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We are currently organising our forthcoming trip to Zambia and Kenya - a trip we have needed to do at short notice (before the summer hike in air fares) and on a dismally limited budget.

I met Keith Smith (Travel Counsellors Ltd) at a recent Business Networking event in Kent and asked him if he could help us with some of the arrangements for our trip.

I have to say that he has been amazing and has worked quickly and efficiently to find us some great deals.

We will certainly use Keith again for our travel needs and I wanted to just write now and wholeheartedly recommend him for all your business and holiday needs. 

Thank you Keith for your diligence and also for your caring about the lion conservation work we are engaged in!

Hopefully this article in the Guardian newspaper  (11th June 2013) will end white lion breeding and cub petting in UK zoos. It is not moral, ethical or in any way conservation, and has nothing to do with educating the public about the critical state of African lion populations. The zoos have engaged in the practice because these lions, inbred specifically for the expression of a rare recessive gene, are “cute” and an attraction for the misinformed public. West Midland Safari Park, another UK zoo involved in white lion breeding, even went so far as to sell some of their white lions via an intermediary to a Japanese travelling circus.

Indeed some zoos, bolstered by statements by among others the Global White Lion Protection Trust charity, mislead the public by claiming that white lions are a separate subspecies, and therefore must be “conserved”. These organizations even go so far as to say that they are conserving “genetic diversity” by breeding these white lions. 

This targeted inbreeding of white lions (and white tigers) in zoos has to stop as the consequences of generations of inbreeding are severe and include skeletal deformities, neurological problems, digestive abnormalities, reproductive problems, and short lifespans. Such consequences are well documented and should not be accepted as collateral damage by zoos aiming to increase their gate receipts. 

Further, zoos should in no way support South African lion breeders by buying their white lions – as these breeders also sell the animals to be trophy hunted. The zoo regulatory bodies like BIAZA and EAZA should censure members who keep, breed, and purchase white lions.

Picture credit: http://bit.ly/16m30sV    

If you have not already signed up to our mailing list, you can add your name here and keep up to date with our ongoing work and, most importantly, DONATE to support our work to conserve the remaining fragile lion and wildlife populations. Thank you. LionAid is proud to be taking part in the very first Big Give Charities Raffle and we hope you will be keen to support us - and be in with a chance of winning fantastic prizes! For full details on the raffle, please click here   

 To buy your tickets on behalf of LionAid now, please click here 

                                                         CAN YOU HELP US HELP THEM?

We will travel to Zambia on June 19th  to address lion conservation issues with various parties, hoping to maintain the lion trophy hunting ban until some serious issues have been sorted out, especially with the disparity between government lion numbers (over 4,500) and our estimates (maybe 850).  There are a number of important lion conservation issues to be addressed especially the need for a nationwide census and the formulation of a national Lion Action Plan.

We will then travel on to Kenya (28th June – 7th July) and will conduct a number of meetings while we are there to benefit lion conservation. Kenya already has a long time ban on lion trophy hunting in place but traditionally suffers from human/lion conflicts and now, in addition, is facing a huge upsurge in lion poaching as the demand for lion bones ( Traditional Chinese Medicine market)  reaches unprecedented levels. We believe Kenya has no more than 1200 lions left across the country. Our aim is to integrate outcomes of meetings with four different groups into an overall strategy to be brought forward, building on consensus to hopefully find formulas for improved lion conservation.

Who will we meet with and what are the aims of these meetings?

1. Meet with the relevant people in the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)  to discuss lion conservation issues

2. Meet with relevant NGOs and corporate bodies to identify funding streams to significantly address the major problems facing lion conservation in Zambia and Kenya

3. Meet with lion researchers and concerned individuals to discuss projects and relevant needs to improve lion conservation and promote collaboration and coordinated approaches

4. Meet with community representatives with an emphasis on agreeing on ways forward to decrease lion/human/livestock conflict, to increase community representation in lion conservation measures and to determine best ways forward for conservation of lions occurring outside nationally protected areas

5. With input from all the above, present outcomes agreed by all groups to Zambian and Kenyan government representatives at the highest level to encourage direct involvement in specific lion conservation measures and solutions to halt the incessant declines in populations.

