It was really pleasing to see a better turnout at the meeting. Several members had brought along family and friends which helped to swell the number.
A decision had been made beforehand to hold the meeting in Church to avoid an obstacle course around to the Parish Room via scaffolding, which worked well both for our speaker with boxes and equipment and for the less able-bodied of the group.
So, we again welcomed Anna-Louise Pickering to speak to us. She is a writer, photographer and conservationist, who has dedicated her life to the welfare of endangered, sick and vulnerable creatures. She worked alongside her late mother Pollyanna for over 25 years in some very tricky situations, travelling by dog-sled in the High Arctic, camping on the ice at temperatures of -40, canoeing through crocodile infested rivers, and having been charged by a wild tiger, all in search of her subjects.
Anna-Louise spoke to us on this occasion about the ‘Art of Saving Lions’. She amused us when recounting one story of her mother having broken her ankle when not actually following a lioness and her 6 cubs but, falling over a lion statue! I’m sure her mother did not feel the same at the time. In their travels they had become very friendly with Virginia McKenna of ‘Born Free’ fame, her husband Bill Travers and son Will Travers, with whom she still works at times and, who is now the Born Free President. Pollyanna had painted a picture of ‘Elsa’ the lioness for the 30th Anniversary of the film ‘Born Free’ in 2016. This painting certainly helped towards raising funds of £12,000 enabling 30 new lion enclosures to be constructed.
About a century ago, the number of wild lions in Africa was around 200,000 but today that number is only about 20,000, due among other things to poaching. In conjunction with the Kenyan Wildlife Conservation Group, of which Joanna Lumley is also a patron, the built enclosures form a simple, costeffective approach to also protecting livestock from predation at night, especially those of the local Maasi people. The talk was well illustrated with photos of other animals too, including one of a leopard enjoying the fruits of his labour whilst eating his caught prey, having firstly dragged it up a tree as is their way.
Our next group meeting will take place on Wednesday 7 October in the Parish Room at 7pm, when our speaker will be Keith Brook, talking to us about NPV, a charity supporting the poorest children in Nepal. As always, if you would like to know more about the group do speak to Trish, Marilyn J. or myself. We ask for an entrance fee of £3 to help cover speaker costs and hire of the room, and which also includes tea, or coffee and biscuits, and a chance to win the raffle prize donated by a member.
Wendy Drake