African lions have declined by 43% in two decades. Human-wildlife conflict drives persecution that causes severe welfare harm. Understanding coexistence approaches protects lions.
African lion welfare is threatened by retaliatory killing following livestock predation. Poisoning — the most common method — causes prolonged, painful deaths for multiple lions and scavengers including vultures. Removing dominant male lions disrupts pride social structure, often triggering infanticide by incoming males — a cascade of welfare harm beyond the killed individual. Boma programs that provide predator-proof livestock enclosures significantly reduce livestock losses without harming lions. Compensation programs that pay herders for verified lion kills reduce economic motivation for retaliation. Both approaches create conditions for lion-human coexistence with reduced welfare costs.