A young lioness plays with a lion on the dry Ewaso Ngiro riverbed in Kenya's Samburu game reserve January 6, 2006. The "King of the Beasts" may not rule beyond this century unless urgent action is taken to protect remaining lion habitat and halt conflict between humans and the big cats, said a leading conservationist on Monday.(Xinhua/Reuters)

Lionesses cross the dry Ewaso Ngiro riverbed in Kenya's Samburu game reserve January 6, 2006. Lions have lost 80 percent of their historic range in the last century, said Kristin Nowell, a member of the cat specialist group of the World Conservation Union, the world's largest network of conservation groups. (Xinhua/Reuters)