Species Use Database

African lion (English), Simba (Swahili)
Panthera leo

Used for Collection/display in Tanzania, United Republic of

A. Species

Scientific name: Panthera leo

Common name(s): African lion (English), Simba (Swahili)

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Vulnerable


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Tanzania, United Republic of

Country/Region:


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State

Name/Details of location: Tanzania’s 300,000 km2 of hunting blocks


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 1996

End Year: 2008


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

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?: Non-local 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: Statistical modelling

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: "Lion harvests declined significantly in four of seven hunting areas across the country: the northwest, the west, around Serengeti National Park, and inside Selous Game Reserve (Fig. 4; Table 1)." "Trophy hunting appears to have been the primary driver of a decline in lion abundance in the country’s trophy- hunting areas and is likely affecting lion abundance in Katavi National Park and possibly Tarangire National Park."

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded


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

"Lion hunting should not exceed 1.0 lions/1000 km2 in the Selous Game Reserve (Fig. 5a), whereas an upper limit of 0.5 lions/1000 km2 should be imposed for the rest of the country (Fig. 5b)." "A strict age minimum would help ensure safe harvest levels despite uncertainties about local population sizes (Whitman et al. 2004, 2007). Restricting harvest to male lions that are ≥5 years old may be sufficient to minimize the population impacts of trophy hunting, even if ev- ery ≥5-year-old male was removed every year (Whitman et al. 2004, 2007)." "underage trophy lions should not be exported"


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Packer, C., Brink, H., Kissui, B. M., Maliti, H., Kushnir, H., & Caro, T. (2010). Effects of Trophy Hunting on Lion and Leopard Populations in Tanzania: Trophy Hunting of Lions and Leopards. Conservation Biology, 25(1), 142–153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01576.x

Date of record entry: 2023-04-21