September 24th marked Seattle's third annual Global March for Elephants and Rhinos – expanded this year to include Lions in the title. And, let's be honest here, there are plenty of other critically endangered animals also deserving of space on the marquee.
Last weekend people from around the globe gathered to participate in the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos, whose purpose is to raise awareness about the dramatic decline of some of the world's most iconic megafauna at the hands of men.
On Saturday, October 4th, tens of thousands of participants in over 100 countries across six continents gathered to march on behalf of wildlife worldwide in an effort to raise awareness about the toll that poaching and other forms of killing are taking on many of the world’s iconic animal species.
Its face hacked off while still alive and conscious, left to die a slow and immeasurably painful death; it's difficult to watch, I'll admit that. But it's also necessary. People need to understand in the starkest terms what is taking place day in and day out in the name of greed.
"There are an estimated 35,000 elephants being killed in Africa each year. That's 10% of the population every year. There are now just an estimated 20,000 lions left in Africa. That's a 75% drop in the last 20 years. At the current rate, there will be no elephants or lions left in the African wilds within 15 years."
About an hour after we begin collecting data during our first elephant research session, the truck rounds a small corner in the road following a pair of slow-moving juvenile bulls when something else catches my eye. “I swear I just saw a baby rhino,” I tell Kim.
Rubbing my eyes and trying to will myself awake while the line slowly creeps forward I look across the people gathered with us in the terminal. That's when I notice the hunting rifle cases. It suddenly dawns on me that we’re about to board a flight on our way to Africa to once again volunteer in the name of lion conservation, alongside a group of men who will be traveling there in the hopes of shooting a lion, if not several.
You either get the point of Africa or you don't. If you can't get past the fear of animals, of poverty, the juggernaut of nature, then you probably won't. But if you do stand in it and smell it and listen to it, then it will be one of the biggest, most profound and powerful things you will ever feel.
A list of some, but by no means all, of the many animals we were lucky enough to witness while in Africa, and even luckier to recall.
We haven't seen a family pride yet - until now. Camouflaged within the grass we see some movement, and then one by one a whole family appears: one male, two females, and eight beautiful cubs! Craig reflexively eeowws at the little cubs, and one of the younger ones eeowws back and starts heading towards the truck. I turn to Craig and say, "I'm calling them the Honeymoon Pride!"
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