Lion panel in the Chauvet Cave from over 20,000 years ago.  Courtesy of National Geographic.

Cecil the Lion from Oxford Wildlife Centre Research Unit

World Lion Day – what does it mean?  People have revered, honored – and feared –lions for thousands of years, and proof of that can be found in the cave paintings of Chauvet (France), among the earliest works of art ever known; in low reliefs in Pharaonic Egypt, the heraldic crests of provinces and royal families throughout Europe; in well-known literature and fables;  even in memorials to the fallen.

Come back August 10 for our full story and ways you can help save the lions of sub-Saharan Africa.