Humans and Lions: Conflict, Conservation and Coexistence

by Keith Somerville

This book places lion conservation and the relationship between people and lions both in historical context and in the context of the contemporary politics of conservation in Africa. The killing of Cecil the Lion in July 2015 brought such issues to the public's attention. Were lions threatened in the wild and what was the best form of conservation? How best can lions be saved from extinction in the wild in Africa amid rural poverty, precarious livelihoods for local communities and an expanding human population?

This book traces man's relationship with lions through history, from hominids, to the Romans, through colonial occupation and independence, to the present day. It concludes with an examination of the current crisis of conservation and the conflict between Western animal welfare concepts and sustainable development, thrown into sharp focus by the killing of Cecil the lion. Through this historical account, Keith Somerville provides a coherent, evidence-based assessment of current human-lion relations, providing context to the present situation.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental and African history, wildlife conservation, environmental management and political ecology, as well as the general reader.

234 pages, ebook

Published July 10, 2019

Reviews

[Ed Stoddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somerville has amassed a great deal of material on the history of human/lion conflict, especially in Africa, and this is the result. As a resource for those like myself who have a keen interest in the subject, it is timely and rich. Somerville briefly veers into pre-history before taking a gallop through the lion's history with humans against the backdrop of the agricultural revolution, the Romans, and the colonial scramble for Africa, with much in between. This serves as the broad historical background for a look at the debate around trophy hunting that became a red-hot topic in the wake of the "Cecil the Lion" uproar. Somerville is not the first to point out that the subsequent media coverage was often sensationalist. But as he forcefully underlines, the coverage was often on agenda-driven and poorly informed. His ultimate conclusion -which is not unlike the sustainable use views laid out in his fine book "Ivory: Power and Poaching in Africa" - is that trophy hunting has some role to play in the conservation of lions. This is hardly earth-shattering, nor is it particularly original, but amid the emotional debates around the issue, which often ignore the views of Africans, it is imminently sensible. And it is a conclusion backed up with a wealth of data and an objective and thoughtful look at the alternatives.
Poor Africans ultimately bear the costs - which can be unspeakably high - of living in proximity to big, dangerous wildlife. I have used the concept of the "faunal poverty line" elsewhere to attempt to describe this state of affairs.( https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/artic... ).
Somerville has added data and insight to this important issue, with an ultimate focus on trophy hunting. One can be uncomfortable with trophy hunting while recognising the short-term consequences that its elimination could pose to lion populations at a time when they are fragmented and in decline. Somerville says he has adopted the "Bentham/Mill-style utilitarianism based on the concept of 'the greatest amount of good for the greatest number'. If hunting in any way assists the conservation of lions, then it is necessary to consider it as a conservation method in the absence of other more effective and sustainable choices."
On this thorny subject, that sounds like the voice of reason.