A lion cub is seen walking in the grass
at Nairobi animal orphanage in Kenya in this July 2004 file photo. Even
the King of the Jungle needs a hand staying alive on his own turf. That is
what the government of Kenya thinks as far as the majestic African lion, a
symbol of the continent and one of its most feared predators, is
concerned. The Kenya Wildlife Service is pushing the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to give the African
lion, panthera leo
, its most protected status. Current conservative estimates place the
African lion population at 23,000, Kenya wrote in its proposal. Picture
taken on March 2004.(Reuters) |