I was told by 3 PH's from Zim that they absolutely don't hunt lioness.

I think the thought is to leave them alone and increase the carrying capacity of the lions territory as much as possible.

Several PH's I spoke with seemed in agreement that the absolute number of lions has decreased over the last 20 yrs years due to their visibility (lifestyle in the open) and the poaching by the locals. They have a high reproductive rate but their numbers are still diminshing.

Ultimately,I think Lions are just not tolerated in any proximity to people or civilization.