World Lion Day 2022: History, significance and all you need to know

Lions have been roaming around on the planet for centuries. But due to various factors, their population is in shambles nowadays. To spread awareness about conservation of these animals, August 10 is celebrated as World Lion Day. On this day, the world talks about the “King of the Jungle.”

Today, lions are headed towards the danger of extinction, but it wasn’t the case earlier. Lions were present in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East around three million years ago. A lot has changed since. Just in the past five decades, the global lion population has decreased by 95%. In such a scenario, it becomes utmost important to ensure conservation of lions. World Lion Day is aimed to do the same.




Origin
Dereck and Beverly Joubert, globally recognised conservationists, award-winning filmmakers, and National Geographic explorers came up with the idea and observed the first World Lion Day in 2013. For more than 30 years, they have made concerted efforts to conserve wildlife species, with a special focus on protection of lions in their natural environment. They also work on developing safety measures for lions in collaboration with different localities residing near the habitats of wild cats.

Significance
The day looks to enhance awareness among public about different programmes and the urgent need for conservation of lions. The species has been designated as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to data available, there are approximately 30,000 to 100,000 lions left worldwide. To ensure the existence of lions, public awareness of the threats they face, protection of natural habitats and building more such habitats are the need of the hour.

Lions in India
Except for Africa and India, the population of lions has dwindled globally. The number of the wild cats has been on a rise in India for some time.
In Gujarat’s Gir forest, which is home to lions, their population has been increasing gradually.
In Gir and the larger Saurashtra region, the population of Asiatic lions, a distant relative of the much larger African lions, have gradually increased after initially experiencing a decline. The number of these lions has risen from 523 to 674 in a span of five years from 2015 to 2020.

As the species continue to go extinct globally, it falls on the common man to spread the word regarding their conservation. As humans continue to encroach habitats of animals for our own needs, the list of endangered animals will continue to rise and will disrupt the food cycle, which will ultimately impact humans.