World Lions’ Day is ROARING towards us (it’s on 10th August 2020) and in doing some research for this website to put up something about it, I have as always found myself getting very immersed in some of the fantastic work that charities are doing.

One of the amazing programmes I found out about today was about a very special dog called Kura and Kura’s Pride. 

Kura lives with the team working with the charity Ewaso Lions, who promote wildlife-human co-existence.  They believe "the long-term survival of lions and other carnivores depends on finding ways people can coexist with them".

Kura  turned up in the charity’s camp on the day of the Kenyan National Elections back in 2013.  He was lost and lame and looking for somewhere safe to stay.  And 7 years on, he is still with the camp!  

And now Kura is heading the Kura Pride initiative, which is working to improve domestic dog welfare in Northern Kenya.  

During the period October 2019 and June 2020, Kura’s Pride and partners managed to vaccinate over 2,600 animals against rabies and distemper.  These two disease harm people and wildlife so it’s a wonderful thing to get the jabs done. 

This video tells you more about it.  I was struck by how happy everyone looks, dogs and people.

Kura is the Director of  Emotional Stability for the charity Ewaso Lions.  As such, he warns everyone of poisonous snakes and leopards nearby, and of course he loudly announces any visitor to camp.

Find out more about Kura's Pride

Find out more about Ewaso Lions

World Lion Day 2020 is on 10 August 2020!

100 years ago, 200,000 lions lived across the African continent.

Today, we are in the sorry position where less than 20,000 remain.  They have been extirpated form 26 countries, owing to habitat loss, conflict with people and poaching.

Conservation organisation African Parks rehabiliates and manages 18 national parks and protected areas in 11 countries, covering an enormous 14.1 million hectares, in partnership with governments and local communities.  

Lion Conservation with African Parks

African Parks is creating safe havens for lions, increasing their range and bringing them back to places where they haven't existed for decades. They have been undertaking monitoring and research and mitigating human-lion conflict.    For lions are found in 8 of the parks they manage.  

Creating Safe Havens to Stop Lion Poaching.  Protecting wildlife from poaching and other illegal activities is vital in the parks the organisation manages.  It fenced Liwonde National Park, hired and trained a bigger and better equipped ranger unit and used technoloy to monitor wildlife and defeat poaching.  It works to remove snares, and prevent wildlife-human conflict.

Investing in Education and Local Communities - African Parks employs locals and invests in education, and it attracts tourists.  It knows that creating a relationship between people and lions is really important. 

Reintroducing Lions to Historic Habitats - They were reintroduced to Akagera, Majete, and Liwonde after poachers had eliminated them from these areas.  The park is assessed first to see how viable it is to bring key species back. 

Find out more about their work with lions here.

Donate to African Parks direct here or.... you could buy a print for wildlife!

Prints For Wildlife

But the coronavirus is having a huge and devastating impact on conservation efforts across Africa, as tourism has collapsed and philanthropic giving has dropped.

A group of over 60 acclaimed wildlife photographers from around the world have got together to create a fundraising campaign to help protect critical ecosystems and local communities.  It's called Prints for Wildlife.   There are some simply incredible pictures there - do take a look and spread the word.  So far, $300,000 have been raised. Prints for Wildlife runs from 26 July to 26 August 2020. All the funds collected via the print sale go directly to conservation non-profit African Parks.  

Buying a print would be a great way to help wildlife, including lions!

While the human race is battling against  the coronavirus with 213 countries affected, wildlife are far from immune from it either.

Elephants, rhinos, pangolins and gorillas all needed wildlife rangers to protect them.   Wildlife conservation groups are faced with the challenge of continuing to protect wildlife and fight poaching whilst budgets are cut and the income wildlife tourism brings to help is virtually non-existent as there are no tourists.

Enter Avaaz, a 60 million person global campaign network, with petitions to change the world and appeals to make a difference to those who need it.

And they have an appeal right now.

An army of 40,000 rangers once protected elephants, rhinos, pangolins and gorillas – and these are in danger of losing their jobs, leaving wildlife at the mercy of poachers and criminal gangs and syndicates.   

A team of undercover investigators are working round the clock to rack and prosecute poaching rings in 9 African countries and they are jailing thousands.

Their funding is on the rocks.  Wildlife need us to give them our support, however much that is.

This is a chance to help vulnerable wildlife.  We can help lock up more criminals, expose international trafficking networks and accelerate global campaigns to protect nature and save vulnerable species.

Please donate what you can now.   If we all donated the cost of a coffee, that would make a big difference. 

Avaaz has funded these defenders before from the group EAGLE.  Recently they infiltrated a big illegal trafficking ring.  They uncovered nearly 2 tons of pangolin scales, exposing the kingpins and crippling an international network of criminals.  Crucially, they ensure those who are jailed don’t bribe their way out.

Let's stop this Poaching Pandemic
image copyright to Avaaz

If we all chip in, we could (and I quote from Avaaz):

• Train and sustain many undercover reporters to crack open some of the world’s most wanted wildlife trafficking networks
• Scale up the number of anti-poaching investigations in 9 countries
• Arrest hundreds of wildlife traffickers
• Expose complicit officials and politicians who enable the trade
• Push to prosecute corporate and government agents who profit from wildlife trafficking
• Power hard-hitting Avaaz campaigns to protect the natural world and preserve the delicate web of life
  
  

The WWF Malaysia and Maybank are celebrating tigers from 29 July to 31 August 2020. 

They are kicking the event off on Global Tiger Day (29th July) and finishes on Merdeka Day and the idea is to get us all to #KeepRoaring for the Malayan tiger.

There are now fewer 200 Malayan tigers left.  And as WWF Malaysia point, out, we all need healthy forests - and forests need tigers. 

#KeepRoaring to save Malayan tigers, save our forests, and save ourselves by taking action!

They are us all to donate, to learn about tigers, to spread the word, and to pledge to save the Malayan tiger from extinction. 

Pledge your support to make tigers a national priority so that decisions on policy, allocation of resources, enforcement and land management favourable for tiger conservation can be made and implemented.

PLEDGE FOR TIGERS HERE

Bears About the House is on BBC2 again on Wednesday 22 July 2020.

Last week, we heard about Mary, a sun bear who was rescued by bear charity Free the Bears, and Giles Clark.  She was tiny, malnourished and close to death and she needed 24 hour care.

Visit Free the Bears here.
Please donate if you can and spread the word.
Thank you!

Bears About the House is on BBC2 is on July 15 and 22 at 8pm!  Don’t miss it!  There are record bear rescues, the first release of rehabilitated wildlife, many sanctuary developments and some devastating losses.  

On 22^nd July, Giles and his team head out to rescue David and Jane.  They are two five month old terrified moon bear cubs who were taken from the wild.  They go home with Giles Clark to have the 24/7 care.  

There’s more news on Mary as she graduates from the nursery into her permanent home, taking a confident and determined approach with her. 

And there’s devastating news as the team comes to terms with a break in and a theft.  

The quarantine building is finished and the sanctuary is able to receive bears from bear bile farms in Laos, which the government there has committed to closing once they have somewhere that the rescued bears can go.

Don’t miss it – and if you can make a donation, please donate.

If you’re outside the UK, the series will reach you later this year, and meantime, lots of never before seen clips of Mary will be on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.

Filming wasn’t easy, as BBC Earth shows….

Visit Free the Bears here.

Donate to Free the Bears here

The charity is registered in Australia and in the UK.  There are a number of ways to help – just visit the website – including becoming a bear carer, sponsoring a bear, giving a gift to the bears, and a gift to bear lovers (humans) and of course donating.