I visited the unveling of the lions at 8.30 on Monday morning, there was a lot of press interviewing my friend Ian Redmond OBE who will be on the panel of speakers for my event ‘Lion Farming, Trophy Hunting & Conservation’ & Dan Richardson, both of whom are Born Free patrons, also being interviewed was Bristol councillor Kye Dudd.
It was good to have a chat with Ian before & after he dissapeared to climb a tree, also had a chat with Dan & some of the Born Free staff, it was a very laid back, friendly atmoshpere.
There are 25 life-size bronze sculptures, most of the sculptures have a plaque showing the lions name & brief story, they all have a qr code which you can scan to read about their story in more detail, the installation is created to highlight the grave threats facing these big cats both in captivity and in the wild. It is hoped that as the tour moves around the country the cubs which do not have names will be sponsored, so you have the chance to name a cub & at the end of the tour you can buy one of the statues.
I would highly recommend a visit in this glorious weather we are having, children will love it. You can watch many documentaries, but until you stand alongside a lion, you will never understand just how big they are & these are life size & hopefully you will understand their plight, there are just 20,000 wild lions, compare that to estimates of eight to twelve hundred sat in lion farms waiting to be shot by trophy hunters or by farmers selling their bones to Asia,
lions need us NOW!!
Elsa
George & Joy
The Cubs
Amongst the cubs you will find Christian the Lion, the cub bought in Harrods & returned to Africa to be ‘wilded’ by George Adamson, the clip when he reunites with the men who bought him is a real tear jerker which went viral & King the lion cub, Born Free fans will know his story, found in an apartment in Paris, Dan accompanied him to Born Frees Shamwari sanctuary in Africa where he now lives his best captive life with his lady friend.
Christian ~ Living Free ~ As It Should Be
Cubs for Naming
I was reading about the artists Gillie & Marc & realised that they also created the Sheldrick elephants which toured the country & The Wildlife Table of Love which is currently in Paternoster Square, London which I visited on the 2nd July ~ I will do a blogs on them.
The Wildlife Volunteer 