In the 1940s, there were an estimated 450,000 lions in the wild, worldwide. Until recently, the estimate was between 100 and 200 thousand. Now, shockingly, the number has been rumored as small as 20,000 lions in the wild. This is due to the war that these animals constantly fight against the people living near them. Lions account for a small fraction of livestock deaths, and yet the large majority of the blame falls on their shoulders. The farmers' response to livestock killings is poisoning the meat of the carcasses. When the lions eat the meat, they are poisoned and die. There has also been a rise in poaching of lions. During the 2010 World Cup of Soccer in South Africa, many a tourist came home to America with a lion trophy. In response to all of this horrible news, many organizations have ignited efforts to save the big cats. I am asking the readers of this blog to please do your part in the conservation effort for these amazing great cats. Do not think that you have to go hunting for a place to do this though. Listed below are some easy ways that you can do your part to help save lions.
1. Watch The Last Lions trailer on youtube.com. This is a completely free way to help lions. For every view of the video, National Geographic is donating ten cents for the Big Cat Initiative. Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoAcNdeEf_Y
2. Donate. This can be in large or small amounts, and in many different ways. You can adopt an animal from the World Wildlife Fund. This can be done in $25, $50, and $100 allotments. Based on what you donate, you receive a fitting gift. The link to the adoptions can be found here: http://www.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions/Lion.aspx.
3. Another great place to donate is the charity found at http://www.lionconservation.org/photos.html This is a group called Living With Lions, and it is dedicated to strengthening the relationship between the local African people and the lions that live nearby.
4. The Lion Conservation Fund supports many different projects "that will determine the distribution and abundance of African lions in areas of great global conservation importance." These projects are described in detail here: http://www.lionconservationfund.org/projects_home.html On the website you can adopt an individual lion, sponsor an entire pride of lions, simply donate, or purchase a gift certificate.
5. The Kilimanjaro Lion Conservation Project is a fantastic project that tracks and collars lions in order to monitor their behavior patterns. They are a division of Wildlife Direct, and you can donate to either the whole or the division on the website: http://kilimanjarolion.wildlifedirect.org/tag/lion-conservation/
These are five wonderful and easy ways to help the regal lions of the world. Please take part in the conservation efforts on their behalf. They are incapable of helping themselves, with the vast majority of human involvement in their lives being negative contact. We are in charge of taking care of our beautiful planet, and part of that charge is taking care of the beautiful animals that inhabit it. I urge you all to listen carefully, and you will hear the king's roar.
No comments:
Post a Comment