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“Saving Lions”, Time Magazine
Will new ways to protect lions work?
More than half of the lions in Africa live in protected parks. Outside these protected parks, lions are in danger. So are most of the world’s other big cats. Big cats need big spaces. When they leave the parks, they often get into trouble with people.
Even inside the parks, lions are not always safe. In 1994, one-third of the lions in one of the largest parks in Africa became sick. Many of them died. Joshua Ginsberg, a scientist who works with wildlife, says that protected lands alone are not the answer.
Ginsberg thinks that the only way to save big cats is to let them live among people. Lions should be able to go from the parks to land shared by people, he says.
There is still no simple way to meet the needs of both people and big cats. If a choice must be made, whose needs will come first? The needs of people will come before the needs of big cats. Even on Mugie Ranch, a ranger had to shoot a lion. The lion was killing sheep. “If you don’t move quickly, they teach other lions to do the same,” explains the manager.
Lions have to hunt in order to live. And people may have to learn to live with them. To keep lions in the world, people will have to help them. Without help, these big cats will end up living in zoos, far from the wild plains where they can live free. It is up to us, the people, to make a difference for these beautiful animals. We MUST take action to help save them from extinction.
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