development Department at kcarew@panthera.org or 646-786-0405.

You are part of a global movement working side-by-side with Panthera’s scientists, law enforcement personnel, and conservation advocates to ensure a future for wild cats and their habitats.

Look out for our newsletter and connect with us on social media below to stay involved and help save our planet’s remaining wild spaces.

Thank you once again for your passion and commitment to wild cat conservation!

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

ac
Panthera is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy. Read our Privacy Policy for  more information. 
Match Your Gift
Check here to see if your company participates in a matching gift program. You may be able to double, or even triple, the impact of your gift!  Contributions of any amount help you take action to ensure a future for wild cats and the landscapes they protect.


Lion Experts Answer Your Questions
On August 10th we celebrate World Lion Day! Panthera’s team of big cat experts has answered some of your most frequently asked questions about lion behavior, conservation and culture. Click here to continue reading
The State of the Lion
Lions have indeed undergone catastrophic declines since the commercialization of livestock ranching and agriculture in Africa, and are now only secure in a handful of and are on the brink of extinction in all but the largest and best-managed protected areas. Outside of these places, lions are in grave trouble. However, with funding, capacity improvement and strong policy, they could make a spectacular recovery and become important assets to rural economies.

We will never know just how many lions there were, but measured trends in recent decades are alarming. Today, lions are extinct in 26 African countries, have vanished from over 95 percent of their historic range, and experts estimate that there are only about 20,000 left in the wild. Though lions still exist in 28 African countries and one Asian country, only six protected area complexes are known to support more than 1,000 lions. Thankfully there they remain safe for the foreseeable future, but in about 60 other protected areas the situation is far less secure.

Lions are currently listed as "Vulnerable" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In West Africa, the species is now classified as "Critically Endangered”. Any further rapid reclines may see lions listed as “Endangered” across their range.

Lions are most significantly impacted by illegal bushmeat hunting and body part trade, conflict with local people due to livestock depredation, habitat loss and fragmentation and to a lesser extent by unsustainable trophy hunting. The rise of poaching for body parts is especially alarming and might mean the end of many smaller less well-protected lion populations.

Download our Lion Fact Sheet to learn more about the lion.

Download our report: Beyond Cecil: Africa's Lions in Crisis which can also be downloaded in Swahili.
“Protected areas are at the heart of the formula to save Africa’s lions, and to ensure the species lives on, lions and their wild landscapes require nothing short of a wealthy and immediate investment from the global community and a restructuring of the policy environment in most range states," - Dr. Paul Funston, Lion Program Director. 
Cat Facts
Lion
Panthera leo
https://dg2d3wxprq381.cloudfront.net/cms/sites/default/files/background-catfacts.png?itok=bz8FDt6r
IUCN Red List Status
Left in the Wild
Approximately 20,000
Range
28 African countries and 1 Asian country
Subspecies
2
Life span
On average females live 14-16 years; males live 12-13 years on average
Size
Head and body: 158-250 cm; 62-98 in Tail: 60-100 cm; 23-39 in
Weight
110-235 kg; 242-517 lbs
Diet
Primarily locally abundant medium-to-large herbivores (e.g. wildebeest, zebra, kudu, buffalo, giraffe, waterbuck)
circle
Primary Threat
Human-Lion Conflict
Across the vast continent of Africa, lions have been extirpated from over 90% of their historic range.

As Africa’s human population increases and lion habitat is converted for their use, lions and humans come in increasingly closer contact. Livestock replaces the lion’s natural prey, fueling human-lion conflict in which lions are killed in response to the real and perceived threat they pose to human lives and livelihoods.
https://dg2d3wxprq381.cloudfront.net/cms/sites/default/files/beetlecam_lion-masai_mara-4.jpg?itok=xpMYExKw
//www.panthera.org/cms/sites/default/files/audio/dynamic/threat/human_conflict_threat
All Threats
Threats Facing the Lion
Poaching

Poachers focus on the large bodied prey species that lions favor leading to starvation of cubs and subadults and lions getting caught in snares or gin traps as indirect bycatch. However, increasingly poachers are also specifically targeting lions for bones and body parts for limited local trade but hugely expanding Asian trade. Without adequate protection of lions in Africa’s protected areas against poaching, all other threats will become obsolete as there won’t be any lions left.

Human-Lion Conflict

Obliterated in most human landscapes more than a century ago there are nevertheless many areas in Africa and Asia where lion populations either interface with or rarely exist amongst humans and their livestock. With human and livestock population increasing, this interface is possibly more fraught than ever and in the equation lions are generally the losers. In severe cases livestock replace the lion’s natural prey, fueling human-lion conflict with lions killed in response to the real and perceived threat they pose to human lives and livelihoods.

Habitat Loss and Conversion

As Africa’s human population grows and land is converted for agricultural and other developments, lion habitat is fragmented and lost. Communities whose livestock graze within protected areas present a real concern in many localities. Nevertheless, enough undisturbed lion range exists for lion numbers to bounce back if we can implement changes to policy and successfully mitigate poaching and conflict.
Close