The Last Lions has the magnificence of a lion’s roar in the bush, reverberating through your bones and heart, and will leave you in as much awe. More than 50 scientists from 19 countries contributed to the content, which is as weighty as the heft of the 488-page book, and the photos are exquisite.
In The Last Lions, some of the best wildlife photographers have shared images of this iconic predator – stalking, swimming, climbing, at play (including a muddy cub) bonding and more - and these alone would make it a collectors’ item.
For friends and family committed to conservation, this is a lofty Christmas present. The book is a “love letter to lions” said Don Pinnock, an award-winning author, criminologist, environmental journalist and photographer, who complied the book with author, conservationist and eco-conscious safari guide, Colin Bell.
The Last Lions contains “many lifetimes of knowledge, from different disciplines, written in an accessible way” with the finest photos Pinnock writes in the preface, and it’s true.
In 1977 I was a safari guide in Botswana and we would see rhinos everywhere, elephant, buffalo, lions…then in 1986 rhinos went extinct in Botswana
— Conservationist, safari guide, author and co-compiler Colin Bell
The threats – mostly human - to the survival of lions was a catalyst for the pair to do the book. They decided this over a cup of coffee despite saying ‘never again’ after they complied The Last Elephants in 2019, published in English and Chinese.
Bell said at the book’s recent launch, at Cape Town’s Book Lounge: “When Don and I were born, there were about 450 000 wild lions and today there are around 24 000 lions in the wild. In our lifetime we have seen a 95% drop off.”
The Last Lions is a deep exploration of everything about lions, ranging from their behaviour - one chapter looks at the tree-climbing lions of the DRC - to their genetics and many more topics, including the increasing human-lion conflict.
To grasp the significance of the insights shared by the scientists, rangers and communities in The Last Lions requires focus (this is not a holiday read) but the photos are revealing and tell their own stories for less dedicated readers. ‘Where have all the lions gone?’ is the title of the first chapter and ‘Rewilding, the planet’s last great hope’ is the final message of the book.
Pinnock said The Last Lions acts a 2025 “data baseline” of these predators, who are locally extinct from 24 countries. India has the only lions outside of Africa where their range, in the 13 regions described in the book, has shrunk to a fraction of its former size.
Urging people to protect lions before it is too late, Bell said: “In 1977 I was a safari guide in Botswana and we would see rhinos everywhere, elephant, buffalo, lions…then in 1986 rhinos went extinct in Botswana and we only appreciated what we had lost once they were gone …in Cape Town we didn’t appreciate water until Day Zero.”
“We are at a tipping point,” he said, describing an ‘emptiness in the soul’ that follows the disappearance of sentient wild animals.
A book containing many lifetimes of knowledge, from different disciplines, written in an accessible way and supported by the some of the world’s finest wildlife photographers
— Author, criminologist, environmental journalist, photographer and co-compiler, Don Pinnock
Africans have been living with lions for centuries and they are embedded in the continent’s mythology and culture - and their majesty is celebrated far beyond Africa said Pinnock.
In the book Dr Pieter Kat writes: “Just look at all the lions in art, as statues, on logos, on flags,” from Number 10’s door knocker to statues in China, Indonesia and Cambodia. “For humans, lions represent strength, protection, courage and loyalty...” he writes, asking what went so wrong that they are now endangered.
Bell and Pinnock declare South Africa to be bipolar in its treatment of lions. The country has successes in rewilding lions but is also home to a shocking captive lion (about 6000 at last count) breeding industry, which underpins canned hunting and the export of lion bones.
The stellar role that African Parks plays in rewilding across the continent, working with communities to give wildlife a safe refuge, sounds a hopeful note in the book which ends with a call for action, and the warning by Kenyan Nobel Prize winner, environmentalist Wangari Maathai: “The generation that destroy the environment is not the generation that pays the prices. That is the problem.”
Publisher: Struik Nature
Price: R559 up to R750 (hardcover format)
