‘Humans everywhere’: lions cling on in Ethiopia’s last patches of wilderness

It's not just the lions that are under pressure, it's biodiversity in general,' warn conservationists, amid a rapidly expanding human population

Standing in a patch of damp forest, a clump of moss in one hand, Siraj Hussein applies the last touches to a camera trap. He explains why his chosen tree is in an ideal spot: it is in a clearing, which gives the sensors a good view, and lion droppings have been found nearby. So far, I haven't captured a lion on my camera, but I'm optimistic," he says.

Siraj is gathering data on the behaviour of the lions in the Kafa biosphere reserve, in south-west Ethiopia - one of the country's last few tracts of natural forest - as part of a new project by the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (Nabu), a German environmental group.