Species Use Database

Lion, African lion
Panthera leo

Used for Collection/display and Recreation in Zimbabwe

A. Species

Scientific name: Panthera leo

Common name(s): Lion, African lion

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Vulnerable


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Zimbabwe

Country/Region: Zimbabwe / Hwange National Park (HNP)


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Individual Site

Name/Details of location: Hwange National Park (HNP) (between latitudes 18' 30 and 19' 50 and longitudes 25' 45 and 27' 30).


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 1999

End Year: 2004


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Collection/display and Recreation

Motivation of use: Recreational

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: National external and International external


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study's findings.

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Sport hunters in the safari areas surrounding Hwange park killed 72% of tagged (for reearch) adult males from the study area. Over 30% of all males shot were sub-adult (<4 years). Hunting off-take of male lions doubled during 2001–2003 compared to levels in the three preceding years, which caused a decline in numbers of adult males in the population (from an adult sex ratio of 1:3 to 1:6 in favour of adult females). Home ranges made vacant by removal of adult males were filled by immigration of males from the park core. Infanticide was observed when new males entered prides. The proportion of male cubs increased between 1999 and 2004, which may have occurred to compensate for high adult male mortality. This off-take around Hwange were similar to off takes in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, which have proven unsustainable - noting the SGR has 3x the density of lions that Hwange has, and so rates of offtake in game concessions surrounding Hwange are reason for grave concern.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Although trophy shooting is lucrative for the local economy, this study finds that the population cannot support current rates of off-take.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Although this sports hunting is intended to be sustainable the study shows that these concessions are simply pulling lions out of the protection of Hwange Park, causing unsustainable mortality rates, especially for males, with broader implications for pride sex ratio and infanticide. The study advocates that cautionary principle should be applied and sport-hunting quotas limited to conservative levels to ensure sustainable off-takes.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: No risk to people, other than accidents.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Risk of wounding lions and substantially disrupting their tight social and breeding system, promoting fighting between males and infanticide.


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

The study recommends that: Quotas should be reduced to realistic levels (no more than 10% of adult males), based on robust population estimates to ease excessive off-takes of male lions. The age of trophy lions should be monitored, with appropriate penalties for harvesting animals below a threshold age, to ensure that hunted individuals are primarily post-reproductive, minimizing knock-on effects on breeding success. The use of baits on the park boundary to lure lions out of the protected area should be banned (as is the case in Botswana 2002), and buffer zones should be considered along park boundaries where lion hunting is excluded.


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2007-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Loveridge, A. J., Searle, A. W., Murindagomo, F., & Macdonald, D. W. (2007). The impact of sport-hunting on the population dynamics of an African lion population in a protected area. Biological conservation, 134(4), 548-558.

Date of record entry: 2022-12-19