Central Africa The lion Panthera leo is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened

Species and the species ’ current status raises increasing concern among lion spe-cialists across its African range. The situation is particularly alarming in West and Central Africa, where as few as 1000-2850 lions might remain, and where it is con-sidered regionally Endangered in West Africa. Here we present results from lion surveys conducted in 2006-2010, covering 12 Lion Conservation Units (LCUs) in West Africa and three LCUs in Central Africa. We were able to confirm lion presence in only two of the LCUs surveyed in West Africa, and in none of the LCUs surveyed in Central Africa. Our results raise the possibility that no resident lion populations exist in Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The historical distribution of the lion in Afri-ca encompassed almost the entire African continent, with the exception of the interior of the Saharan desert and regions domina-ted by dense tropical rainforest (Nowell & Jackson 1996). While the lion became extinc