CecilEvery individual animal matters: whether it is Elsa the lioness, whose poignant story of freedom gave birth to generation after generation of animal lovers, or Cecil the lion, whose brutal demise elicited a global outcry against lion hunting. Today, World Lion Day, should remind us of the dire state of lions in the wild, and inspire us all to act with vigor to ensure the species’ future.[teaserbreak]
We have no time to waste; lions desperately need us to shield them from deadly threats. They face habitat loss, reduction in prey populations, retaliatory killings from coming into contact with humans, and rising levels of international commercial trade in parts of their bodies (bones to Asia and “trophies” to the U.S. and Europe).
Can we “celebrate” World Lion Day when fewer than 20,000 lions remain? Can we “celebrate” World Lion Day when their threats persist? Can we “celebrate” World Lion Day when some governments still fail to act to protect the species, and when some NGOs refuse to support full international protection?
We can celebrate… with action.
We started in 2011 with our ultimately successful petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to increase protection for lions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Now, we’re focused on global protection at next month’s meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
We knew the situation was dire, so we dubbed 2016 the “Year of the Lion” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Born Free film and to put a special focus on lions all year long.
To celebrate World Lion Day, we have even just released this light-hearted brand new video to raise awareness of the threats facing lions. It’s for those who are unaware of their plight, and who perhaps can’t handle the gruesome reality of what’s happening on the ground.
We want people to pay attention, just like they did when the news of Cecil broke. We hope that the comedic nature of the video will inspire you to share it on your Facebook page and your Twitter feed, and to email it to your friends and family. The more people who watch it, the more that lions will be on the forefront of the public consciousness.
Make no mistake, though; designating a “day” for lions doesn’t mean that we forget about lions again tomorrow. Rather, it means that maybe—even for one day—the world will listen to another lion’s story.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Adam