Is there a lion on the loose in Costa Rica? That's a question the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) hopes to answer after reports of a sighting in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that trophy-hunting tourists legally kill some 600 lions each year. Given that there are only about 30,000 lions left in Africa, this represents an annual loss of roughly 2 percent of the total lion population to legal hunting.