Conserv’Session Conservation Documentary Nights

Blood Lions is a 2015 documentary about the lucrative and legal business of canned lion hunting (- where the animal is in a closed area and cannot escape from gun shots) in South Africa. To discuss about this issue, we invited Dr. Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Associate Professor of Animal Ecology at Qatar University, part of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Cat Specialist Group, and member of the African Lion working group. This session approached the ethics and the presupposed conservation value of lion and other felids breeding for the hunting, tourism and bone industries. Dr. Yamaguchi brought up his expertise at the end of the film to share with the audience some additional facts via a short presentation on African lion conservation. He also tested the audience knowledge about lion conservation facts several times. The discussion turned to be somewhat controversial, challenging the public sensitivity toward losing emblematic carnivore species such as lions in their natural habitat. In the end, most of the audience learnt about the underlying reasons for captive-breeding of lions in South Africa, as well as the misconception of our relation to wildlife, and people may have left the Science Seminar House with a busy mind ... [Click here to continue reading]
— Cécile Sarabian