Abstract:
Lions (Panthera leo) are one of the most charismatic, enigmatic, and polarizing species on the
planet (Macdonald et al., 2015; Albert et al., 2018; Courchamp et al., 2018). Human connections
to lions, as functional members of ecological communities and as icons of strength and courage,
are truly cross-cultural (Schaller, 1972). Lion symbology, for instance, appears around the world,
even in geographic locations outside of the species range (McCall, 1973). The images of lions adorn
currency, jewelry, art, clothing, corporate logos and masonry, among others, where they are used
and traded on a daily basis (Evans, 1896; Olupona, 1993; Mwangi, 2002). People experience strong
emotions when in the company of lions whether that be at zoos, from the relative safety of a
safari vehicle, or while grazing livestock on open rangelands in Africa or India (Hemson et al.,
2009; Goldman et al., 2010; Meena et al., 2014). Lions clearly command reverence and yet, as
humans, we have grown acutely accustomed to conflict with this species. Fears relating to insecurity
and loss of livestock motivate swift and aggressive retaliatory responses to lions (Patterson et al.,
2004; Dickman, 2010; Millspaugh et al., 2015). Thus, lions seem capable of captivating and scaring
humans in equal measure. Perhaps not surprisingly then, here in the twenty-first century, lions
are a species of immense conservation concern and one that has defied numerous efforts toward
population restoration outside of inviolate protected areas. Lions have experienced precipitous
and unabated population declines over the last 100 years causing the conservation community to
periodically downgrade the species conservation status (Bauer et al., 2015; Riggio et al., 2015).
The conservation of lions therefore presents a thorny challenge. In their contributing paper
to this special issue, Montgomery et al. identify that human-lion conflict is a highly complex
issue involving not only the two implied domains (i.e., humans and lions), but also characteristics
of livestock and human culture, factors associated with wild prey populations, and abiotic
conditions in the environment. This paper articulates that the issue of human-lion conflict is one
that is clearly multifaceted and multidimensional. Several calls among the scientific community
have demonstrated the utility of evaluating complex problems with research teams that are
multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and, hopefully at some point, transdisciplinary (White and
Ward, 2010; Rylance, 2015). Thus, the objective of this special issue is to highlight the ways in which research teams assessing human-lion conflict and those assessing lion ecology,more broadly, have been, and are evolving to be, interdisciplinary. This special
issue features 11 papers exploring these topics across the range of
lions from West Africa to East Africa and from South Africa to
the Greater Gir Landscape of India.
