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Recently, CNN-GO published a list of eight worldwide travel destinations for people looking to get more out of their vacations than a few pictures and a suntan, and we were delighted to see that among the animal volunteer opportunities listed was ALERT’s Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Lion Rehabilitation and Release Program.

Rehabilitate lions in Zimbabwe

In 1975 more than 200,000 lions roamed the African continent. Estimates from 2002 put their number between 23,000 and 39,000, representing a steep decline in less than 30 years.

Against the backdrop of the majestic Victoria Falls, this project involves working on a lion breeding and rehabilitation program at a private game reserve, where you can walk and work with lions, exposing the cubs to the African bush as they hone their natural skills.

You will also be involved in the research of lions’ behavior and work on the world’s only program for their release into the wild. Also assist with conservation in the Victoria Falls National Park, as well as conservation education at a local primary school.

Other voluntourism opportunities include: koala research in Australia, sea turtle conservation in Greece, a przewalski horse release program in Mongolia, volunteering with lemurs in Madagascar, working with elephants in Thailand, saving sharks in South Africa, and fundraising horse treks in Turkey.

Click here to read the entire list, including details, links, and contact information specific to each program.

We should note that our trip will be taking us to ALERT’s Lion Rehabilitation and Release Program in Antelope Park, Zimbabwe, and not to the above-listed Victoria Falls destination (which we do hope to visit some day). ALERT’s volunteer programs are handled through their sister organization, African Impact, whose volunteer projects on the African continent are not just limited to working with lions, but also include such diverse opportunities as pre-school teaching, medical outreach, elephant and rhino conservation, and whale research, among many others.

Check out African Impact’s site for more information on their volunteer programs.

After a busy morning stalking their territory’s indigenous prey species – namely, humans – the K+C Pride’s combined hunting efforts paid off and they were rewarded with a breakfast of wet food (chicken and lobster, not human). Afterwards, Lucy, Leo, and Sal retired to a favorite outcrop for a much deserved nap.

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.  Every morning a lion wakes up.  It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.  It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle…when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.

-African Proverb.

1. Lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides.  There are usually from one to three males and up to a dozen lionesses who are all typically related.  Female cubs stay with the pride throughout their lives while young males eventually leave to establish their own pride.   There is generally lots of affectionate head rubbing, licking and purring within the pride; however, there is always a well-established hierarchy amongst its members.

2. Lionesses do the majority of hunting for the pride and work together in teams to take down their prey.  Common lion prey include zebra, antelope, impala and wildebeest.  After a kill, typically the male eats first, then the females, and the cubs get the leftovers…if there are any.

3. The primary role of the male lion is to defend the pride’s territory and to reproduce.  A younger male from outside the pride may challenge an older male.  When this happens, the new male, sadly, will often kill any cubs in the pride to ensure all offspring will have his genes.

4. Only male lions have manes.  The purpose of the mane is unknown, but it might be to help the lions look larger and more fierce.

5.  Lions are the second largest cat of the feline species (the tiger is the largest).  Adult lions weigh between 265-500 pounds.  A cub weighs just 2-4 pounds at birth.

6.  You can hear a lion’s roar up to five miles away.

7.  Lions are excellent swimmers.

8. Even though the lion is sometimes called the King of the Jungle, they do not live in jungles; they live in grasslands where their tawny coat helps camouflage them.

9. Lions can sleep up to 20 hours a day.

10.  Lions have an average span of 15 years in the wild, and up to 30 years in captivity.

Of 2,750 snake species worldwide, 450 occur in Africa.

-National Audubon Society, “Field Guide to African Wildlife.”

Call me Indiana Jones, but I do not like snakes. Spiders, other reptiles, and all other assortment of creepy crawlies that others hold in similar high regard to the snake heebie-jeebies, no problem. But snakes, not in the least.

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Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

-Sir Francis Bacon.

A selection of what’s been whetting our reading appetites these past few months:

• Part of the Pride: My Life Among the Big Cats of Africa – Kevin Richardson.
  
• Cry of the Kalahari – Mark and Delia Owens.
  
• The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness – Mark and Delia Owens.
• Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa – Peter Godwin.
• When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa – Peter Godwin.
• Out of Africa – Isak Dinesen.
  
• Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood – Robyn Scott.
  
• Whatever You Do, Don’t Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide – Peter Allison.
  
• Don’t Look Behind You: A Safari Guide’s Encounters with Ravenous Lions, Stampeding Elephants, and Lovesick Rhinos – Peter Allison.
  
• Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe – Andrew Meldrum.
• The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe – Douglas Rogers.
• Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood – Alexandra Fuller.
• Rainbow’s End: A Memoir of Childhood, War, and an African Farm – Lauren St. John.
• Field Guide to African Wildlife – National Audubon Society.
• Zimbabwe (Bradt Travel Guide) – Paul Murray.

From 450,000 lions in the 1940s to 23,000 today – that latter number put forth by the World Conservation Union African Lion Working Group, taken from individual population estimates in primarily protected areas (Bauer & Van Der Merwe 2004, Chardonnet 2002).  As I move the slider back and forth on the National Geographic Lion Decline Map I keep repeating that number: 23,000.  I have a hard time contextualizing large numbers.  What does 23,000 mean, exactly?  And to me, specifically?  How do I relate to it?  What can I compare it to?

Here, then, is what’s in a number.

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We were surprised and very happy to hear the news this weekend that ALERT is gearing up to release their second pride into a purpose-built enclosure at their Livingstone, Zambia, location.  The Dambwa Pride will officially be released into Stage 2 on August 26th, and will consist of six females – Kela, Kwandi, Loma, Leya, Rusha, and Temi – with a male lion joining the pride at a later, to-be-determined, date.

Follow the Dambwa Pride here.

Congratulations to the pride and to everyone at ALERT!

September 1st will mark the one year anniversary of the release of the Ngamo Pride into a semi-wild environment at Antelope Park as part of Stage 2 of ALERT’s African Lion Rehabilitation and Release into the Wild program. In that first year pride members have established a stable social structure and have shown themselves to be skilled hunters capable of bringing down a variety of wild prey species in numbers on par with wild lions.  Milo, the dominant (and only) male pride member, has mated with several of the pride’s lionesses, but of the successful pregnancies that have produced litters only one lion cub (the adorable AT1) has thus far survived and been formally accepted into the pride; a not uncommon occurence, sadly.

From ALERT:

Cub mortality rates in a wild situation are very high with studies suggesting between 50–67 percent-plus of cubs fail to thrive.  The highest level of mortality is with first time mothers.  [A] study of lions in Botswana that provides evidence that survival rates for cubs with first time mothers is as low as 26 percent, most dying after their initial exit from the den and before their first birthday.  A first time mother’s “shotgun” approach to motherhood does produce a number of surviving cubs but it is the more careful older females that seem to reduce initial mortality to the emphasis of survival.
[…] The causes of cub mortality are not often known.  A study of lions in the Serengeti suggested 25 percent of cubs were taken by predators, 28 percent starved and 47 percent died of unknown reason, many having simply disappeared.

Milo remains a determined lover, however (as well as a very affectionate father to AT1), and with one or more female members of the pride seemingly in estrus at any given time, it is only a matter of time before more cubs are born, survive, and grow up as accepted members of the Ngamo Pride.

So on the eve of the pride’s first birthday, we would like to introduce them to you!

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The African Lion & Environmental Research Trust works with all sectors of society throughout Africa to promote the development of sustainable lion conservation management plans.  ALERT is proud to foster partnerships with stakeholders to collaboratively develop and implement African solutions to African challenges.  ALERT promotes community action by raising awareness, motivating and empowering people to protect and restore their environment and improve livelihoods.

Zimbabwe-born Andrew Conolly and his wife Wendy purchased Antelope Park, a private game reserve outside of Gweru, Zimbabwe, in 1987.  There were six captive lions and cubs and they developed a tourist destination called African Encounter. When the lions were let out of their enclosures for exercise, Conolly noticed that they exhibited similar behavior to lions in the wild – something they didn’t see when the animals were returned to their enclosures.   At that same time, headlines started to reveal the rapid decline of the lion species across Africa, and so the beginnings of a multi-phase program to release lions back into the wild started to germinate.

Eighteen years later, in 2005, ALERT was founded with the goal of reintroducing lions back into the wild through a program that would more successfully address the broader context of reintroduction, because to simply release the lions would not solve many of the issues that have resulted in the decline of the species.

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The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

-Mahatma Gandhi.

Panthera leo, the lion, Africa’s most iconic symbol, is dwindling in numbers at an alarming rate. In the 1970s there were over 200,000 lions on the African continent, today there are estimated to be 20,000-30,000 remaining. That is an 80-90 percent decline in the past four decades. 26 countries have already seen their lion populations go extinct, and Kenya and Uganda expect to see their lions populations go extinct as well within the next 10 years. Only seven countries currently have viable lion populations of 1,000 or more individuals.

Why has this happened?

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