Good News for Lions

While passing through DC on my current business trip, I had a day full of news and opportunities to participate in lion conservation. With lions in such a dire situation (some researchers say their numbers have dropped 30 percent over the past two decades to fewer than 30,000), many organizations are stepping up their efforts to protect these iconic animals.

In the morning I met John Kaseona who works with IRDNC, a Namibian wildlife organization that works with local communities to develop ways to protect endangered animals in ways that benefit residents. Namibia passed a forward-thinking law in the 90’s that gave tribes full control over tourism on their communal lands. These communal conservancies now protect growing populations of lions where their numbers are dropping in most places.

John heads soon to Denver, where he will be presenting on March 7th in partnership with Reefs to Rockies. If you are around Denver, go and check out what is sure to be a fascinating presentation. SEEtheWILD is proud that Reefs to Rockies tour, Nambia & Botswana’s Desert & Delta, works closely with these conservancies and benefits the Desert Lion Project that IRDNC and others work with. We’re hoping to work more with John and his partners as SEEtheWILD grows.

That evening, I attended a cocktail party about lion conservation at the headquarters of National Geographic. Their new Big Cats Initiative is an exciting new way that people can learn about and support the conservation of lions, tigers, and other big cats. They recently released a fascinating movie called The Last Lions, be sure to go see it if its playing near you. At the party, people from IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare), the Humane Society, and Born Free announced that they had just filed a petition to list lions as endangered species in the US. Hundreds of lions are imported into the US from hunting safaris. Their parts can be bought for thousands of dollars, fueling a trade that threatens these animals in the wild. Tigers and other animals outside of the US receive this protection, which would prevent the importing of these parts.

I also had the pleasure of meeting with staff of the African Wildlife Foundation. We look forward to supporting their Conservation Enterprise program to help support community-based wildlife conservation efforts through our trips. AWF is the primary partner with Disney for their upcoming movie African Cats, which comes out on Earth Day, April 22nd. If you go see the movie during the first week, Disney will donate 20 cents per person to AWF for their lion conservation work (a donation of at least $100,000).