Celebrated on August 10 every year, World Lion Day is marked to raise awareness and to educate people about these majestic big cats. The event mobilizes support for the conservation of the species. The World Lion Day 2021 aims to help raise awareness and applaud the lion conservationists who have helped in improving the animal numbers.
We humans may have a hard time believing it, but they are not the most important species on the planet. Every species is crucial to the health of an ecosystem and while removing one species can weaken a habitat, removing a headstone species could result in the collapse of an entire ecosystem.
Image: Kenya Veterinary Association
Lions (Panthera leo) are the second-largest cat in the world, weighing between 300 and 550 pounds. Over three million years ago, lions roamed all over Africa and the Eurasian supercontinent. However, the king beast is a vulnerable species and the World Lion Day aims to bring awareness to the declining population of lions. Now the species exists in over 25 African countries and in India.
Worried about a rapid decrease in their population, a group of non-profit organizations and tourism companies created World Lion Day to celebrate the animal and refocus the attention and conservation toward them as well. Organizations such as Panthera support this event and what it stands for.
It was first celebrated first in the year 2013 when it was founded by Dereck and Beverly Joubert of the Big Cat Initiative and National Geographic.
World Lion Day strives to raise awareness about lions and find sustainable solutions to protect and save wild lion populations from global extinction. Various videos, info-graphics, and other suitable content become a genric channel to involve more people in this noble cause.
Lions have become a symbol of pride, heritage and power; but their existence has been put in danger in recent times. The major threats to the animal species are human-wildlife conflicts, poaching and trophy hunting.
Listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, lions have lost a huge part of their natural habitat and consequently much of their population.
The lion is one of the big cats of the genus Panthera, native to Africa and India. Typically, this wild animal inhabit grasslands and savannas but are rarely seen in dense forests.
Image: Charles J. Sharp
The World Lion Day 2021 aims to applaud the lion conservationists who have helped in improving the animal numbers.
Image: Michael Nichols
World Lion Day aims to raise awareness about lions and find sustainable solutions to protect and save the majestic beast from global extinction.
Image: Gir National Park
Lions have become a symbol of pride, heritage and power; but their existence has been put in danger owing to human-wildlife conflicts, poaching and trophy hunting.
Image: Firstpost
During the Neolithic period, the lion population ranged throughout Africa, Southeast Europe, and Western and South Asia, but has been reduced to fragmented populations in sub-Saharan Africa and one population in western India.
Image: Animal Rescue Professionals Association