Meru National Park, in Kenya, was the home of Elsa, the lioness made famous by the book and film Born Free. Elsa is the inspiration for our charity.
We work in Meru to safeguard the lions who call Meru National Park home.
We’ll be highlighting our work there and reflecting on our history in a brand new campaign launching very soon.
It’s been hard to miss our animation The Bitter Bond which tells the story of a captive lion born into South Africa’s brutal canned hunting industry.
We’ll continue to push South Africa to close down the commercial breeding of lions for canned hunting and bone exports.
And keep your eyes peeled for The Bitter Bond in your local cinema in January!
The UK government is currently consulting on whether the import and export of grisly hunting trophies to and from the UK should be banned.
It follows our successful Ban Trophy Hunting campaign last summer, during which we handed in a petition signed by more than half a million people to the UK government.
We’ll be urging the UK government to introduce a ban – you can too by responding to its consultation.
We’ll be standing up for wild animals at an important global conference due to take place in India in February.
At the meeting, we’ll be calling for new initiatives to protect lions, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs across Africa, as well as greater protection for Asian elephants, chimpanzees and jaguars.
2019 was a big year for our education work and 2020 is expected to be even bigger.
We’re developing new initiatives in Kenya to support local communities around our partner schools in Amboseli and Meru.
Activities will include the use of puppetry to discuss human-wildlife conflict and direct student support through scholarships.
In 2019, we helped rescue or relocate 11 captive lions who desperately needed our help – including the Lions of Lyon and ‘Hilts’.
We won’t be resting on our laurels in 2020 either, and plan to help as many captive wild animals in need as we possibly can.
Want to find out more about the Ethiopian wolf – the most threatened canid species in the world?
Look out for our major campaign later in the year that will be highlighting this extraordinary species and how we’re helping to not only monitor and protect them, but also helping local communities to live alongside them peacefully.
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