Thursday, 25 September 2008
6.05pm

Lions, supreme rulers of the African savannah, should have little to fear.

But while the world has been worrying about the decline of the elephant and the tiger, the plight of the lion has gone unnoticed. This is a species in peril.

Researchers recently made the shocking discovery there were only half the lions in Africa previously believed - as few as 16,000. There are a number of threats to their existence but are they ultimately their own worst enemy? How can they be saved?