In order to meet the basic costs of these meetings, we need to raise a minimum of £10,000/$15,000. This will enable us to facilitate this very important conference forum to exchange ideas with the stakeholders and develop the all essential lion conservation solutions that are desperately needed in both countries.

Lions probably speak more directly to people than any other wild species.

Through art, through literature, through symbolism and heraldry, through representations on flags and national emblems, lions have a universality that appeals regardless of culture, race, and national origin. Lions represent such a strong image to the world that words cannot but fail to express the true level of their iconic impact.

Lions represent hope and future, courage and strength, royalty and power.

But they are also so very fragile and needing of our protection. We have all failed in the past to protect lions and to do what we innovatively could have years ago. Lions are now an endangered species, and we have watched the decline from the sidelines for far too long.

It is now up to us to have the courage, fortitude, and strength to protect and conserve a species globally representative of the freedom and importance of wild animals.

It can be done, but not without your support of LionAid, a charity dedicated to lions and new visions for their conservation in the future.

We will be delighted for any help you can give to us at this crucial time and hope you will continue to follow our progress.

You can donate to us directly here or you can donate through our campaign on Indiegogo here

THE FIGHT IS ON FOR LIONS

Thank you 

Chris and Pieter

Building on rapidly incremental success since its inception on 2010, LionAid is now seeking two exceptional individuals to join our team at Trustee level as we take the charity forward to the next stages of progress.

Required is a passion for wildlife conservation, willingness to participate in making novel conservation ideas a reality and adding sound business experience that can help this dynamic team realize the manifest opportunities now created. 

Do you have previous experience of governance of rapidly growing charities? Could you participate in identifying and securing funding to take us into the next exciting stages of our development?

If this sounds like you then please contact us as soon as possible at info@lionaid.org, telling us why you think you have the characteristics to be part of our team and don't forget to enclose a CV.

We look forward to hearing from you.

                                   Lions do not fare well in terms of publicity and awareness

Not many people realize there are fewer lions remaining on the planet than rhinos, elephants, orang-utans, chimpanzees, blue whales or polar bears and comparatively speaking fewer even than tigers. We say this because whilst there are only around 3,200 tigers left now, they are solitary animals whereas lions, whose remaining numbers are around 15,000, are the only social cat and need to live in prides of around 10 animals to thrive. So, in terms of lion “units, we are down to the last 1,500 and only 5 viable populations left on the African continent.

We absolutely applaud the initiatives leading to the illegal wildlife trade conference on 21st May at St James’s Palace and we thank our Royal Family for highlighting the catastrophic growth of the illegal wildlife trade. But we were dismayed to see that yet again, the lion was not discussed despite the fact that the escalating lion bone trade (to replace tiger bones in Asian Traditional Medicine) is fuelling unprecedented levels of poaching of lions across the African continent. In addition, it is well documented that lion cubs are being smuggled to South Africa to feed their breeding programmes for the “canned” hunting trade and to the Arab Emirates to feed the pet trade. 

This follows a similar story at the recent CITES conference held in Bangkok this year. Lions were not even on the agenda. Lions are the ONLY big cat species not on CITES Appendix 1. A crazy situation that is being allowed as lions are the number one species desired by trophy hunters and the power, money and influence of trophy hunting lobbies are very strong.

Something needs to be done and quickly.

• We are calling for accurate lion counts in the few remaining African lion range states, to replace the current data based on questionnaires, guesstimates and extrapolations from habitat data. 
• We are calling for accurate lion counts to be conducted in hunting concessions by independent assessors. 
• We are calling for other African lion range states to join Botswana, Kenya and Zambia to put a halt to all lion trophy hunting. 
• We are calling on the importing countries to ban lion trophies as the offtake levels are unsustainable. 
• We call on all importing countries to ban lion trophies from “canned” hunting sources as it is an industry based on cruelty and a lack of morals and ethics. 
• We call on UNESCO and UNEP to pass resolutions to declare lions a World Heritage Species and to ensure maximum levels of protection for the species. 
• We call on the world public to take action to prevent further trade in lion products and to spread awareness about the ever-declining numbers in Africa. 
• We call on all members of the public, grant-making agencies, governments, corporations, and international bodies to significantly increase funding for effective lion conservation programmes that reduce human/lion conflict, resurrect national protected areas and stabilize remaining lion populations.  

