Hello.  My name is David Youldon, presenter of the ITV series Lion Country and Chief Operating Officer of ALERT, the African Lion Rehabilitation & Release into the Wild Program.

The Ngamo pride is the first pride released by ALERT into a semi-wild environment that will produce cubs that can be released into the wild; into areas of Africa that have lost their populations.  The first cubs have already been born and will be released into the wild when they are in their third year having learnt all the survival skills they need from their pride.

Why do we need your help?  The costs of maintaining the release area in which the Ngamo pride spend their days hunting, playing and enjoying their freedom are high.  We need to make sure that the pride have sufficient prey to feed on, that the site is maintained and protected, not just for the lions but for the many other species that are flourishing in the site.

Lions, the most iconic animal on earth, are under increasing threat. Africa lost some 80 - 90% of its lions in the recent past; the few remaining populations are coming under even greater pressure. With an increasing frequency studies are released showing that more and more sub-populations of the species have gone extent, and those remaining are under greater pressure.

Alongside conservation methods to try and protect habitat, ALERT believes that a plan to reintroduce lions into areas that have lost their lions is needed.  Using a staged program, we plan to release the wild-borne offspring from rehabilitated captive bred lions.

Thank you

David

David Youldon:  ALERT Chief Operating Officer