Recently updated on January 22nd, 2020 at 10:20 pm
As World Lion Day comes around this year it reminds us of the valuable work being carried out across Africa and Asia to protect the world’s lion populations – a cause we feel committed to. Through a joint initiative between the Travel Corporation’s brands and the TreadRight Foundation, we strive to ensure the environment and communities we travel to remain vibrant for future generations. Wildlife conservation is an integral part of this mission.
It was in 2014 that the TreadRight Foundation introduced The TreadRight Wildlife Initiative, working in partnership with WildAid and the Wilderness Foundation – Africa, among many other crucial organisations. In this capacity, the protection of animals is a core focus.
Travellers are continually drawn to Africa’s nations to catch sight of the continent’s big cats, but over the past two decades, the African lion population has declined by an estimated 43 per cent, with only 20,000 lions remaining across the entire continent. While lions have disappeared entirely from some areas, other populations are considered Regionally Critically Endangered, due to habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict.
In the face of these devastating statistics, WildAid have unveiled the #LetLionsLive campaign, calling for the global community to “Stand with Africa to Let Lions Live”, while assisting African governments’ conservation efforts, empowering communities to co-exist with lions, and preventing loss of the lions’ prey. Considering previous successes WildAid have had, we are optimistic that this work will achieve the same results for lions.
While there are far fewer Asiatic lions than there are of their African cousins, numbers have in fact increased over the decades due to the success of conservation initiatives and the careful protection of the land they roam, the Gir Forest National Reserve. But with such a small population and isolated habitat, they still need to be protected from threats such as habitat loss, lack of prey, poaching, and again, human-wildlife conflict.
World Lion Day was established as a global initiative that celebrates these majestic animals while raising awareness of their plight across Africa and India. So on August 10th as we mark World Lion Day, we want to show our appreciation for this wild species, as well as for the projects TreadRight embarks on. As Trafalgar and our sister companies support these Wildlife Initiatives, guests know they’re travelling in good hands, while also giving back to the destination.
Image credits: Cover photo © iStock / WLDavies. Lion cubs © iStock / karelnoppe. A lion on African plains © iStock / sofiaworld. A pride of lions © iStock / Guenter Guni.