Further trade, prevarication, complacency and dawdling is out of the question for a species so crucially important not only for our culture and heritage but also for the health and biodiversity of Africa’s ecosystems.

Picture credit: Chris Harvey  

If you have not already signed up to our mailing list, you can add your name here and keep up to date with our ongoing work and, most importantly, DONATE to support our work to conserve the remaining fragile lion and wildlife populations. Thank you.

LionAid is proud to be taking part in the very first Big Give Charities Raffle and we hope you will be keen to support us - and be in with a chance of winning fantastic prizes! For full details on the raffle, please click here 

To buy your tickets on behalf of LionAid now, please click here   

                                                                     Thank you Zulus

On May 17, the South Africa Inkatha Freedom Party issued the press statement below. LionAid would like to thank the IFP for their support of our position on canned lion hunting, and trust the other political parties in South Africa will take note. The IFP is to be commended for addressing this issue negatively impacting South Africa’s international wildlife conservation image. 

PRESS RELEASE

The Inkatha Freedom Party supports all calls to end recreational killing of lions in South Africa. IFP Spokesperson on the Environment, Mrs CN Zikalala, MP said, "Lions are being bred in captivity, in most instances tranquilized and then released into large enclosed areas to be hunted. They are then being 'hunted' by these pseudo 'hunters' who take great pride and satisfaction in being able to kill a tame lion, at point blank range with a high powered rifle. This is as pathetic as it is cruel."

Zikalala further added that, " It is reported that these lions are bred for the sole purpose of being hunted, often spending the majority of their lives in small, cramped quarters, are forced to breed and are released into controlled environments only when they are about to be shot. The wild lion population is also under threat with numbers dwindling from 450,000 to only 20000 currently left in the wild."

The IFP accordingly urges the Minister of Environmental Affairs to immediately ban or at the very least, severely limit the number of lion hunting permits issued in South Africa each year.

If you have not already signed up to our mailing list, you can add your name here and keep up to date with our ongoing work and, most importantly, DONATE to support our work to conserve the remaining fragile lion and wildlife populations. Thank you.

              President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon – fighting poaching is all about political will

Yesterday’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Meeting at St. James’ Palace was a mixture of the predictable and the hopeful. 

Both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge made presentations, with Prince Charles stressing the need for urgency, new approaches, collaboration, much better law enforcement, demand reduction and provision of employment alternatives to poaching. He said we are involved in a race against time. Prince William stressed the need of youth to become more involved as it is their heritage that is being destroyed. Prince Charles promised a further meeting on the issue in the autumn, this one to involve Heads of State.

Their comments were a breath of fresh air in contrast to those of some other presenters, who are beginning to look like they have been at too many similar meetings and keep saying the same things. David Higgins of Interpol mentioned the need to coordinate the gathering and analysis of data on the syndicates, the need to professionalize the wildlife crime investigators and prosecutors, and the need for more cooperation and political will to combat the illegal trafficking. John Scanlon of CITES said the significant gains made by CITES over the past 40 years were under threat and that the trends were disturbing. He said when put against ruthless opponents, a commensurate response was needed. He said we know the way forward, and what is lacking right now is the will by many to take strong action. He called for better financing and rigorous efforts to identify and prosecute the kingpins as targeting the poachers themselves was not going to deliver substantive progress. He mentioned that for the first time there were people speculating on extinction to drive up the prices of animal products, and said that CITES would use it’s “teeth” – compliance measures – to ensure a lessening of the illegal trade. 

Sabri Zain of TRAFFIC and Peter Knights of WildAid both stressed the need for demand reduction but disagreed to some extent on the process. Zain mentioned that to date demand reduction has not been seen to be particularly effective as the issues involved were complex – including factors like social status, lifestyles and outward expressions of wealth to curry favours in business transactions. He felt that demand reduction would be most effective if Government-led. He also mentioned that there were good examples of demand reduction working in the past and mentioned that Japan, historically a major ivory consumer, had seen a great reduction in demand thanks to awareness campaigns and Government action. Peter Knights agreed to some extent, but mentioned that demand reduction in countries like Japan had been followed by demand increases in other consuming nations due to newly emerging rich economies. These newly affluent countries had therefore stimulated a new round of poaching to satisfy their demands. He said it was imperative to target society via celebrity campaigns and the social media, and that public outreach campaigns were not a strong point of Governments. 

