According to wildlife experts, there are now only 23,000 lions left in Africa. That compares with over 200,000 in the 1980's, and if the populations continue to fall, experts predict lions will soon become extinct.

Laurence Frank, a wildlife biologist from the University of California, said the only way to save lions and other predators is to learn how humans and the animals can live together.

"It's not just lions," Frank said. "Populations of all African predators are plummeting."

For example, according to Frank, the wild dog population has fallen to only about 3,500 to 5,000 and there are now less than 15,000 cheetahs in Africa.

"People know about elephants, gorillas and rhinos, but they seem blissfully unaware that these large carnivores are nearing the brink," Frank said.

According to Clare Wallerstein of the International Fund for Wildlife Welfare, the situation is not expected to get better. Wallerstein said Kenya's human population would double in the next 12 years, creating more problems for the animals.

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