So you've seen The Lion King, right? You remember Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia? Alex the Lion from Madagascar? Prince John from the cartoon animal version of Robin Hood? The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz?
Lions are creatures that have been introduced to us since we were little kids as the "King of the Jungle." Majestic, strong, and brave. After all, why else would someone call themselves "Richard the Lionheart?"
Lions are becoming more and more vulnerable to extinction. If right now you're thinking that doesn't affect you, well, then you're wrong. We all cried when Mufasa died, and he was a frickin' cartoon. So imagine what it will be like when there are actually no lions left on Earth!
Imagine having to explain to your child what a "lion" is because they've never seen one in real life. Heartbreaking. All hope is not lost though. We CAN save these precious big cats, and that starts with awareness.
Welcome to the 4 Things You Should Know About The African Lion.
1. Only 20,000 Lions remain in the wild.
A century ago, there were approximately 200,000 lions roaming the wild in Africa. Today all that remains of these beautiful creatures are 20,000. That's a 90% drop in population size over the last 100 years! With rates like these, the African Lion could be extinct by 2050. Guys. That's only about 30 years from now.
2. They have lost over 90% of their historic range.
Lions used to roam all throughout the wild of Africa, but today they are extinct in 26 countries and only exist in 27 of them. That may sound positive in the fact that they are alive in more countries than they are extinct, but only 7 of those countries contain more than 1,000 lions living in them.
3. Humans are their biggest threat.
Lions have a lot to be worried about with habitat loss from human encroachment, trophy hunting, and poaching. It's a wonder they have even made it this far. We're the only ones who can protect them, and if we don't, who will?
4. Donate to Panthera.
If you want to help save these wild animals, go donate to Panthera using this link: https://www.panthera.org/donate. Panthera is working Project Leonardo and15 African countries to raise the lion population to a minimum of 30,000. Donate and help these beautiful creatures out. We put them in this situation and we're the only ones who can get them out of it.
If we don't take a stand, who will?