I had been looking forward to hear what Thea Carroll of the Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa was going to say. Predictably, she reported South Africa was mounting a “strong response” to rhino poaching by an integrated effort among police, the South African Defence Force, the National Prosecuting Authority and the wildlife ranger force. She said it was imperative to find long-term solutions and involve communities. The reality is that since the beginning of the year 353 rhinos have been poached in South Africa - a rate of one every ten hours heading for a predicted total of over 900 in 2013. 

Jorge Rios of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said poaching was not a conservation issue any longer but had evolved into a transnational organized crime. He said national legislations were largely incapable of dealing with wildlife crime and that current conventions on organized crime and corruption needed to be implemented. 

The presentations ended with those of Ian Craig of the Northern Rangelands Trust of Kenya and Lee White, Executive Secretary of the National Parks of Gabon. Craig urged the involvement of communities in leadership, care and commitment to wildlife through the establishment of community conservancies. White, in a quiet and carefully worded speech provided in my opinion the best presentation. He said the reason why Gabon was doing relatively well in protecting her wildlife was because there was the tremendous political will to do so. President Ali Bongo Ondimba had earlier stated “Gabon has a policy of zero tolerance for wildlife crime and we are putting in place institutions and laws to ensure this policy is enforced.” Gabon burned her ivory stockpile in June 2012 (unfortunately not an example taken up by many others) and has also mobilized their army and police forces and all government departments in a coordinated effort in what is rightly seen as a trans-border crime. Gabon is a shining example of how political will can make a decisive and meaningful difference in cutting through obstacles to achieve conservation of her wildlife heritage. 

Contrast that determination to the remarks made at the conference by Owen Paterson, the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He said the UK government was “determined” to play a part in fighting wildlife crime, that the UK was “committed” to develop the tools to do so and that failure would shame us all. Meanwhile his department has significantly cut funding to the police National Wildlife Crime Unit, only reluctantly and by public pressure agreeing to extend some financial support for one year. Paterson did announce a department “awareness raising” programme called “If They’re Gone” for just four species – elephants, rhinos, tigers and orang-utans. As mentioned by Peter Knights, public outreach is not going to be well-handled by governments – in this case by a government that has ignored that 60% of wildlife species in the UK have declined drastically in the past 50 years and that one in ten species are now in danger of extinction.

Lions received no mention at the conference, perhaps because there is still not the realization that lions are greatly affected by destructive trade. Much of this trade has the veneer of legality – trophy hunting – that has nevertheless contributed significantly to the relentless decline of the species. Also, there is as yet little realization that lions are now being targeted for their bones as a substitute for tiger bones in the traditional medicine markets. Trophy hunting provides a strange bedfellow to the poaching crisis – for example, in 2010 Cameroon exported close to 70 elephant trophies while mobilizing the army after 40 elephants were killed by poachers in March 2013. Until the realization hits that trade in species of wildlife in rapid decline – legal or illegal – must be stopped, lions will continue to draw the short straw of being ignored until it is too late.  

So, as I said, a mixed bag of messages with some high points. The Prince of Wales can do much good as he is non-political yet very influential. Together with a slowly growing number of Heads of State like Ali Bongo and Ian Khama of Botswana the African political will to conserve their national heritage is growing. Rather than moving from conference to conference where the same messages are being repeated, there needs to be a sense of building on progress. As Prince Charles said we are now in a race against time. In a following blog I will show that we have ignored all past trends since it seems that we can only respond to crises. And the crisis now is that we have no more room for error and complacency, our backs are now securely pinned against the wall. The choice is clear and unavoidable – action by deeds or extinction. 

Picture credit – James Morgan/WWF 

If you have not already signed up to our mailing list, you can add your name here and keep up to date with our ongoing work and, most importantly, DONATE to support our work to conserve the remaining fragile lion and wildlife populations. Thank you.

