Saturday, August 10, 2019

Celebrate World Lion Day with lion videos from Nat Geo WILD, PBS Eons, and Beyond The Trailer


Happy World Lion Day!
Today, we invite you to celebrate one of the most majestic species to walk the earth. It’s World Lion Day!  Each year on August 10, lion lover’s around the globe use this day to bring awareness to the declining population of lions. Furthermore, we suggest learning about ways to help the preservation of lion habitats, as well.

The lion species, also known as Panthera leo, is one of the largest species on earth. Typically weighing 300 to 550 pounds, the lion can vary from a light buff color to a deep reddish brown color.  Surprisingly, there is also the rare white lion found in the wild. Easily recognized by it’s thick mane, the lion is also muscular and has a loud, deafening roar.  Unfortunately, as majestic lions my seem, they are slowly disappearing.

As far back as 3 million years ago, lions roamed freely across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East .  Today, loins are live freely in their natural habitat in only two locations, Africa and Asia.  In addition, some lions are bread in captivity.

Lions are listed as a vulnerable species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Though they are not under the classification of an endangered species, they still face obstacles that endanger their survival.

Currently, there are about 30,000 to 100,000 lions left on earth.  In the past few decades, lion populations have decreased almost by half.  Trophy hunting and loss of natural habitat are the primary reasons for the diminishing lion population.

OBSERVATION OF #WorldLionDay

Volunteering at a local zoo that houses lions is a great way to learn more about the care required to protect lions.  Volunteering  or making a donation to a conservation group is another way to show support for the good work organizations do. Whatever you do, don’t forget to share your day’s celebration on social media using #WorldLionDay.

HISTORY OF #WorldLionDay

In 2013, co-founders Dereck and Beverly Joubert of Big Cat Initiative and National Geographic began a partnership to form World Lion Day.  Also known as the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative, the partnership aims to protect these wild cats in their natural habitat. Furthermore, the initiative also works on safety measures with communities that live near wild cats.
It's time lions joined Bald eagles, giraffes, rhinos, gorillas, and elephants as having their day observed at my blog.  Speaking of which, July 29 is World Tiger Day.  Sorry, Earth Overshoot Day got the holiday love that day this year.  Next year.

Follow over the jump for three videos about lions, including one also about tigers, to celebrate this international day.

First, Roaring from the rooftops in celebration of World Lion Day 2018 from SafariLIVE, a show on Nat Geo WILD.

With only 20,000 lions left in the wild World Lion Day is poised to create awareness around Africa's most iconic of big cats.
Next, PBS Eons presents The Ghostly Origins of the Big Cats.

All of today’s big cat species evolved less than 11 million years ago and yet their evolutionary history remains an almost total mystery. But scientists have recently discovered a major clue about the origins of the big cats, one that could provide a whole new starting place for solving this puzzle.
As a paleontologist, I like this perspective on the big cats.  As for the big cats originating in Asia, I'm not surprised.  Four of the five species of Panthera and both species of Neofelis are found in Asia, while only two species of Pathera are found in Africa.  It's good to see paleontology support biogeography.

Finally, since the live-action remake of "The Lion King" is the second highest grossing movie of 2019 so far, I'm sharing Beyond The Trailer's The Lion King 2019 Review.

The Lion King Movie Review today! Beyond The Trailer host Grace Randolph's reaction & review of the 2019 Disney live action version from Jon Favreau featuring Donald Glover, Beyonce, Chiwetel Ejiofor and more?! Is the soundtrack just as good as the 1994 original animated movie?! Should you see the full movie?!
I'm pleased to write that "The Lion King" already won an award for its poster for Best Summer Blockbuster at the Golden Trailer Awards.  That reminds me that I never did blog about those awards this year.  I think it's too late to devote a post to them now, but I'll be sure to include them when I write about movie awards for the rest of this year.

That's it for this special day, but the holidays continue, as tomorrow is National Presidential Joke Day.  Stay tuned.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting that the Panthera have a long "missing link" gap in their evolutionary history, unlike ourselves. I suppose sooner or later the creationists will hear about it and come up with some nonsense. As she said, though, we wouldn't expect to see many fossils from species of that type. Genetics has reached the point where it tells us a lot more than fossils can.

    recognized by it's thick mane.....loins are live freely.....some lions are bread in captivity

    Do those guys have a National Proofreading Day on their calendar anywhere? With that many mistakes, it gets distracting.

    I don't understand how an all-CGI movie gets called "live action". Everyone on Tumblr is saying this thing is godawful, and from what I've seen it looks like they have a point for once, but admittedly I've only seen a few clips.

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    1. "Genetics has reached the point where it tells us a lot more than fossils can." Do remember you're talking to a paleontologist. :-)

      That written, they can, as fossils usually only preserve the hard parts of an organism.

      Yes, there is a National Proofreading Day, March 8th. It's even listed on their site!

      Terrible or not, it's making a lot of money. As for it being live-action, I agree. It's one massive special effect.

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