--- title: African Lions Are Facing Extinction description: The U.S. moves to list them as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act canonical: https://time.com/3542783/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-african-lions-threatened-species/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-28T06:31:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:02:44.839Z article:section: Science og:title: African Lions Face Extinction og:description: U.S. moves to list them as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act og:url: https://time.com/3542783/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-african-lions-threatened-species/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c42a3eff55c724a/698762fb06f2c182e133199e/african_lion_endangered.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: A lions yawns at Nairobi's National Park og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: African Lions Face Extinction twitter:description: U.S. moves to list them as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c42a3eff55c724a/698762fb06f2c182e133199e/african_lion_endangered.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # African Lions Are Facing Extinction > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 28, 2014 6:31 AM UTC  A lions yawns at Nairobi's National Park on March 11, 2013 A lions yawns at Nairobi's National Park on March 11, 2013 Marko Djurica—Reuters by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 28, 2014 6:31 AM UTC African lions are headed toward extinction and may be wiped out soon, according to an analysis from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that on Monday [proposed](https://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/african%5Flion.html) categorizing them as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. A [statement](https://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/pdf/African%5FLion%5FNews%5FRelease10-27-14.pdf) from the service listed the main threats to the big cats as loss of habitat, a diminishing availability of prey and increased conflict with humans. It noted that around 70% of Africa’s lion population is concentrated in just 10 areas on the continent. By listing a species as endangered, the service said it could offer benefits “primarily by prohibiting certain activities including import, export, commercial activity, interstate commerce and foreign commerce.” This, it said, would ensure “that people under the jurisdiction of the United States do not contribute to the further decline of listed species.” Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe said that “the full protection of U.S. law” would be brought to the endangered animals. “It is up to all of us, not just the people of Africa, to ensure that healthy, wild populations continue to roam the savannah for generations to come,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3542783/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-african-lions-threatened-species/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3542783/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-african-lions-threatened-species/"},"headline":"African Lions Are Facing Extinction","datePublished":"2014-10-28T06:31:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:02:44.839Z","description":"The U.S. moves to list them as “threatened”","url":"https://time.com/3542783/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-african-lions-threatened-species/","keywords":["animals","hunting","Extinction"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c42a3eff55c724a/698762fb06f2c182e133199e/african_lion_endangered.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c42a3eff55c724a/698762fb06f2c182e133199e/african_lion_endangered.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A lions yawns at Nairobi's National Park","caption":"A lions yawns at Nairobi's National Park","creditText":"Marko Djurica—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3542783/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-african-lions-threatened-species/","name":"African Lions Are Facing Extinction"}}]}] ```