Index IntroductionDiscussionConservation BenefitsModern data and models: reforms neededCorruptionConclusionIntroductionThe African lion (Panthera leo) is the largest carnivore in Africa. Historically the apex predator of the savannas of eastern, central and southern Africa, the lion is of great ecological importance. Furthermore, its dominant status over such a vast region that has led to global popularity and its historical tribal importance highlight the cultural and social value of the lion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay However, lack of funding for wildlife management and conservation efforts, habitat fragmentation, and loss of prey due to increasing human populations, retaliatory killings, and possibly trophy hunting, has put pressure on lion populations, causing dangerous declines in numbers in recent decades (Bauer et al. 2015, Creel et al. 2016). The IUCN Red List (2014) officially lists P. leo as vulnerable, with an estimated population of only 22,000-39,000 mature lions. Furthermore, recent research shows that lion populations are mostly still declining (Bauer et al. 2015). Given the importance of the species, these declines are alarming. The purpose of this essay is to discuss whether the controversial issue of trophy hunting is beneficial for lion conservation. The focus is on Kenya and Tanzania; two countries with strong differences in hunting laws. Tanzania exported an average of 243 trophies per year between 1996 and 2006, the highest rate in the world, and has an extremely large lion population (although the lack of available data makes details unclear; Bauer et al. 2015; By comparison, trophy hunting has been banned in Kenya since 1977 (Whitman et al. 2007; National Geographic 2017). Studying the impact of each country's conservation policies on lion populations will allow us to draw conclusions about the benefits of trophy hunting and possibly suggest changes. Discussion Conservation BenefitsDespite the lack of consistent surveys in Tanzania, large areas of suitable lion habitat such as Serengeti National Park are pristine and populations are still thought to be large (Brink et al. 2016). Furthermore, recent research shows that lion populations in several key areas of Tanzania have grown. For example, growth rates in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater were 1.02 ± 0.02 and 1 ± 0.03, respectively (greater than 1 is growth, less than 1 is decline; Bauer et al. 2015) . Therefore, hunting policies appear to have been less than sustainable in several areas crucial to lions. Note, however, that growth rates for important areas of Kenya were also strong (1.16  0.12 for Mbirikani and 1.1  0.1 for Ol Pejeta), and Katavi (which is a national park in Tanzania) had the worst growth rate (0.67  0.11) of all areas examined in East Africa (Bauer et al. 2015), which undermines the conservation benefits of the trophy hunting program Tanzania. However, simulations of the Whitman et al. (2004) demonstrated that if hunting was limited to males older than 5 or 6 years, local extinction would never have occurred. But if hunting of 3- or 4-year-old males were allowed, local extinction would have occurred in some simulations. Therefore, hunting can be sustainable if one focuses on lion age rather than quotas, which the model suggests has a negligible effect (Whitman et al. 2004). Considering a significant environmental disturbance for the population(such as diseases) did not change these results (Whitman et al. 2007), demonstrating the robustness of hunting if conducted carefully. The reason for choosing older males is the risk of infanticide; Fathers must raise their cubs, and if they are killed while their cubs are still being reared, lions that take over the pride will likely kill the cubs (Whitman et al. 2007), rapidly decreasing the population. Because hunting provides a commercial incentive to tolerate lion populations, if done sustainably, it has clear conservation benefits. The above evidence shows that the age limit is key to sustainability and Whitman et al. (2004) points out that nose pigmentation can be used simply and easily to determine the age of a lion before it is killed. However, there may be some variability, so limiting the age requirements to 7 or 8 years should provide a safeguard against this. In addition to the fact that Tanzania's lion population is much larger and healthier than Kenya's (2,000 lions in Kenya compared to over 16,000 in Tanzania, estimated; Kenya Wildlife Service 2007; Lionalert 2010), hunting not only appears to be has been a more effective conservation policy than a hunting ban, but there is scope for hunting reform to provide better conservation benefits in the future. Modern Data and Modeling: Reforms Needed Recent research has shown that African countries with the highest hunting rates, such as Tanzania, have seen the steepest declines in trophy harvest (Packer et al. 2009; Brink et al. 2016) . Furthermore, West African countries, where hunting rates have been relatively lower, have experienced stable harvest rates (Bouché 2016). Evidently, hunting in Tanzania has been permitted at unsustainable levels, leading to a decline in lion populations and harvested trophies. Tighter supervision and quotas are possible remedies, but as Packer (2009) argues, populations are difficult to monitor, making quotas ambiguous, and preventing poaching is difficult as hunters often lure lions out of protected areas. Other problems can be addressed. The Tanzanian government has preferred to rely on trophy taxes and grant hunting areas to companies under short-term agreements, which encourages companies to hunt more now and not plan for the future (Brink et al. 2016). While this maximized government revenue in the short term, it caused excessive hunting. By offering long-term contracts to companies, commercial and conservation interests can be aligned, as companies will need a sustainable plan with long-term revenue. This is supported by research by Brink (2016), who found that long-term hunting blocks have more sustainably harvested populations and trophies. Whitman's 2004 model was built using data from Serengeti National Park, which has an idealized lion population with adequate growth and protection. (Whitman et al. 2004). However, the situation for most lion populations is much worse, with problems of habitat fragmentation and loss of prey. Therefore, this model has serious limitations. An updated model, using parameters and data that better reflect the ecological conditions faced by lions, found that the odds of local extinction were much higher (Creel et al. 2016). Notably, local extinction probabilities could only be kept below 10% by using a minimum age requirement of at least 7 years along with other policies such as a recovery period (Creel et al. 2016).