Mo Ganji: West African Lion | Westafrikanischer Löwe | Panthera leo leo | No. 235/250 from work group 8/99

West African Lion | Westafrikanischer Löwe | Panthera leo leo

Mo Ganji turns toward the West African lion — a large savanna-dwelling big cat once widespread across the grasslands and open woodlands of West Africa — by letting the single line move toward essence rather than authority or emblematic power. The line condenses the being into a reduced coherence, setting aside dominance, posture and symbolism so that presence can surface without assertion. In Ganji’s understanding, the line does not belong to the lion alone; it remains open, reminding us that every figure is also a human concept provisionally placed upon a living continuum.

Panthera leo leo is listed as Vulnerable (VU) globally on the IUCN Red List, while the West African lion subpopulation is classified as Critically Endangered (CR). Fewer than a few hundred individuals are believed to survive, scattered across small, isolated protected areas in countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Benin. This population is both the smallest and most genetically distinct group of lions in Africa.

The principal threats include habitat loss and fragmentation, decline of prey species, direct persecution, and escalating human–wildlife conflict. As pastoralism and agriculture expand, lions are increasingly confined to shrinking reserves with limited connectivity. Small population size further heightens vulnerability to disease, inbreeding and stochastic events.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the lion can be encountered beyond majesty or myth. It allows the being to be perceived as a life dependent on breadth and continuity, suggesting how even apex forms lose ground when landscapes are reduced to islands — and how power offers no protection once space itself is withdrawn.