What it is
The lion is a social big cat of open woodlands and savannas. IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable. Published guesses for the wild total often fall around 20,000–25,000; the figure is uncertain and regional counts disagree.
Range
Historically from southern Europe and southwest Asia across most of Africa. Today almost all wild lions live in sub-Saharan fragments. The Asiatic lion survives only in and around Gir Forest, India (on the order of 600–700 animals in recent Gujarat counts).
What happened
Over the last few thousand years, and especially the last two centuries, people converted hunting ground to pasture and shot lions as threats. The Ice Age lion of Europe is long gone; the Holocene lion of North Africa and the Middle East followed. What remains is a reduced African core plus Gir.
When / status
Still here, Vulnerable, on a much smaller map than after the last Ice Age.
Human role
Habitat conversion, prey depletion, and killing in defense of livestock drove the contraction.
Sources
IUCN Red List (Panthera leo, Vulnerable); Gujarat Forest Department Asiatic-lion censuses.