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A recent blog by Rhishja Cota-Larson and Sarah Pappin  entitled  "The Lion Bone's connected to the ....Rhino Horn? continues the theme explored by Pieter in his recent blog and in his podcast interview with Rhishja.

They say "International concern is growing around South African game industry insiders who are dabbling in illicit rhino horn and lion bone trade"

And again as  David Newton of the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC was quoted in IOL in 2010, regarding the existing trade in lion bones from within the private game industry:

He remarked that a “limited trade in lion bones” was occurring, and added that captive lion breeders could exploit the situation and “create a new market”.

This blog is worth a read......

And remember that there are as few lions on the whole African continent as there are rhinos in South Africa alone.

Uwe Skrzypczak is an extremely talented wildlife photographer and a staunch supporter of LionAid.

We are delighted to announce that, under the aegis of the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Uwe is holding a wonderful Serengeti Photo-Exhibition at the famous Zoological Research Museum Alxander Koenig in Bonn, Germany  between the 30th May and the 15th July.

Entitled "Serengeti- A Wonder of Evolution", the Museum presents more than 60 of his pictures and collages in prints ranging from 24-32 inches up to 40-120 inches on original ©Canson Museums-Canvas.

Click here for further information on this must see Exhibition.

On the 31st March, Pieter was delighted to be interviewed by Rhishja Cota Larson for her "Behind the Schemes" weekly discussion podcast, produced by Saving Rhinos LLC.

In the episode, he discusses  the increased demand for lion bones and the worrying parallel between rhino poaching and trade in lion bones...

Click on this link to listen in.....

Last week, we were delighted to be interviewed by Rhishja Cota Larson for her "Behind the Schemes" weekly discussion podcast, produced by Saving Rhinos LLC.

In the episode, we discuss our recent landmark conference on the conservation needs and status of African lions which was held in Johannesburg on the 29th and 30th March.

Click on this link to listen in.....

 We have now joined JustTextGiving by Vodafone!

An easy way to donate to LionAid is by sending a quick text from your mobile phone - nothing could be simpler!

Just text LION16 followed by the amount (£1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070 and we will receive your valuable donation. it's as simple as that.

Your support WILL make a difference by helping to fund our work to conserve the remaining lion populations.

Click here to see what we are doing TODAY to save lions.

Thank you for your support!

As part of our preparations to present the concept of lions as a World Heritage Species to UNESCO, we have a request for you.

Would you be willing to take a camera with you next time you are out in your cities and send us high-quality photographs of the lion statues, images, etc that you see? We are particularly interested in images from China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, In...dia, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand - but also from Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, USA, any African country!

Please send the images by e-mail to info@lionaid.org with a brief description of where the photographs were taken.

Thank you all so much!

John Loizides, a great supporter of LionAid has organised two great fundraising events.

On Sunday May 13th please go along and support the Anglian Five-A-Side Football Tournament he has organised. Click here for all the details.

On Sunday June 24th, John will be running in the Torbay Half Marathon. Please sponsor him as he runs this wonderful race to raise money for LionAid. Click here for all the details.

Following a very successful and landmark LionAid conference on the conservation needs and status of African lions in Johannesburg on the 29th and 30th March, we are delighted to now publish the Action Plans agreed by the delegates.

The Management and Scientific Authorities of seven African lion range States attended as follows:
Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Senegal.

We now  very much look forward to working with all these African lion range States to initiate regional and pan-African lion conservation measures to halt current catastrophic population declines in this iconic species.

We would like to thank Defra and the UK Government for granting us the funds without preconditions  to hold this conference.

LionAid has been asked develop National Lion Conservation Plans with all these lion range States. This places us in the responsible position of coordinating and facilitating overall lion conservation and management programmes, and we will soon proceed to responsibly address this remit.

