http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/08/how_to_save_the_lions_panthera_s_lion_guards_stop_poaching_trapping_and.html

The horrific killing of the magnificent, black-maned lion Cecil by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe highlights the little-known plight of his species. Lion populations are in free fall, and we are losing this iconic species in most of its range. Only two centuries ago, hundreds of thousands of lions inhabited Africa. Today there are perhaps 20,000 of the big cats, living in 8 percent of their former range.