The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released its first-ever Green Status assessment for lions (Panthera leo), ranking the species as ‘Largely Depleted’.
What does this mean?
- Human activities have severely impacted lion populations.
- Extinct in North Africa & Southwest Asia
- Still listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List
What is the IUCN Green Status?
- Introduced in 2021 to tell a species’ full conservation story
- Uses nine recovery categories: Fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate.
- There are now over 100 IUCN Green Status of Species assessments on the IUCN Red List.
- The Green Status complements the IUCN Red List by providing a tool for assessing the recovery of species and measuring their conservation success.
Lion Categories
- Lions were previously described as two subspecies: the African Lion (Panthera leo leo) and the Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica). However, this has subsequently changed.
- The IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group currently divides lions into Panthera leo leo (found in Central Africa, West Africa and Asia) and Panthera leo melanochaita (found in Southern and East Africa).
(Source: DTE)
