The man and the lion hunt

Mosaic lion hunting Pella.

Lion chased by the Tswana, illustration of the nineteenth century.

"Until the lions have their historians, tales of hunting will turn always to the glory of the hunter. "

- African proverb

Since ancient man hunting a lion. This is also when the animal is adult, the only predator (the cubs left alone can be preyed upon by leopards, hyenas and even lions outside the group). Man hunt the lion to ensure the safety of its herd, to protect themselves, but also as evidence of a sign outside vaillance or even for shows that were the Roman games. Therefore, the hunts and battered have eliminated many subspecies. The invention of the firearm and the "sport hunting", will accelerate at the rate of disappearance of other large mammals, the Big 5.
In East Africa, from the 1900s, protective measures, which consisted in creating the game reserve as Kilimanjaro National Park and a ban on hunting in these areas were taken. Time to Kill is buying, the cost limit catches by a sort of auction calculated on past requests. The ritual hunts also continue and it is not uncommon to see lions mutilated. Performed the ritual hunts end with the sale of trophies, linking this to practical economic interests. The Kenya Wildlife Service reports that between 1999 and 2003, 49 lions were killed by the Maasai. Lion populations have continued to fall so in the 2000s, this method of wildlife management has been questioned. Indeed, the total population of African lions increased from 50,000 to 15,000 specimens (at worst) in the years 1990 Hunting, poaching and decline of wilderness make the species vulnerable so he had to take further protective measures. Circus lions, those for taming and zoos are no longer taken from the wild. Traditional hunting and poaching are fought. Sport hunting is prohibited in Botswana in February 2001 by the management department of the local wildlife as well, with 53 trophies recorded in 2000, hunting has reported five million dollars to the hunting industry and 100,000 dollars to fund the foreign country  the "stumpage fee" of around 80,000 euros against 3000 for a guépard The Office of the Zambian Wildlife Management itself has taken a measure prohibiting the same year. In South Africa, nearly 300 farmers raise about 5000 lions for hunting, 480 lions, including 444 bred in captivity, were hunted in the country, for a price ranging from 6 000 to 8 000 USD and the female 20 000 to 30 000 USD mâle A legislation would prohibit this practice.

In Asia, the lion has disappeared since the mid-nineteenth century in the wild, as by hunting than by reducing its habitat.