Next Tuesday morning, if you happen to be taking a walk along Cowes Esplanade you might notice something different about the famous lions that look out onto the Solent.
Apparently, campaigners from LION AID, a charity which aims to highlight the plight of the lions and to fund effective programmes to reverse their drastic decline, will be temporarily shrouding the famous stone lions in Cowes.
We hear that Charlotte Corney, chief executive of The Isle of Wight Zoo is giving full support to the campaign, and that leading lion expert Dr Pieter Kat will be attending the shrouding to help spread the word of the campaign.
The shrouding is part of a campaign called “Where Have all the Lions Gone?” which kicked off in the UK at the beginning of the month.
We understand that the team have already shrouded lion statues in many towns and cities across the country including Glasgow, Blantyre, Blackpool, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Norwich, Birmingham and Bath with the campaign ending up in Trafalgar Square at the end of the month.
The lions will be shrouded in black cloth bearing the Lion Aid logo.
More about Lion Aid
In the 1960’s there were over 200,000 lions in the wild but today there are barely 20,000 still remaining. This is a staggering 90% decline in just 50 years. Those few lions left are largely scattered as small remnant populations across the continent. A recent analysis indicates that there might now be only five locations where lions occur in sufficient numbers to be considered long-term viable.
Check the official Website for more details
Shrouding takes place at 10am on Tuesday 23rd March on Cowes Esplanade.
