Earlier this week, we wrote that the mating lions seen in Botswana may have been a male and a maned lioness. Female African lions with manes are regularly seen in northern Botswana, where they may carry a genetic disposition toward the phenomenon. But Nicole Cambré, who recently photographed the lions on safari, provided National Geographic […]
Tag: african lions
POLL: Should ‘canned’ lion hunting be banned?
The documentary Blood Lions exposes South Africa’s controversial “canned” lion hunting industry. In canned hunts, captive-bred, often hand-reared lions are confined in enclosed spaces on private hunting reserves, guaranteeing marksmen easy trophy heads in exchange for fees of up to $50,000. With approximately 8,000 “ranch” lions to draw on, South Africa’s hunt operators can make […]
Lions Return to Rwanda for First Time Since Genocide’s Aftermath
Jes Gruner was excited when he told me over the phone that the lions had made their first kill. A week after their release into the Akagera National Park in the northeast of Rwanda, the lions took down a waterbuck on the lakeshore and were gorging themselves on the carcass. Gruner, the Park Manager of […]
Why endangered species need conservation champions
Without heroic conservationists many of today’s most beloved species would be extinct: think of pandas, tigers, and elephants. By single-mindly focused on saving a particular species, these conservation champions bring much-needed research, publicity, and, most importantly, targeted actions to keep an imperiled animal from the brink. Through their own exuberance, these heroes also gather others […]
Lion population falls 68 percent in 50 years
African lions, one of the most iconic species on the planet, are in rapid decline. According to a new study in Biodiversity Conservation, the African lion (Panthera leo leo) population has dropped from around 100,000 animals just fifty years ago to as few as 32,000 today. The study, which used high resolution satellite imagery to […]
Chew your meat, you Panthera leo
“We Bought a Zoo (2011)” this film portraits a story that is not far from reality and I was fortunate to be involved in filming behind the scenes the revival of one in tropical Australia. The receivers of this closed zoo appointed a zoo animal carer to look after the animals welfare until such time […]