African lion populations have declined by approximately 50% over the past 25 years, driven by habitat loss, prey depletion, and human-wildlife conflict. Their welfare in the wild is increasingly threatened.
Lion welfare is threatened both inside and outside protected areas by distinct but interacting pressures. Within protected areas, trophy hunting of dominant males has documented cascade effects: incoming males kill existing cubs to bring females into oestrus, causing suffering and mortality that extends far beyond the hunted individual. Outside protected areas, lions face chronic stress from habitat restriction, prey depletion, and human encounters, with high rates of retaliatory killing following livestock attacks. Snare injuries cause prolonged suffering and frequently death. Conservation interventions with the strongest welfare co-benefits include coexistence programmes that reduce conflict, livestock protection measures that remove the incentive for retaliatory killing, and protected area management that maintains prey abundance and reduces human-lion contact.