10,000 years ago, lions were the most widespread large land mammal after human beings. Now it is estimated that there are fewer than 20,000 lions left in the wild and 7.9 billion humans left in the wild.

When your time is done and you are sat having a cup of tea with god (assuming that's your thing), looking back on your time on earth, he will doubtless ask (among other things):

'Tell me, what did you think of the lions I made, pretty amazing aren't they?' 

To which you will have to explain, rather awkwardly, that you haven't actually seen a lion in the wild as we have shot them all.

Once he has neatly replaced his tea on the coaster he will doubtless look at you from under his bushy white eyebrows and ask how you (an intelligent, independent member of the most capable, resourceful species on earth) allowed this to happen.  

You will fix your gaze at the corner of his throne and mumble something about 'being too busy' and 'the pressures of modern life on the average family budget' you may even throw in some phrases you heard on Radio 4 such as 'the squeezed middle' and how you had other things to spend your time and money on. He will in a curious, commanding but not unkind tone ask

'Like what?'

To which you will gaze up from the handle of your tea cup and explain that you spend £50 a month on Netflix / Amazon etc so that you can watch the latest season of Emily in Paris and you spend 2hrs and 20 minutes a day (the national average) on social media. Doubtless you will then get side-tracked as you try and justify this, without success I would wager, and explain why it is more important than lions. 

When this part of the conversation has petered to its inevitable awkward conclusion god will look at you with a sense of avuncular disappointment in his eyes before thanking you for your time and wishing you all the best in heaven, and slowly return to his tea - perhaps with a parting comment to request that you don't try and shoot too many angels or cherubim during your stay. This will be a sorry conclusion to what could otherwise have been an extremely pleasant meeting. 

The good news for you is that this, rather unsatisfactory, situation is not inevitable! In July of this year I shall be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (a 19,340 ft trek), raising money for Lion Aid a charity I have been working with for 6 years that carries out world leading research into lion conservation and engages directly with politicians and decision makers in the UK, Europe, Africa and Internationally. They are at the forefront of highlighting the destruction of lion populations, canned/captive hunting and the trophy hunting trade, working directly with tribes-people and their leaders in Africa to put in place sustainable and effective programs to help save lions.

I would very much appreciate your support, as would the lions.

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LionAid is taking the challenge to climb mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania . Our volunteers and Christine Macsween (LionAid's co director) are aiming to raise £65,000 to start our very important human/lion conflict mitigation project in Merrueshi, Kenya.

The project consists of upgrading bomas (where the livestock are kept overnight to protect them from predators) and the Insurance herd compensation scheme: Substituting a community-derived compensation scheme to effectively counter the continuing frustration with existing compensation programmes

Effective equipping of livestock bomas to deter and prevent livestock losses caused by predatorsPlease support the LionAid volunteers on this journey to conserve Lions in the wild...!