                                                  13 year old Oliver Timms shows the way…..

This Saturday, the 18th May 2013, Oliver Timms, a 13 year old autistic boy is taking on a huge  fundraising challenge because, as he says

 “I am raising money for Lions because they are dying out and being poached by bad people. I am worried about them and want to help. If we want to see Lions in the future we need to support them by raising money to protect them and their habitat”

Oliver will be taking part, along with his dad, in the South Downs Trekathon which is described by the organisers as “tough”. They go on to say that “The full 26 mile walk should take approximately 8-10 hours for fit and strong walkers; others should allow longer. It may take some walkers up to 12 hours or more” 

What an AMAZING effort. Young Oliver is truly showing the way by undertaking such an arduous challenge for the lions he loves. Actions speak louder than words and we hope you will all respond to his wonderful fundraising effort by donating as Oliver is hoping you will..

He is an inspiring young man with a true lion heart.  

Go Oliver!

You can donate to his Trekathon here.

                                                                            Yours for $10,000

Given that South Africa is supplying considerable volumes of lion bones to mainly Laos but also Vietnam and China (see table below) and that LionAid has warned that such trade could well stimulate a demand that would increasingly involve poaching of lions, an article in the recent edition of Botswana’s Ngami Times newspaper is worrisome. 

The South African trade involves lion breeders/canned lion hunters and taxidermists at least, and it is reported that lion bones are selling for about $165 per kilo in South Africa and about $300-$500 at destination. The value of a lion skeleton could therefore be in excess of $10,000. In China, lion bones are soaked for a variable period in rice wine, whereas in Laos and Vietnam the bones are made into a “paste” with added ingredients like herbs (some reports say opium is also mixed in). The paste is then also dissolved in rice wine. Such bone tonics are used to treat a variety of ailments.

Lion bones are being used as substitutes for tiger bone potions, and bones from wild lions are considered more efficacious than those bred in captivity – the same applies to tiger bones from wild tigers versus those sold for traditional Chinese medicines from the extensive “tiger farms” in China.

The article (http://www.ngamitimes.com/) states the following:

“The Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism has strongly warned farmers against staging livestock predation incidents, adding that the full strength of law will be applied to such offenders. The director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Oduetse Koboto said some farmers colluded with foreign nationals to stage incidents of livestock predation in order to claim compensation from government. He states that “such perpetrators illegally killed and harvested certain parts from wild animals for illicit trade. They later surrender skins and other animal remains to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks to legitimise their claims for losses against predators.”Koboto explained to the Ngami Times that this is a suspected new development which the department intends to nip in the bud. Though he could not point to a specific incident at this stage, the wildlife director maintained that some of the reported cases of livestock predation have been highly suspicious, and that Ngamiland is one of those regions where such cases have raised eye-brows. He further disclosed that such incidents involve primarily lions and leopards.” 

In South Africa, Vietnamese and Thai nationals have been arrested at O.R. Tambo International Airport with illegal lion bones in their luggage, but levels of the illegal trade are considered much higher than such occasional seizures suggest. With authorities concentrating on illegal ivory and rhino horn shipments, bones could well be smuggled out undetected. 

The extent to which poaching of lions occurs is difficult to estimate. Since poached lion carcasses are much smaller than those of elephants and rhinos, their detection is more difficult. Even when found, lion remains are likely to be seen as natural mortality and subsequent carcass destruction by scavengers. 

In India, all carcasses of tigers are considered poaching incidents until other reasons for mortality can be supported. Perhaps lion carcasses should now be treated with the same degree of suspicion. 

Picture credit: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Lion_anatomy_lateral_skeleton_view.jpg

                     Table 1: Lion bone exports from South Africa listed on CITES records 

If you have not already signed up to our mailing list, you can add your name here and keep up to date with our ongoing work and, most importantly, DONATE to support our work to conserve the remaining fragile lion and wildlife populations. Thank you.

LionAid is proud to be taking part in the very first Big Give Charities Raffle and we hope you will be keen to support us - and be in with a chance of winning fantastic prizes! For full details on the raffle, please click here 

To buy your tickets on behalf of LionAid now, please click here