In early September, the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), together with Panthera, is holding a workshop to consider future initiatives to conserve the African lion. The topic is urgent because numbers of lions have plummeted over the last century from an oft quoted figure of around 200,000 to nowadays closer to 20,000 and falling. The […]
From 4-7th September 2016 the WildCRU, together with Panthera was inspired by the calibre of discussion of lion conservation by the 58 participants we hosted at the Cecil Summit. This was the first step in what is planned to be an unfolding and evolving series of meetings. After three days, the final session was held […]
The question of Cecil the Lion’s legacy and WildCRU’s Trans Kalahari Predator Project, led by Dr Andy Loveridge, was featured in the Guardian environment section today. The Trans Kalahari Predator Project is one of WildCRU’s largest and longest running projects, focussed on the lions across this region of Africa, and their interactions with local people: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/28/cecil-the-lions-legacy-death-brings-new-hope-for-his-grandcubs […]
Macdonald, D. W., Jacobsen, K. S., Burnham, D., Johnson, P. J., Loveridge, A. J. 2016 Animals, 6(5):26
The idiom has it that as time passes water flows under the bridge: David Macdonald observes that as we approach the anniversary of Cecil’s death that proverbial water has been a torrent, but amongst the turbulence of debate and the swell of concern for lion conservation there is good news from Hwange: Cecil’s three lionesses […]
BBC Wildlife reports on WildCRU’s Cecil Summit David Macdonald reports on UNESCO support for lion conservation Cecil and the Trans Kalahari Predator Project Can the Cecil Moment become the Cecil Movement? Cecil is the most influential individual animal in the world (wild or domestic) says TIME magazine Can the Cecil Moment become the Cecil Movement? […]
A new WildCRU paper reports on the astonishing global media storm caused by Cecil the Lion, and David Macdonald tells the inside story of being at the eye of that storm: when, in July last year, the news of Cecil’s death in an allegedly illegal bow hunt, went viral, three of us, supported by the […]
David Macdonald reports on the poll that names Cecil the Lion as the most influential individual animal and asks what this means for lion conservation. The fascinating ranking of the world’s most influential individual animals, just published by TIME magazine, makes an entertaining read, and will raise a few chuckles: http://time.com/4301509/most-influential-animals/. It also raises some very serious […]