Lions are almost extinct in West Africa. Only 374 remain in the wild. Some good news showed up on video of a lioness named "Florence" living in Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park. She gave birth to three healthy cubs in a dense forest. Flo, who is around ten years old and the mother of an estimated total of nine cubs, is considered to be the matriarch of Niokolo-Koba by researchers who have been monitoring her with a GPS collar. She was the first lioness to be collared by Panthera, the big cat conservation group. West African lions are smaller and genetically distinct from their savanna relatives.They are considered endangered due to poaching, habitat loss and human conflict. Today West African lion live in less than 1% of their historic range.
Since Panthera hired anti-poaching personnel, poaching has dropped and the lion population has doubled to 30 lions. Senegal's Department of National Parks goal is to reach 100 by 2030. Panthera says they have expanded counter-poaching activities in the past two years. Niokolo-Koba is a world heritage site near The Gambia-Guinea-Guinea Bissau boarder. Video courtesy of Panthera.