News

Where art and science merge – David Macdonald tells the remarkable story of art stimulated by reverence for Nature in the aftermath of Cecil’s illegal shooting:

The same beauty and wonder of Nature that drives us, as scientists, to dedicate our lives to understanding, and conserving it, expresses itself, for others, in their art. A few days ago we reported on the wonderful animated creation of celestial Cecil by Aaron Blaise (http://creatureartteacher.com/cecil-the-lion-portrait-time-lapse-video/) – Aaron, famous animator of The Lion King – has been selling prints of his image of Cecil to raise funds and awareness for WildCRU (http://creatureartteacher.com/product-category/conservation-store/). Now, in a similar vein, jazz composer Mark Rapp has composed a remarkable musical tribute to Cecil, accompanied by a moving video and an appeal to support WildCRU. It’s inspirational, and you can watch it and listen on http://markrapp.com/cecil. Meanwhile, photographer Astrid Harrison, has produced a stunning limited edition print from which profits will be donated to support WildCRU’s lion research, and this can be seen onhttp://www.astridharrisson.com/2015/08/fine-art-lion-picture/. We thank them all for reminding us, alongside the scientific fascination of wildlife, and its functional importance as the moving cogs in Nature’s engine, of the enchanting beauty that inspires us to treasure lions and other big carnivores.

Donations can be made at http://www.campaign.ox.ac.uk/wildcru