Globally the lion conservation status remains Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, but there are regional differences:
Some southern African populations are stable or increasing.
West and Central African lions are on the brink of regional extinction.
Asiatic lions are growing but geographically restricted.
The addition of the IUCN Green Status framework provides a fuller picture: lions are not just threatened — they are far from recovered (Green status Largely Depleted), occupying only a fraction of their historical range. At the same time, strong conservation programs have demonstrably prevented far worse declines.
Lion Conservation Status (2016 to 2026)
In total there have been ten assessments starting in 1996 and the lion conservation status has been Vulnerable since then. Three lion assessments have been conducted in the past decade - 2016, 2024 and 2025.
Lion Taxonomy Changes
The scientific classification of species can change from time to time, and this affects the interpretations of assessments. For example, a population that used to be described as a subspecies may later be reclassified as a subpopulation. Additionally, the subpopulations described by a subspecies may be redefined. This is important when comparing current to historical assessments.
Key changes to lion taxonomy are:
- 2017: Two subspecies - Northern Lion (P.l. leo) and Southern Lion (P.l. melanochaita)
- Pre-2017: Two subspecies - African Lion (P.l. leo) and Asiatic Lion (P.l. persica)
- 2005: Eleven subspecies
2025 Assessment (current status)
The global conservation status for lions is Vulnerable (VU) and populations are declining. The current population of lions in Africa is estimated between 22000 and 25000 and approximately 670 lions for the population in Asia.
The 2025 Lion Red List assessment covered the global population as well as the two subspecies (described in 2017):
- Global - Vulnerable (VU)
- ~22,000 to 25,000 individuals Africa, ~670 India
- African population trends:
Southern Africa - Stable or increasing
East Africa - Mixed
West Africa - Declining
Central Africa - Declining
- Asiatic population update (Gir National Park, India):
2015: ~523 individuals
2020 census: 674 (referenced in Red List)
2025 estimate: ~750+
Subspecies:
- Northern Lion (P.l. leo) - Endangered (EN)
- Southern Lion (P.l. melanochaita) - Vulnerable (VU)
2024 Assessment
The 2024 Lion Red List assessment covered the global population and two subpopulations:
- Global - Vulnerable (VU)
- ~22,000 to 25,000 individuals Africa, ~670 India
- Asiatic subpopulation - Endangered (EN)
- West African subpopulation - Critically Endangered (CR)
2016 Assessment
The 2016 Lion Red List assessment covered the global population, two subspecies (as described prior to 2017) and two subpopulations:
- Global - Vulnerable (VU)
- ~23,000 to 39,000 individuals
Subspecies:
- African Lion (P.l. leo) - Vulnerable (VU)
- Asiatic Lion (P.l. persica) - Endangered (EN)
Subpopulations:
- West African subpopulation - Critically Endangered (CR)
- Mediterranean - North African subpopulation - Regionally Extinct (RE)
Red List Notes
- Population estimates on the Red List are for mature individuals, however it is very difficult to estimate wild animal population numbers, especially for a widespread species like lions.
- The year given is the year the Red List assessment was published, however the actual assessment may have been conducted the year before or even earlier.
- Sometimes an amendment version is published with corrections and may have a later publication year than the original assessment.
Lion Green Status Assessment (2025)
The first full Green Status evaluation for lions was published in 2025.
Global recovery category: Largely Depleted
Key findings:
Lions historically occupied most of Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and India.
Today they occupy only about 8–10% of their historical range.
Without conservation efforts over the last century, lions would likely qualify as Critically Depleted or worse.
Conservation legacy: High
This indicates that protected areas, anti-poaching measures, and community programs have significantly slowed declines.
Conservation dependence: Medium
If conservation actions stopped, populations would rapidly decline.
National and Regional Red Lists
The IUCN Red List is global, but many governments and regional organizations conduct their own threat assessments. These include:
National Red Lists
Endangered species acts
Biodiversity legislation
Regional conservation frameworks
These systems may use different criteria or categories. A species listed as Vulnerable globally may be Endangered or even Extinct within a specific country.
Regional Red Lists including Lions
- The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho 2025 - Lion Assessment
- The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho 2016 - Lion Assessment
National Red Lists including Lions
- Conservation Status and Red List of the Terrestrial Carnivores of Namibia 2022 - Lion Assessment
Taken together, Red List categories, Green Status scores, and national assessments form a layered understanding of lion conservation. This multi-scale approach is essential for guiding policy, directing funding, and prioritizing action to ensure that lions persist not only as a species, but as a functioning ecological force across their former range.
Explainers
What “Conservation Status” Means
In wildlife science, conservation status or endangered status is a standardized measure of a species’ extinction risk. The most widely used global framework is the system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, commonly called the IUCN Red List. This system evaluates species using quantitative criteria such as population size, rate of decline, geographic range, and degree of fragmentation. Based on these data, species are placed into categories that reflect extinction risk:
Least Concern (LC) – widespread and abundant
Near Threatened (NT) – close to qualifying for a threatened category
Vulnerable (VU) – high risk of extinction
Endangered (EN) – very high risk
Critically Endangered (CR) – extremely high risk
Extinct in the Wild (EW) – survives only in captivity
Extinct (EX) – no surviving individuals
There are also supporting categories such as Data Deficient (DD) and Not Evaluated (NE).
Importantly, Red List assessments can occur at multiple biological or geographic scales:
Global (species-wide) — overall extinction risk for the entire species
Regional — risk within a continent or major region
Subspecies — genetically distinct sub-groups
Subpopulations — geographically separated groups
For lions, this multi-level structure is crucial because their status differs dramatically between Africa and Asia, and even between different African regions.
The IUCN Green Status System
In 2021 the IUCN introduced a complementary framework called the Green Status of Species. While the Red List measures extinction risk, Green Status evaluates recovery and conservation success.
Instead of risk categories, Green Status uses recovery scores and five main labels:
Fully Recovered — species present and viable across its historical range
Largely Recovered — missing from some areas but generally secure
Moderately Depleted — survives but below historical levels
- Largely Depleted — survives but far below historical levels
- Critically Depleted — persists only in small remnants
The system also estimates:
Conservation impact (how much actions helped)
Conservation dependence (would decline without ongoing efforts)
Recovery potential
In other words, the Red List asks “How close to extinction is this species?”
The Green Status asks “How close is this species to full recovery?”
