April the 30th saw hundreds take to the streets in unison in the fight to stop Trophy Hunting. The day was extremely special as not only was it a collaboration of six charities: BORN FREE FOUNDATION; LION AID; IFAW; FOUR PAWS, ONE PROTEST AND SAVE ME, but also had some very special guests in tow.

Born Free Founder and Actress Virginia McKenna joined forces with LionAid’s Pieter Kat and Christine MacSween.

James Cosmo, charismatic actor from Games of Thrones, Braveheart and the Chronicles of Narnia joined us en route, as well as speeches from Born Free’s policy advisor Dominic Dyer, Born Free’s Advisory Vet Mark Jones, Wildlife presenter & Conservationist Anneka Svenska, Green MEP Jean Lambert as well as music from amazing bands Besureis and Rumer.

The protest started in Cavendish square with talks from Christine Macsween, Mark Jones, Dominic Dyer and Anneka Svenska before the march through London to Downing Street.

At Downing Street, Virginia McKenna, James Cosmo, Jean Lambert, Pieter Kat, IFAW and Four Paws took to the stage, finishing up with some beautiful music from Besureis and Rumer.

Virginia McKenna, LionAid, IFAW, Four Paws and Dominic Dyer then headed over to number 10 Downing Street to hand in the petition signed by Prof Stephen Hawkings, Dr Jane Goodall and many more influential conservationists and celebrities calling for an end to hunting trophy imports to the UK. To read the petition click HERE

The Netherlands, France and Australia have already banned imports, now we are simply waiting for the UK to join.

To read a great news article written by Jane Dalton covering the day – please click here: THE NEWS HUB

Here are some shocking facts taken from Anneka Svenska’s speech on the day:

• An Elephant is killed every 15 minutes in the wild for its ivory and bush-meat
• There are only 15,000 lions remaining in the wild from over 500,000 at the beginning of the 19th century
• There are only 5000 black rhino remaining
• Lions bred for canned hunting are unknowingly stroked and petted by tourists as cubs (marketed as orphaned cubs) and then shot while drugged in an enclosed area with no escape once they are grown up (do not pet lions at these so called orphanages in Africa or walk with lions, as these are all places supporting future trophy lions)
• Tusks from 8,000 – 10,000 elephants and 1,350 kg of rhino horn was burned by the Kenyan Government on the 30th April 2016 in a bid to shout to the world that ivory has ‘no value’
• Rhino Tusk is made of Keratin – the exact same material as a finger nail yet Asian Medicine still markets it as a cure for cancer and other conditions
• An elephants gestation is 18-22 months – at this rate, births will not be able to keep up with deaths
• Rangers are Civil Servants in many parts of Africa, this means they cannot be fired – Some rangers have been seen to be actively poaching. Corruption is rife.
• One rhino horn can fetch $300,000 despite having no medicinal qualities
• Experts predict that lions, elephants and rhinos could go extinct in the wild in the next 10 years
• The next 100 years will determine if we are headed towards the 6th mass extinction of all species on earth

 

 

Thankyou to Born Free’s Dominic Dyer and LionAid in collaborating to create an amazing demo which cost them several nights sleep

Please click on the four Films below from the day showing an exclusive interview with Virginia McKenna, James Cosmo, Anneka Svenska’s speech and a lovely short film by Rory Cantwell showing a visual of the march: