Cause an uproar

Today I went to see a movie with two friends at a local movie theatre. The theatre is in an area known as Station North. It's directly north of the train station here in Krabby Land and is a more artistic area of town, full of unique restaurants and theaters that show mostly indie films. I've been meaning to take a trip up to Station North for a while but haven't had an excuse to go. I'll definitely have to go back with my camera sometime; the neighborhood has personality.

Onwards to the movie! We saw the Last Lions, a National Geographic documentary about the last of the lions in Africa. The movie follows a young lioness and her three cubs as they battle for survival after the death of her mate. The lioness faces threats from all sides: aggressive water buffalo, a pride of rival lines bent on destroying her and her cubs, and a river filled with dangerous hippos and alligators. I won't give the storyline away any more than that though. I highly recommend the movie. Bring tissues though--all three of us cried during the movie.

The movie left me wanting to help prevent the further death of lions in Africa. 50 years ago there were 450,000 wild lions in Africa. Today, there are as few as 20,000. The spread of villages and modern cities has pushed the lions out of their homeland. The movie offers a way to help save lions from total distinction and the website, Cause an Uproar, gives more options. The simplest actually doesn't cost you any money: view the trailer below on YouTube. For every view,  National Geographic will donate 10 cents to lion conservation. You can always also donate money directly to National Geographic.



Is this post a bit of shameless promotion? You bet it is. But the promotion is for a worthy cause. This world holds so many beautiful natural treasures. Fortunately and unfortunately, humans are at the top of the food chain. That means we are the ones responsible for caring for these natural treasures. Without our protection, big cats will cease to exist along with many other creatures. Each link in the food chain fills a vital role and the destruction of one link can cause the whole food chain, and all other chains linked to it, to crumble. The repercussions could take years to materialize but that does not make them any less real.

Even if you're not interested in saving the lions, the documentary is still a wonderful look into life in the wilds of Africa. It captures so many different aspects of the lives of the animals that inhabit the land there. The cinematography is beautiful and the story is moving. It may be a little harder to find a theater showing the Last of the Lions, but if you can, it's well worth the hunt and the extra effort.