Following a week-long meeting in Johannesburg, the experts from about a dozen southern and eastern African countries endorsed regulated trophy hunting.

"Regulated trophy hunting was not considered a threat, but rather viewed as a way to help alleviate human-lion conflict and generate economic benefits for poor people to build their support for lion conservation," said a statement from the IUCN-World Conservation Union, which organised the meeting, released at the weekend. Across Africa, the lion has disappeared from more than 80 percent of its former range, and they now number between 23,000 and 39,000, according to the IUCN-WCU.

In West Africa, lions number fewer than 1,500. "There seems to be general agreement here that trophy hunting is not the cause of this lion decline," said cat specialist Kristin Nowell. Tanzania is the top destination for hunters, mostly from the United States and Europe, who pay large sums for the opportunity to shoot a lion, followed by South Africa.

Kenya however has banned the practice, which sees hundreds of lions bagged every year. Trophy hunting can generate funds that could help governments deal with problem animals, according to Kate Nicholls, researcher with the Okavango lion conservation project.

"But that will only be the case if it works in tandem with governmental implementation of stringent responses to illegal shooting," she said.

"Theoretically, hunting is a fantastic way to preserve very large eco-systems but the practicalities of getting that money to the little guys who are paying the costs is a huge issue," said Laurence Franck, conservation biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society. American expert Craig Packer said it was possible to target older male lions for trophy hunting to minimize the impact on the pride.

"Our ideas of wildlife come from television, magazines. We see these pretty pictures of mother lions with baby cubs, looks all cute and sweet". "But the reality is that lions in Tanzania alone attack over 100 people every year, and they kill over 70 people every year," he said. Other than habitat loss, lions are also threatened by the disappearance of wild prey and conflicts with humans.

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