We celebrate World Lion Day on 10 August every year in order to shed light on the declining lion populations of the world. This wild big cat is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species.
Namibia is home to a small, unique desert-adapted lion population that inhabits the Skeleton Coast National Park and communal conservancies within the northern Namib Desert. These lions move freely through the landscape as an indicator of the accomplishment of the sustainability efforts of local conservancies, particularly in light of the human-wildlife conflict faced by the local communities in the area.
Teaching Children in the Wilderness in rural communities about these wild cats is a big part of their Eco-Club lessons, from the lions’ eating habits, behaviour and conservation status, to the threats they face. The objective of these lessons is to encourage awareness of the environmental issues surrounding the sustainability of lions in Namibia. Appreciating what makes lions special helps motivate the next generation to play an active part in lion conservation efforts.
In the video, Elias Amaxab Combined School Eco-Club learners play a game of Circle of Life, where a predator hunts for different prey animals. The theory behind the game is to show the learners that food is a necessity to sustain all life, and that lions obtain their food through hunting, and do not intentionally, but sometimes on occasion, opportunistically take prey from a farmer’s livestock.
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