On October 27, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the African lion as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposal comes after a review of the top available scientific information. The agency’s findings suggest that lions are in danger of becoming extinct in the foreseeable future.

Dan Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement, “The African lion – a symbol of majesty, courage and strength – faces serious threats to its long-term survival. Listing it as a threatened species will bring the full protections of U.S. law to lion conservation, allowing us to strengthen enforcement and monitoring of imports and international trade.” He continued, “It is up to all of us, not just the people of Africa, to ensure that healthy, wild populations continue to roam the savannah for generations to come.”

Although African lions are still found across a broad range in Africa, almost 70 percent of the current African lion population exists in just 10 major strongholds. The three primary threats endangering the African lions presently are habitat loss, loss of prey base, and an increase in human-lion conflict.

Human settlements and agricultural and grazing activities have pushed into lion habitat and protected areas, placing livestock in proximity to the lions. Humans continue to hunt the lions’ prey base at unsustainable levels to keep up with a growing demand for food for an increasing human population. The result is that lions kill more livestock, and humans kill more lions in retaliation.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Endangered Species Act provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals in the habitats in which they are found.