Caged But Not Tamed

Imagine the following: You are with your friend, visiting the local zoo, which houses a collection of endangered wildlife from around the world. I love wildlife, your friend croons whimsically, as she watches the young female lion pacing restlessly to and fro in her cage. Aren't we fortunate to be able to experience nature? Would you take a photo of me in front of her?

You gaze at the lioness. She has her head down, and she lopes in a rhythmic, elongated, oval pattern around the small enclosure. Grass has been banished from the dusty path, which clearly etches out the lionesses's tireless journey day after day. The lioness snarls briefly as she is distracted by the flash of the camera, before she shakes her head and then walks on. Does she imagine the vast plains of Africa? Was she captured as a cub, you wonder, some of her pride shot by the rifle of an angry farmer after they caught one of his livestock? Or was she born captive? You shudder as you imagine her story, as you picture her trauma. There is no escape from this cage. Does the lioness pace because her internal clock expects her to be traversing vast plains in search of food and water?

You read the sign in front of the cage. It says there are an estimated 20,000-30,000 lions left in the wild. You can't believe what you are reading. Lions?! Aren't they the most common of the big cats! In the whole of Africa there are only that many individuals left alive! Then you remember reading that the last specimen of the West African Black Rhino subspecies died in 2011. You were amazed when you read this, especially as you read it as if it was just another daily fact, without any fanfare. You wonder if lions will become extinct within your lifetime. Somehow this does not seem possible. Imagine a world without lions? You leave the zoo, and, as you drive home, a gnawing disquiet rises.

What does the tipping point of extinction for the African lion look like? What does it look like for wildlife worldwide?

"God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."" (Genesis 1:28 WEB)