The surviving lions are largely confined to four viable populations in southern and east Africa. Indeed, the situation has gotten so bad that some sportsmen have been forced to shoot immature males and then contract with a U.S. firm to weave in mane extenders to make the beast look more fierce. There are other problems with shooting the males. The cycles of natural life are disrupted. The younger males have no one to chase them from the pride, so new groups are not formed.
Young males mate with their sisters and mothers.
There was an additional problem, this one political. The local farmers were already banned from killing lions to protect their livestock. With some justice, they considered it unfair that rich foreigners should get to shoot lions when they were prohibited. So in February, the government of Botswana banned all lion hunting, which is what led to the letter from SCI signed by George Bush. Despite the declining numbers of lions in the wild, the members of SCI wanted to go on shooting them.