Check out those claw marks on the rock — he sure is one angry cat. Image: Emin Kuliyev/Shutterstock
You can roar all you like big cat, but I ain’t moving!
Lions have been celebrated through the ages as king’s of the jungle for their courage and impressive hunting skills. But what’s a big scary lion to do when his mighty roar doesn’t make a cheeky little butterfly on his nose budge?
Lions in the wild are struggling to avoid becoming endangered, just as this pesky butterfly struggles to avoid becoming breakfast. Once the second most common land mammal (after humans), their population in the wild has now dwindled to only a few key areas in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and an endangered remnant population in a protected national park in southern India.
The reason for the big cat’s decline is human related. The destruction of habitat due to logging and construction, hunting for their fur, skin and bones (or just for sport) as well as retaliatory killings when they roam too close to villages have all contributed to the drop in lion populations. Huge conservation efforts and an end to hunting must be put in place if this incredible species is to remain with us here on Earth.
