2014 Whitley Award winner Shivani Bhalla featured at the end of last night’s Dynasties episode to speak about the need for increased lion conservation in Kenya.
She says: “So many people are surprised to hear that there’s only 20,000 lions left in Africa. There’s less than 2,000 lions left in Kenya. They are disappearing so quickly.”
Lack of food and lack of space for the animals causes clashes between lions and local communities, who also don’t have enough space for their grazing livestock. This can lead to revenge killing and poisoning, as the episode so keenly highlights.
Ewaso Lions, Shivani’s NGO, looks at both sides of this picture, and engages local communities in lion conservation. Read more about their WFN supported work in the area.
The resounding message at the end of Dynasties is that lions are resilient. While their numbers are decreasing rapidly, work like that of Ewaso Lions shows that with enough space, food, and security, they can bounce back.
Learn more about Shivani’s work with Ewaso Lions.
Watch the full episode on BBC iplayer.
