There may be less than 20,000 lions now, not in a park or country, but the whole African continent. That's a drop from an estimated 200,000 lions in the early 80's. Scientists say they're not going extinct... yet. But the impact of game hunting, especially in the removal of most adult male lions from the gene pool, and pest animal control, is decimating the social structure and species survival of lions in the wild. The research team noted no instance of finding a lion in their four years in a wildlife preserve who had died of natural causes. Instead, they were "poisoned, trapped and shot".