The Size of Savannah Africa: A Lion's View

This study used satellite imagery and human population data to map how much of Africa's savannah remains suitable for lions, viewing the continent through the needs of a wide-ranging predator. The authors found that savannah habitat had contracted dramatically and that lions now occupy a small fraction of their historical range, surviving in a limited number of strongholds. They identified the most important remaining lion areas and estimated how many lions persist outside protected zones. The lion's-view framing made vivid how human expansion has fragmented and shrunk the continent's wild spaces. The work informed strategy by pinpointing which large, intact savannah blocks deserve priority protection. It remains widely cited for quantifying range loss and for defining the concept of lion strongholds as the backbone of the species' future.