                                                              ACTION PLANS

1. All lion range States that have not developed their National Lion Action Plans for lion conservation and management in a structured and coordinated way, to urgently do so by April 2013. Such coordination of the Action Plans to be undertaken and facilitated by LionAid.
2. The lion range States that practise consumptive utilisation of lions (e.g. trophy hunting) to ensure adherence to best practices of sustainability and transparency, and shall regularly monitor utilized populations.
3. The lion range States to propose to the IUCN to review the listing of the African lion with a view to upgrading the species to “endangered” status. LionAid to facilitate.
4. The lion range States to request UNESCO to consider the lion as a World Heritage Species, once the criteria and process has been established and a proposal for listing has been submitted.  LionAid to facilitate and inform.
5.  The lion range States to share intelligence with regional law enforcement agencies on illegal trade, e.g Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) and INTERPOL.
6. The lion range States to establish a database along the lines of the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for the illegal killing of lions, and keep accurate records on legal killing of lions associated with problem animal control measures and trophy hunting. Such records about legal killing to be made available by approval from and on request to the individual lion range State.
7. The lion range States to develop standardized data collection methods for lion population monitoring; currently it is difficult to accurately compare among methods utilized by the range States and results obtained thereby.
8. The lion range States to continue to engage in discussion regarding the correct and appropriate listing of lions on CITES (whether Appendix 1 or 2) as new information regarding the impact of trade becomes available.
9. The lion range States that have not yet done so are urgently encouraged to provide input into the ongoing CITES Lion Periodic Review process being led by the CITES’ Animals Committee representatives for African region.
10. Cognizant of current trans-boundary conservation plans, the lion range States to collaborate fully on trans-boundary lion conservation programmes/initiatives for shared lion populations, and to incorporate trans-boundary lion population needs in their National Lion Action Plans.
11. The lion range States to regularly assess progress of current lion research programmes within their countries as to their relevance to national needs and priorities, and to engage in a tender process to invite specific research on lions within subjects identified by the range states. 
12. The lion range States to encourage data collection in research areas of feline disease and genetics in addition to the ecological and human/livestock conflict dimensions of lion conservation.
13. The lion range States and LionAid to pursue urgent mobilisation of resources to achieve the above resolutions. The lion range States to identify national and trans-boundary programmes according to their identified priorities for funding submissions facilitated by LionAid.
14.  The lion range States to engage with neighbouring range States/regional range States to constructively collaborate on best ways forward to ensure the long-term survival of lions. Consideration to be made by range States to hold a series of small scale conferences among neighbouring range States to develop and implement regionally cohesive and regionally appropriate lion conservation strategies facilitated by LionAid.
15.  The lion range States to call for regular pan-African conferences to report progress on the above Action Plans, identification of new needs based on emerging data, and to determine overall continental best ways forward to ensure the conservation and management of the species. The next of these to be held in April 2013.
    

Last week, “Quenching a Thirst for Lion Bones“  by Fiona Macleod appeared in the weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper (South Africa).

This article again highlights the concerns about the emerging lion bone trade facilitated by CITES permits issued by South African authorities,  a supply made available by South African captive lion breeders, and the growth of legal but nevertheless  “pseudo trophy hunts” engaged in by Laos nationals.  It follows on from Pieter’s article “A worrying parallel between rhino poaching and trade in lion bones?"  (10th March).

Even without the ongoing catastrophic declines in African lion populations, this new trend is indeed a very worrying development – it could lead to specific poaching of lions for their bones. In 2008, it was estimated that a kilo of lion bones was worth about $10. Two years later in 2010, one kilo was now worth $300, an increase of 2,900%. What are they worth now? Certainly enough to support the trophy fees and associated costs of pseudo trophy hunters from Laos, who bagged at least 54 lion trophies in 2010? And to profit Laotian companies that received 250 kg of lion bones provided by South Africa in 2009? So is a kilo of bones now worth maybe $500? $700? $1000? Nobody yet knows, but a lion probably has about 30kg of bones, so possibly worth $30,000? Certainly enough to stimulate an interest in among the poaching syndicates so effectively working to smuggle elephant ivory and rhino horns from Africa to Asian paymasters.

I’m tempted to say that while South Africa has prided itself on wonderful conservation initiatives that have placed wild species in private hands, many aspects have gone wrong. So I will. South Africa needs to realize that their actions in terms of exports of lion, rhino, and elephant body parts echo negatively across other African range states, and need urgent revision. It might be commerce, but is not conservation.

We have just returned to the UK after a very positive Conference. The African range state delegates made the Conference a big success as they all realized the precarious situation of lions on the continent. They took a view beyond their own borders, and will work together as a team to further the conservation of this species so critically important in ensuring ecosystem health. African lions need African solutions, and all lion range states were united in their determination to ensure the future survival of lions.

As stated at the beginning of the Conference, all range states need to urgently and cooperatively decide the future of lion populations that they often share. The African lion is a common heritage, and individual range states were well aware of their responsibility to jointly participate in conservation programmes.

We have today sent the draft conference resolutions decided by the range state delegates for their final comments and input. Once confirmed, these resolutions will be made public, but we can already say that the range states decided on significant ways forward to ensure the survival of the species. The Conference was seen by all as a starting point, and LionAid will facilitate all further discussions and plans to go forward. We will organize another meeting one year from now, and the range state delegates will expect significant progress on a number of issues.

This Conference will show the world that African lion range states are greatly concerned about the significant declines of this species. Informed conservation plans are necessary to ensure the survival of the species, and to reverse the decline in numbers wherever possible. This will require both internal and external funding and LionAid firmly believes that such funding can be identified and applied according to the priorities identified by the range states. It is the range states themselves who will decide on how best to conserve the species within and across their borders, and the Conference delegates were united in seeking all best and relevant information to inform their ways forward.

The Conference exceeded our expectations, not least in terms of the synergy among the range states attending. From Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the northeast, all came together for a united and common purpose – ensure the survival of lions in Africa!

Picture credit: Chris Harvey

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