When positive actions are ruled by negative outcomes, that’s when change peaks its head up through the dark clouds. On this upcoming [highlight]World Lion Day[/highlight] (August, 10th), let’s not only discuss the bad and the ugly, let’s discuss and focus on the good that is revolving around nature’s fiercest felines and dominant kings of the bushveld to keep the positive spark alive.
Although an ignorant few humans are the reason for the suffering and demise of many of the wild and free lions, there are other humans doing extraordinary things to keep these magnificent creatures in our lives.
Here are some organisations, led by a collective of strong individuals, who are causing uproar for positive change:
World Lion Day:
[highlight]World Lion Day[/highlight] is the first global campaign to celebrate the importance of the lion worldwide and it was commemorated on the 10th of August, last year. Its point is to raise conservation awareness around the plight of lions that are in danger of moving towards a “silent extinction”, as the founders describe it.
Blood Lions:
[highlight]Blood Lions[/highlight] is a documentary feature film that exploits the brutal exploitation of our king of beasts. The crew follows an environmental conservationist, a safari operator, and an American hunter on their journey to uncover the realities about the multi-million dollar predator breeding and canned lion hunting industries in South Africa.
I had the opportunity to see the film during the Durban International Film festival and it is a harrowing story and one that needs to be seen and talked about. The film was set to [highlight]raise awareness and provoke change[/highlight] for the future and that is exactly what Ian Michler and his devoted team have done through the informative documentary. You can join the movement and get involved [highlight]here[/highlight].
Big Cats Initiative, National Geographic:
In response to the alarming rate at which big cats are declining, National Geographic, with filmmakers, conservationists, and [highlight]Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert[/highlight], launched the [highlight]Big Cats Initiative[/highlight], a comprehensive program that supports on-the-ground conservation and education projects combined with their [highlight]Cause An Uproar[/highlight] global public-awareness program.
They have quite a fun and interactive campaign going on at the moment, called [highlight]High 5 for Big 5[/highlight]. All you have to do is post a photo of yourself on social media giving a virtual high-five with the hashtag #5forBigCats and then donate $5 to their cause.
African Parks:
[highlight]African Parks[/highlight] is a non-profit organisation that takes on total responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments, wildlife organisations and local communities. They operate eight national parks in seven countries: Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, CAR Rwanda and Chad.
They do their fair share to protect the lions and their kingdom with a recent success story in Akagera National Park, where they successfully [highlight]released seven translocated lions[/highlight] from KwaZulu Natal reserves. It was a ground breaking conservation effort for the country of Rwanda.
All of these organisations have shown their pride to protect our beloved lions in both big and small ways. On this upcoming World Lion Day, we encourage you to do the same and continue to search and hold onto the good stuff that’s happening on the lion conservation front.
Humans may be the cause of such destruction, but we’re also the same ones who have the ability to fix and prevail.