Lionaid to shroud The Trafford Centre lions

Wildlife charity Lionaid is set to highlight the plight of the disappearing lion, by shrouding the marble lions that stand guard at The Trafford Centre, this March 7th. PHOTOCALL: As part of the Manchester leg of a national lion-shrouding tour, Lionaid will be covering the marble lions at The Trafford Centre in dramatic black shrouds to symbolise their continued disappearance from our world.

http://www.lionaid.org/ An iconic species faces extinction in our lifetime. In the 1960’s there were over 200,000 lions in the wild; today there are barely 20,000 still remaining. This is a staggering 90% decline in just 50 years [1]. Those few lions left are largely scattered as small remnant populations across the continent. A recent analysis indicates that there might now be only five locations where lions occur in sufficient numbers to be considered long-term viable [2]. LION AID and our campaign LION AID is a new charity and its mission is to highlight the plight of the lions and to fund effective programmes to reverse this drastic decline. We have therefore initiated a campaign called “Where Have all the Lions Gone?” It begins on the 1st March in Glasgow and ends on the 31st March in Trafalgar Square with 11 UK cities (Blantyre, Blackpool, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Norwich, Birmingham, Bath, Cowes, Portsmouth and Rochester) in between. The message of the campaign is quite simple. Lose lions in the wild, and lose them at home. Extinction on the African plains means loss of icons and symbols in every-day use. In each city we will temporarily and symbolically shroud a prominent lion statue with a black cloth bearing the campaign logo to bring the message home. In addition we will organize a gala dinner and auction in each city where members of the public and local businesses will get the chance to show their support. Declines and actions The main reasons for the decline of lions in Africa arise from conflict with expanding human and livestock populations, decrease of habitat and prey, infection with diseases carried by domestic animals, trophy hunting, and protected area infrastructure affected by civil strife. LIONAID aims to fund four practical programmes, assisted scientifically and practically by a diversity of UK and international collaborators. • First, let’s have an accurate and unbiased count of how many lions are left in key populations. • Second, let’s assess the disease risks facing those remaining populations. • Third, let’s make sure that lion populations in designated protected areas are truly protected with the will and commitment of African states. Let’s ensure that the few populations surviving will remain viable by instituting conservation programmes that are relevant, locally acceptable, and durable. • And fourth, let’s propose addition of the lion to the UNESCO World Heritage Species list to gain international recognition of the importance of lions to our universal culture. LIONAID in Manchester On March 6th, LION AID will host a Fundraising Gala evening at the Palace Hotel, Oxford Street from 7 pm. Art will be auctioned, and tickets for the event are available on the LION AID website (http://www.lionaid.org/events/fundraising-events/manchester-dinner-dance-auction ). . It promises to be an evening of note, all to support LION AID programmes to reverse the decline of Africa’s lions! And on March 7th, LION AID will temporarily shroud the lions at The Trafford Centre from 10 am. Please contact us for further information. Email: chris@lionaid.org Phone :07772697498 www.lionaid.org 1 Estimating African lion populations with any accuracy is difficult (IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, 2006a) and involves many uncertainties. While the three main surveys to date all used different methods (Bauer & van der Merwe, 2004; Chardonnet, 2002; Ferreras & Cousins, 1996), it is widely accepted that lion populations in Africa are in serious decline (Bauer et al., 2008; Bauer & van der Merwe, 2004; Chardonnet, 2002; Nowell & Jackson, 1996; Myers, 1984, 1975). Such declines appear to be continuing: Kenya was estimated to have more than 20,000 lions in 1963, dropping to 2,749 in 2002 and 1,970 in 2008 (Omondi, 2009) representing a 28% decline in lion numbers over the past six years. Lion populations in Kenya, and likely elsewhere, have yet to stabilize since the 2002 and 2004 published estimates. In 2004, estimates ranged from a low of 12,500 to a maximum of 37,000 – for a median of 24,750. Accepting further declines from Kenya and Nigeria as indicative of other nations since 2004, current best estimates would place total lions in Africa at about 18,000. 2 D. Youldon & P. Kat How suitable are wild-caught African lions Panthera leo as a source for reintroduction programs? African Lion & Environmental Research Trust, PO Box 60701, Livingstone, Zambia

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